How I get around the City

Public transportation was one of the many things that intimidated me the first few weeks in New York. From the bustle in the subways and busses to the fast-paced walking New Yorkers flooding the streets, getting around can seem like a mission! Although it was intimidating at first, it was actually very simple and fast once I got the hang of it. Below, I will put some tips and ways to get around the city!

Subway

• 

• 

• 

In the New York subway system, there are 28 functioning trains, and each train has a color-coded route that helps you identify where you want to go around the state (New York City Subway). Each station has the name of the station or street number on the wall or on a sign in the waiting area so you will be able to know where you are (ex. picture below)!

There are three ways to pay for the subway: a one-way ticket, a metro card, or OMNY (a contactless payment system). A one-way ticket costs $2.75, a metro card can be filled with your desired amount and can be reused, and OMNY is a scanning system that scans your phone to access your mobile wallet (ex. Apple wallet). There are also options for unlimited rides through the Metro card; for a week, the cost is $33 and for one month, it costs $127. I personally just use the refillable Metro card since I am not commuting often, but all of these options depend on how much you want to travel around!

Bus

In the city, there are a total of 336 lines for city buses: 63 being express buses (these buses don’t stop at every bus stop, they only stop at major junctions between large cities) and the 273 buses being the local city buses(Map of NYC Bus).

Regular bus fare costs $2.75 and express buses cost $6.75, for both of these you can pay with your metro card or use the OMNY payment method mentioned above. The destination and line of the buses are usually displayed at the front of the bus so you can always double-check if you are getting on the right one! Although buses take more time than subways, I have found them to be a lot cleaner and easy to get around.

• 

• 

---

CITATION
New York City Subway. 7 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway#:~:text=There%20are%2028%20train%20services,line%20of%20the%20particular%20service.

“Map of NYC Bus: Stations & Lines.” New York City Map 360°, nycmap360.com/nyc-bus-map#:~:text=New%20York%20City%20buses%20are,bus%20%2F%2063%20express%20bus).