Travel Tips
Using the New York Subway for the First Time
Tap to pay, read the letters and numbers, and learn the difference between local and express. That covers most of it.
The subway runs 24 hours and reaches nearly everywhere a visitor wants to go. It is also poorly signposted for newcomers, so a few rules save a lot of wasted journeys.
Paying
Contactless payment at the turnstile with a bank card or phone is the simplest method for visitors, and the system caps your weekly spend automatically once you have made enough trips with the same card. MetroCards have been phased down in favour of this system.
Reading the system
- Lines are identified by a letter or number, not by colour. Several different lines share one colour.
- Check the direction — Uptown/Bronx or Downtown/Brooklyn — before you enter. At many stations the two platforms have separate street entrances and you cannot switch without paying again.
- Express trains skip most stops. If your station is not on the express list, take the local.
- Late nights and weekends bring service changes. The posted notices are accurate; assumptions from a weekday trip are not.
Etiquette and comfort
Stand to the side when boarding, move into the carriage rather than blocking the doors, and let people off first. Stations are hot in summer; the trains themselves are air conditioned.
Common questions
- Is the subway safe at night?
- Trains run all night and are used at all hours. Ride in a busier carriage late at night and stay in the lit waiting areas on platforms.
- Do I need a separate ticket for buses?
- The same contactless payment works on local buses, with free transfers between subway and bus within a time window set by the MTA.
Sources and official references
Rules, fares, timetables and prices change. These are the official bodies to check before you rely on anything time-sensitive here.
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