New York City’s mass transit system is ending service with real-time Twitter alerts to subway, train and bus riders as the capital’s transit authority restricts its relationship with the Elon Musk-owned platform.
Twitter required the MTA to pay $50,000 per month to continue accessing the platform’s application programming interface, or API, an infrastructure tool that allows multiple computer programs to work together, according to an MTA official. Twitter did not specifically respond to an emailed request for comment.
“I don’t think it would be the best use of resources, especially when we have these other internal, local, trusted features and functions that we want our customers to use,” Shanifa Riara, MTA’s acting chief customer officer and senior advisor, said in a phone interview. “We want to connect with our customers on all platforms, but we need a platform that is consistent and modern.”
MTA Twitter accounts that have provided real-time service updates to passengers, including @NYCTSubway, NYCTBus, LIRR and MetroNorth, will not be used to push communications such as service alerts to riders, according to the transit system. Transit employees will continue to monitor these handles and respond to social media messages. There is no planned change in the MTA account.
Twitter announced it would suspend access to its API on February 9, but then said that a new paid-to-use structure would go into effect at the end of March, according to the TTA. The agency said Twitter did not provide a timeline for when old accounts would lose access.
The MTA has a budget shortfall of $600 million this year and is set to grow to $3 billion in 2025 as federal aid to fight pandemics runs out. The state agency hopes New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan will help and state lawmakers curb the system’s financial challenges.
Riders of subways, buses and commuter trains can still get real-time service information on the MTA’s mobile apps, MYmta and TrainTime, its website and on WhatsApp.