Transport systems to move around New York City

One of the things most people think when they arrive in New York City is how they can move around in this marvelous and giant city. But moving around New York is very easy, there are several ways to move from one place to another, like taxis, buses, underground and trains.

New York City has one of the largest transport systems in the world. A city this big needs a good system to carry people from one way to another, so if you are planning to visit New York in the near future knowing the alternatives you have to move from one place to another is important.

Subway

If you are traveling to New York City, the best and most economical way to move from one place to another is the subway, there are many lines that take you to almost any part of the city.

The New York City Underground is one of the largest subway systems in the world, it has 24 lines that cover all boroughs of New York, so you can go from Manhattan to anywhere you want.

The cost of the ticket for a single trip is $ 2.75, that is paid with the Metrocard, which is a card that lets you pay not only the Subway but also the bus and other transports in the city,  it gives you the opportunity to buy a card for the whole week at a cost of $ 30, but you can also fill the card with the amount of money you want so you can use it several times during the day, it also is great as you save money on every journey.

To get a Metrocard is very simple. You can buy it in the same Underground Stations at station booths or you can buy it at a MetroCard Vending Machine.

Train

The train system in New York is a commuter railroad system, that can take you to places outside the city.

There are three railroads that can be boarded in Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, the three railroads are the Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Railroad, and the railroad operated by the New Jersey Transit on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

Combined they offer 20 rail lines.

The cost of a single ticket to get from Manhattan to any of the stations of the line depends on the trip you are doing, for example, the Long Island Rail Road is divided into 14 zones and the cost of the single one-way ticket varies from $ 5.75 to $ 27  depending on the time you are using the train and the zone you are going to.

To know more about the Fares for the train you can visit the MTA page.

To take a train you need to go to the main train stations, which are Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal.

Buses

The buses are another way to move around the city, it is a very comfortable way to go from one place to another, but it has the disadvantage of the transit if you get stuck in a jam you can lose quite a lot of time.

The cost of the ticket is$ 2.50, and you can pay with a Metrocard. You can also use the Metrocard like in the Subway system filling the card with money to pay several trips or to buy the 7-day unlimited card for $ 30.

To identify which bus you have to take, local bus routes are labeled with a number and a prefix identifying the primary borough (B for Brooklyn, Bx for the Bronx, M for Manhattan, Q for Queens, and S for Staten Island), the Express bus routes use the letter X.

Taxi

And of course, you have the Taxis, the world-known Yellow cabs, that are so characteristic of New York City.

They are the only vehicles in the city permitted to pick up passengers in response to a street hail. Taking a taxi in New York City is not cheap, especially with all the traffic and the time it can take to go from a busy zone of Manhattan to another place.

The fares begin at $3.00 and increase based on the distance traveled and time spent in slow traffic.

PATH

The PATH is a rapid transit system that connects Manhattan to Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison, and Newark, in New Jersey.

It works 24 hours a day, and the cost for a single ride is $ 2.50, although the PATH has its own card system, the Smartlink, the best thing to do is to pay with your Metrocard, as long as you have sufficient Pay-Per-Ride value on your card.

Getting to and from the Airport to Manhattan

But for sure the first thing you will want to know is how to get from the airport to Manhattan, that is where most of the tourists stay.

There are three Airports in the New York area, JFK is the most important, but you also have La Guardia and Newark Liberty.

To go from any of the three Airports to Manhattan, you have some choices, one is to use a Shuttle, there are several companies that offer shuttles from the Airports to the main Hotels in Manhattan, and the fares of the Shuttles are around $ 20.

Another choice you have and that it is cheaper is to use the AirTrain JFK if you are arriving at JFK Airport and connect to the Subway system.

The AirTrain JFK has two connections with the subway, one in Jamaica Station, which connects to the E line to go to central Manhattan, it also connects to the J and Z lines, but these lines go to central Queens and Northern Brooklyn, and the other one is Howard Beach that connects to the A-line to go to Lower Manhattan.

Newark Liberty has a Monorail system that connects to the Northeast Corridor line, this line takes you to Penn Station in Manhattan.

La Guardia Airport does not have a train system that lets you connect to the subway, so the alternative you have is the Q47 and Q70 limited bus services, that let you travel from the airport to midtown Manhattan, they also can let you connect to the subway system at Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street.

Moving around New York City is not difficult, the city is huge, but as you can see you have a wide range of alternatives to move from one place to another.