NYC MTA Transit

NYC MTA transit — real-time subway arrivals, bus predictions, service alerts, and route info for the New York City subway and bus system. Use when the user a...

Real-time New York City MTA transit data — subway arrivals (GTFS-RT protobuf), bus predictions (SIRI JSON API), service alerts, and route information. Subway and alerts work with zero config; bus data requires a free API key.

When to Use

• User asks about NYC subway, MTA, the train, or specific lines (1/2/3, A/C/E, N/Q/R/W, etc.)
• User asks "when is the next train" in a New York City context
• User mentions specific NYC stations (Times Square, Penn Station, Grand Central, Union Square, etc.)
• User asks about NYC bus routes (M1, B52, Bx12, Q44, S79, etc.)
• User asks about MTA service alerts, delays, planned work, weekend service changes
• User asks about MTA fares, MetroCard, OMNY
• User asks about subway status or weekend service changes
• User asks about nearby subway stops or bus stops in NYC

Data Sources

NYC MTA is multiple transit agencies with different data formats:

Subway Real-Time Feeds (GTFS-RT Protobuf, NO key required)

Feeds are grouped by line division. Each returns protobuf binary with NYCT extensions (direction, track info).

Feed	Lines	URL
1234567/GS	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Grand Central Shuttle	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs
ACE	A, C, E, Rockaway Shuttle, Franklin Shuttle	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-ace
BDFM	B, D, F, M	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-bdfm
G	G	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-g
JZ	J, Z	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-jz
L	L	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-l
NQRW	N, Q, R, W	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-nqrw
SIR	Staten Island Railway	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs-si

Feeds update every ~30 seconds. No API key required.

Bus Real-Time (SIRI JSON API, requires MTA_BUS_API_KEY)

Get a free key at: https://register.developer.obanyc.com/

Endpoint	Description
SIRI StopMonitoring	Arrivals at a specific bus stop
SIRI VehicleMonitoring	All vehicles on a bus route
OneBusAway Stop Info	Stop details and nearby stops
OneBusAway Routes	Route discovery

Rate limit: 1 request per 30 seconds.

Service Alerts (GTFS-RT Protobuf, NO key required)

Feed	URL
Subway Alerts	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/camsys/subway-alerts
Bus Alerts	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/camsys/bus-alerts
All Alerts	https://api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/camsys/all-alerts

GTFS Static Feed

Feed	URL
Subway	http://web.mta.info/developers/data/nyct/subway/google_transit.zip

Implementation

Script: scripts/mta.mjs

Main entry point. Supports these commands:

# Subway arrivals
node scripts/mta.mjs arrivals --stop-search "times square"
node scripts/mta.mjs arrivals --stop-search "penn station" --line A
node scripts/mta.mjs arrivals --stop 127N
node scripts/mta.mjs arrivals --station "Grand Central"

# Bus arrivals (requires MTA_BUS_API_KEY)
node scripts/mta.mjs bus-arrivals --stop MTA_308209
node scripts/mta.mjs bus-arrivals --stop MTA_308209 --route M1

# Vehicle tracking
node scripts/mta.mjs vehicles --line 1
node scripts/mta.mjs bus-vehicles --route B52

# Service alerts
node scripts/mta.mjs alerts
node scripts/mta.mjs alerts --subway
node scripts/mta.mjs alerts --bus
node scripts/mta.mjs alerts --line A

# Routes and stops
node scripts/mta.mjs routes
node scripts/mta.mjs bus-routes
node scripts/mta.mjs stops --search "grand central"
node scripts/mta.mjs stops --near 40.7484,-73.9856
node scripts/mta.mjs bus-stops --near 40.7484,-73.9856
node scripts/mta.mjs bus-stops --route M1
node scripts/mta.mjs route-info --line A

# Maintenance
node scripts/mta.mjs refresh-gtfs

Setup: Bus API Key

Subway and alert commands work with zero configuration. For bus commands:

1. Get a free key at https://register.developer.obanyc.com/
2. Set environment variable: MTA_BUS_API_KEY

Setup: GTFS Static Data

On first use, run node scripts/mta.mjs refresh-gtfs to download subway stop/route data to ~/.mta/gtfs/. Refresh periodically (data updates hourly).

NYC Subway Lines Reference

Line	Color	Route	Terminals
1	Red	7th Ave Local	Van Cortlandt Park-242 St ↔ South Ferry
2	Red	7th Ave Express	Wakefield-241 St ↔ Flatbush Ave-Brooklyn College
3	Red	7th Ave Express	Harlem-148 St ↔ New Lots Ave
4	Green	Lexington Ave Express	Woodlawn ↔ Crown Heights-Utica Ave
5	Green	Lexington Ave Express	Eastchester-Dyre Ave ↔ Flatbush Ave-Brooklyn College
6	Green	Lexington Ave Local	Pelham Bay Park ↔ Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall
7	Purple	Flushing	Flushing-Main St ↔ 34 St-Hudson Yards
A	Blue	8th Ave Express	Inwood-207 St ↔ Far Rockaway / Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd
C	Blue	8th Ave Local	168 St ↔ Euclid Ave
E	Blue	8th Ave Local	Jamaica Center ↔ World Trade Center
B	Orange	6th Ave Express	Bedford Park Blvd ↔ Brighton Beach
D	Orange	6th Ave Express	Norwood-205 St ↔ Coney Island-Stillwell Ave
F	Orange	6th Ave Local	Jamaica-179 St ↔ Coney Island-Stillwell Ave
M	Orange	6th Ave Local	Middle Village-Metropolitan Ave ↔ Forest Hills-71 Ave
G	Light Green	Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown	Court Sq ↔ Church Ave
J	Brown	Nassau St	Jamaica Center ↔ Broad St
Z	Brown	Nassau St Express	Jamaica Center ↔ Broad St (Peak only)
L	Gray	14th St-Canarsie	8 Ave ↔ Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy
N	Yellow	Broadway Express	Astoria-Ditmars Blvd ↔ Coney Island-Stillwell Ave
Q	Yellow	Broadway Express	96 St ↔ Coney Island-Stillwell Ave
R	Yellow	Broadway Local	Forest Hills-71 Ave ↔ Bay Ridge-95 St
W	Yellow	Broadway Local	Astoria-Ditmars Blvd ↔ Whitehall St-South Ferry
S	Gray	42nd St Shuttle	Times Sq-42 St ↔ Grand Central-42 St
S	Gray	Franklin Ave Shuttle	Franklin Ave ↔ Prospect Park
S	Gray	Rockaway Park Shuttle	Broad Channel ↔ Rockaway Park-Beach 116 St
SIR	Blue	Staten Island Railway	St George ↔ Tottenville

Key Bus Routes Reference

Route	Name	Borough
M1	5th Ave / Madison Ave	Manhattan
M15	1st Ave / 2nd Ave	Manhattan
M34	34th Street Crosstown	Manhattan
M42	42nd Street Crosstown	Manhattan
M60	LaGuardia Airport Link	Manhattan/Queens
B44	Nostrand Ave	Brooklyn
B52	Gates Ave/Greene Ave	Brooklyn
Bx12	Fordham Road/Pelham Pkwy	Bronx
Q44	Merrick Blvd/Cross Island	Queens
S79	Hylan Blvd	Staten Island
X27	Bay Ridge-Downtown Manhattan Express	Brooklyn

MTA Fares Reference (2025)

Fare Type	Price
Subway/Bus (OMNY tap or MetroCard)	$2.90
Bus-to-bus / subway-to-bus transfer	Free within 2 hours
Express Bus	$7.00
7-Day Unlimited	$34.00
30-Day Unlimited	$132.00
Single Ride (vending machine only)	$3.25
Reduced Fare	$1.45

Payment via OMNY (contactless tap), MetroCard, or Ventra. Free transfers between subway and bus within 2 hours with OMNY.

Tips for Users

• Subway stop IDs end with N (northbound/uptown) or S (southbound/downtown). Example: 127N = Times Sq northbound
• Subway works with zero config — no API key needed for any subway command
• Bus requires a free API key — get one at https://register.developer.obanyc.com/
• Alerts always work — no key needed
• Multiple subway feeds exist; the skill automatically fetches the right one(s) for the line requested
• Use --stop-search for fuzzy name matching, --stop for exact stop IDs

Error Handling

• If MTA_BUS_API_KEY is not set, bus commands print a helpful message with the signup URL; subway commands still work
• Invalid station/stop searches show "No matching station found"
• Network errors and API error responses produce friendly messages
• If a subway feed returns empty data, note that real-time data may be temporarily unavailable

Response Formatting

When presenting transit info to the user:

• Lead with the most actionable info (next arrival time, active alerts)
• Show line letter/number + direction (e.g., "A train toward Far Rockaway, arriving 3 min")
• For subway: show "Approaching" for trains at the station, minutes for upcoming
• Show track info when available (actual vs scheduled track)
• Always mention active service alerts for the line being queried
• For buses: show route + destination + minutes/stops away
• Times in 12-hour format with AM/PM

External Endpoints

Endpoint	Data Sent	Data Received
api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/nyct/gtfs*	None (GET only)	Subway positions/arrivals (Protobuf)
api-endpoint.mta.info/Dataservice/mtagtfsfeeds/camsys/*-alerts	None (GET only)	Service alerts (Protobuf)
bustime.mta.info/api/siri/*	API key (query param)	Bus arrivals/positions (JSON)
bustime.mta.info/api/where/*	API key (query param)	Stop/route discovery (JSON)
web.mta.info/developers/data/nyct/subway/*	None (GET only)	GTFS static data (ZIP)

Subway and alert endpoints are open access with no authentication. Bus endpoints require a free API key passed as a query parameter.

Security & Privacy

• Subway: No credentials required — subway and alert feeds are open access, no API keys or tokens
• Bus: Free API key required — passed as a URL query parameter to MTA's official BusTime API
• No user data transmitted — requests contain only API keys and route/stop identifiers, no personal information
• Local storage only — GTFS static data is cached locally at ~/.mta/gtfs/; no data is written elsewhere
• No telemetry — this skill does not phone home or collect usage data
• Input handling — stop names and route IDs from user input are used only for local filtering, never interpolated into shell commands

Trust Statement

This skill reads publicly available transit data from MTA's official feeds and APIs. The bus API key is used only for MTA BusTime API authentication. The skill does not access, store, or transmit any personal information beyond the API key configured by the user.