MTA to stop posting service alerts on Twitter

Long Island Rail Road commuters can no longer turn to Twitter to find out whether their train is running late, as the MTA said that it will no longer use the social media platform to provide service alerts.

In a series of Tweets Thursday night, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has 1.3 million Twitter followers, said it made the decision because “Twitter is no longer reliable for providing the consistent updates riders expect.”

An MTA official said Twitter had asked the transit agency to pay $50,000 a month to continue accessing its application programming interface, or API, which allows for multiple computer programs to work together. On two occasions in April, it could not access Twitter through its API, the MTA said.  

"The MTA does not pay tech platforms to publish service information and has built redundant tools that provide service alerts in real time,” MTA acting chief customer officer Shanifah Rieara said in a statement.

Twitter representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For real-time service information, Rieara directed customers to the MTA’s homepage at MTA.info, email alerts, text messages, and to the MTA’s mobile apps, including the LIRR’s TrainTime app.

The authority’s 14-year-old Twitter account, @MTA, will still be used for promotional purposes. Accounts used by specific MTA agencies, including @LIRR, will also still be available for riders to ask questions and receive answers, officials said.

Danny Pearlstein, spokesman for the Riders Alliance, a commuter advocacy group, backed the MTA in its decision “not to subsidize the fortunes of right-wing billionaires like [Twitter CEO] Elon Musk.”

Pearlstein said he believes only a “very minimal” number of New York City subway and bus commuters used Twitter for service updates, and instead relied on the “Notify NYC” text alert system, or even subway countdown clocks.

On the LIRR, many commuters depend on the railroad’s email and text service alert system. But that service has also undergone major changes, as the MTA last month notified subscribers that they would no longer receive updates after April 5, and would have to sign up for the “MTA's new and improved service alert system.”