New York has a very good public transport system and most people use the public system to travel to and from work. New York has a fleet of gas fuelled buses and the way transport operates in the city has given the City a good bill of health when it comes to green travel.
Rail
Most people travelling in, out and around New York City tend to use the railway. The transport system in the city is one of the oldest and largest in the United States. Transport is the responsibility of various government agencies, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The authority runs two of New York’s three commuter rail services as well as all of the buses and subways in the city. Around 2.2 billion people annually, use public transport in New York.
Subways
The subway in New York City is the largest such transport system in the world, bigger than London’s underground with some 656 miles of track. New York City’s subway, is the second oldest system in the United States, second only to the Boston subway and averaging 1.4 billion passenger trips in 2005. The city has a total of 24 subway systems running through all New York boroughs except Staten Island, where commuters use the Staten Island railway system.
When people ride on the subway in New York they pay for their journey with the MetroCard, which is valid on all the transport systems and buses in the city and includes the Roosevelt Island tramway. The MetroCard was introduced as a replacement for tokens, which were previously used to pay fares. When travellers pay for their fare it is loaded electronically onto the MetroCard. Besides the commuter rail and subway systems there is also the Port Authority Trans-Hudson subway that links Manhattan to various points in New Jersey.
Buses
New York City has an extensive bus network with 2.1million passengers travelling on its nearly six thousand buses every day of the week from the city’s thirty routes and two express routes. New York has the largest number of clean air buses, either gas fuelled or hybrid, in the United States. Buses are identified with a number and a letter prefix, for example B for Brooklyn, Q for Queens and S for Staten Island to name but a few. MTA New York City Bus operates the express buses and uses the letter x to distinguish it from the other buses.
Near Times Square there is the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the busiest bus terminal in the whole of the US and the main throughway for interstate buses coming to New York. The terminal serves both commuter and national bus routes. There are also two discount coach services that began operation in March 2008.
In addition to the above there are two private bus companies that are run for profit. These companies operate all year round, seven days a week from areas on the east side of Manhattan to Long Island’s villages and hamlets.