MTA Commuter

NYC commuter transit: LIRR, Metro-North, and Subway schedules, trip planning, and service alerts. Use when the user asks about train departures, arrivals, commute times, trip options, or service disruptions. Also for multi-leg trip planning between locations, finding nearby stations across all systems, alternatives to a specific train, or track alerts. Triggers on "LIRR", "Metro-North", "MNR", "subway", "train schedule", "train times", "train home", "get me to", "how do I get to", "trip from", "alternatives", "track alert", "nearby stations", "commute", "train options", "service alerts", "MTA".

Instructions

Look up LIRR, Metro-North, and NYC Subway schedules with live delay data using scripts/mta.py. Uses MTA GTFS static feeds and GTFS-RT real-time APIs (no API key required). Requires the gtfs-realtime-bindings pip package (auto-installed via ClawHub; otherwise pip install -r requirements.txt).

Run from the skill directory (skills/mta/):

Direct schedule lookup (LIRR or Metro-North)

python3 scripts/mta.py lirr "<origin>" "<destination>" --date YYYY-MM-DD --time HH:MM
python3 scripts/mta.py mnr "<origin>" "<destination>" --date YYYY-MM-DD --time HH:MM

• --date and --time default to now if omitted.
• Station names are fuzzy-matched. Common LIRR codes: NHP (New Hyde Park), NYK (Penn Station), JAM (Jamaica), ATL (Atlantic Terminal). Common MNR codes: GCT (Grand Central), WP (White Plains), HM (Harlem-125 St).
• Add --json for machine-readable output, --count N to change result count (default 5).
• Real-time delay data is automatically included for today's lookups. Use --no-live to show schedule only.

Multi-leg trip planning

Plan trips across LIRR, Metro-North, and Subway connections. Uses data/locations.json for saved locations.

# Using saved locations
python3 scripts/mta.py trip --near-origin work --near-dest home --time 17:00

# Using coordinates
python3 scripts/mta.py trip --near-origin 40.75,-73.99 --near-dest 40.74,-73.68 --time 17:00

# Custom radius and count
python3 scripts/mta.py trip --near-origin work --near-dest home --time 17:00 --radius 2 --count 8

Trip planning finds commuter rail options from all systems and includes subway transfer legs where applicable (Penn Station, Grand Central, Atlantic Terminal, Jamaica, Woodside, Harlem-125 St).

Find nearby stations (all systems)

python3 scripts/mta.py stations nearby --near home --radius 2
python3 scripts/mta.py stations nearby --lat 40.74 --lon -73.68

Returns LIRR, Metro-North, and Subway stations sorted by distance.

Service alerts

python3 scripts/mta.py alerts                    # All systems
python3 scripts/mta.py alerts --system lirr       # LIRR only
python3 scripts/mta.py alerts --system mnr        # Metro-North only
python3 scripts/mta.py alerts --system subway     # Subway only
python3 scripts/mta.py alerts --json              # JSON output

System-specific commands

python3 scripts/mta.py lirr --stations            # List all LIRR stations
python3 scripts/mta.py mnr --stations             # List all MNR stations
python3 scripts/mta.py lirr --routes              # List LIRR branches
python3 scripts/mta.py mnr --routes               # List MNR lines
python3 scripts/mta.py lirr --find-station "hyde"  # Search for a station
python3 scripts/mta.py lirr --alerts              # System-specific alerts

Location management

Locations are stored in data/locations.json. Manage them conversationally:

• To add: geocode the user's address (via web search), then write to the JSON file directly
• To list: read and display the JSON file
• To update: modify the entry and rewrite the file

Format:

{
  "home": {
    "address": "123 Main St, Anytown, NY 11000",
    "lat": 40.7432,
    "lon": -73.6812,
    "label": "Home"
  }
}

Setup flow (first use)

When this skill is first activated and data/locations.json doesn't exist, ask the user:

1. "Where's home?" -- geocode the address via web search, save to locations.json
2. "Where's work?" -- same
3. "Any other places you travel to regularly?" -- save additional locations

After setup, when the user mentions a saved location, consider whether they might be asking about transit -- even without explicitly saying "train." For example, "how do I get home from the city" is a transit request if home is a saved location.

Presenting trip results

• Highlight the best option (earliest arrival closest to target)
• Mention 2-3 alternatives with station distances
• For multi-leg trips, clearly show each leg (commuter rail + subway transfer)
• Note which branches/lines serve each option
• If there are relevant service alerts, check alerts and mention disruptions

Track alerts

Watch for track announcements on LIRR or Metro-North trains using scripts/check_track.py via openclaw cron.

# LIRR track watch
openclaw cron add --every 20s \
  --command "cd skills/mta && python3 scripts/check_track.py --train 1582 --station NYK" \
  --channel telegram --delete-after-run \
  --name "Track watch: 5:22 PM to Huntington"

# Metro-North track watch
openclaw cron add --every 20s \
  --command "cd skills/mta && python3 scripts/check_track.py --system mnr --train 873 --station GCT" \
  --channel telegram --delete-after-run \
  --name "Track watch: 5:43 PM to White Plains"

Note: check_track.py queries undocumented endpoints used by the mylirr.org and mymnr.org web apps (backend-unified.mylirr.org / backend-unified.mymnr.org). These are not official public APIs and may change or become unavailable without notice. The rest of the skill uses the official MTA GTFS feeds and is not affected.

Workflow for "remind me about train X"

1. Look up the train to confirm it exists and get the departure time
2. Set up a cron job with openclaw cron add using the train number and --system flag
3. The cron job auto-deletes after the first notification (--delete-after-run)
4. Confirm the watch was added

Limitations

1. No subway real-time arrivals -- subway frequency is estimated from schedule headways ("every ~8 min"), not live countdown data.
2. No fares -- cannot look up ticket prices.
3. No bus -- NJ Transit, MTA bus, and PATH are not included.