๐บ๐ธ New York ยท Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in New York
A 24-hour subway you tap into with a bank card, weekly fare capping that has replaced the old passes, and a congestion charge that has changed the maths on driving.
The thing people get wrongThere is no pass to buy any more. OMNY charges $3 a ride and stops charging after 12 paid rides in a Monday-to-Sunday week, a $35 cap, so tapping the same card or phone every time gets you the weekly fare without the up-front purchase.
Indicative figures
- Subway or bus fare$3Per ride, since January 2026.
- Weekly fare cap$35 after 12 paid ridesMonday to Sunday, same card. $17.50 on reduced fares.
- Congestion charge$9 at peakCars with E-ZPass entering Manhattan below 60th Street, on top of tolls.
- Citi Bike annual membershipUnlimited 45-minute classic ridesE-bike minutes cost extra.
Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ your Insider confirms the current numbers in New York before you commit to anything.
OMNY and fares
OMNY is the tap-to-pay system on subways and buses, taking a contactless bank card, a phone or an OMNY card, and it has replaced the MetroCard, whose 7-day and 30-day passes were retired with the January 2026 fare change. Always tap the same card or device: the fare cap is calculated per card, so alternating between a phone and a physical card splits your rides and costs you the cap. Reduced fares, capped at $17.50 a week, exist for older riders, riders with disabilities and low-income New Yorkers on the Fair Fares programme.
- $3 a ride on the subway and local buses since January 2026.
- Tap the same card or device every time or the weekly cap will not apply.
- The $35 cap kicks in after 12 paid rides in a Monday-to-Sunday week; express buses cap at $67.
- Free subway-to-bus and bus-to-bus transfers within a two-hour window.
Reading the subway properly
Lines are lettered and numbered, and the same track carries express and local services โ boarding an express at the wrong moment can take you several stops past where you meant to be. Many stations have separate entrances for uptown and downtown with no crossover inside, so the wrong staircase costs you a fare. Weekend engineering work reroutes trains routinely and is posted at station level and in the apps.
Beyond the subway
Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North serve the suburbs from Penn Station and Grand Central, PATH runs under the Hudson to New Jersey around the clock, and NJ Transit handles the wider commute. Citi Bike is dense enough in Manhattan and inner Brooklyn to be a genuine commuting option. Ferries add a slower but reliable route along the East River and to Staten Island, which is free.
Driving, parking and the airports
Driving into Manhattan below 60th Street carries a congestion charge on top of tolls, $9 for a car with E-ZPass at peak times and less overnight, and parking is either expensive or governed by alternate-side rules that require you to move the car on a schedule. Most residents do not own one. JFK connects to the subway and LIRR by AirTrain, Newark has its own AirTrain to NJ Transit, and LaGuardia has no rail link at all โ allow considerably more time for it than the map suggests.
- Congestion pricing: $9 at peak with E-ZPass entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, set to rise in 2028.
- Alternate-side parking suspends for street cleaning on posted days; tickets are constant.
- LaGuardia is bus-and-road only. Budget for traffic, not distance.