MTA resumes using Twitter for rider alerts
LIRR station in Jamaica. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The MTA is re-tweeting.
A week after announcing it would stop using Twitter to post updates on delays, service outages and other traveler information, the agency has reversed course.
The about-face comes after Twitter dropped its demand that government agencies like the MTA pay $50,000 a month for access. The MTA had also earlier said it was worried the service had become unreliable under the ownership of Elon Musk but officials said Thursday they received assurances riders could count on the alerts.
“The MTA informed Twitter senior management that it would not pay to provide the public with critical service information. Twitter got the message and reversed its plan to charge the MTA more than half a million dollars per year for these alerts, so now no transit agency will need to pay,” said a news release quoting MTA acting chief customer officer Shanifah Rieara.
The MTA’s Twitter accounts — including @NYCTSubway, @LIRR, @MetroNorth and @NYCTBus — resumed posting at 4 p.m. Thursday.
“We’re back!” reads a tweet pinned just after 4 p.m. to @LIRR.
At 4:40 p.m. came a tweet about a situation that has long predated social media: a train delay.
“The 4:27 p.m. train from Ronkonkoma due Penn Station at 5:45 p.m. is operating 10-15 minutes late after being delayed prior to departure due to equipment trouble,” the tweet read.
The MTA had used Twitter for 14 years. On April 27, Twitter interrupted the MTA’s — and numerous other local agencies’ — access to the platform, called an API, or application programming interface, used to post and respond on Twitter. In place of Twitter, the agency had recommended passengers message via WhatsApp, check the MTA’s apps, or visit its website.
Earlier in the week, Twitter announced it had restored free access for verified government agencies and certain others.
Rieara’s message announcing the resumption of Twitter use said the agency “also received written assurances from Twitter that reliability on the platform will be guaranteed through technological means, so riders can count on receiving messages posted on Twitter.”
Still, the message struck a tone of caution: “We will continue to closely monitor to ensure Twitter meets the reliability standard riders deserve.”
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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