This week's journey. What’s up with the blue sheds on subway platforms; goodbye MetroCards and the pizza principle; rising fares and Citi Bike prices; plus more.
The year of NYC congestion pricing, Trump threats and Mamdani promises
On the Chinese calendar, 2025 is the Year of the Snake, marked by good fortune, harvest and unassuming threats.
In some ways, those themes perfectly encapsulate what it meant to get around New York City — there was good fortune by way of new state funding to the MTA, harvest in the form of collecting new tolls in lower Manhattan and lots of threats from the federal government.
While there are still seven more weeks in the lunar calendar, here is a look at some of the most memorable local transit news from 2025.
January saw the implementation of congestion pricing, a $9 toll on all drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street during peak commuter hours. Some New Yorkers celebrated and found peace in the calmer streets during the program’s early days. But congestion pricing quickly found itself in Washington’s crosshairs. The second Trump administration has tried to kill the program, claiming it was an unfair tax on working-class people.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD … LONG LIVE THE KING!” President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post in February.
The program, however, has continued amid an ongoing legal battle between the MTA and the federal government. Congestion pricing turns a year old on Monday, and recent research shows it’s resulting in cleaner air across the region. According to the latest figures through October, the tolls have raked in nearly $500 million in net revenue.
Also in January, the team behind “On The Way” published its six-part “State of Collapse” series that pulled back the curtains on the MTA’s aging and decrepit infrastructure. It looked at the transit agency’s desperate need to replace many of its oldest train cars, electrical equipment and signals, or else possibly face a new low in poor service.
"If you don't invest in the foundation of a house, the house is going to fall down when the wind comes,” John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union, told us in January.
To avert collapse, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature secured funding for the MTA’s latest $65 billion five-year construction plan, which will replace a lot of the old gear and invest in newer, more reliable technology.
There was also a lot of major breaking transportation news in 2025. Train operators at NJ Transit walked off the job in May, prompting a historic three-day strike that majorly disrupted the cross-state service and ended in more pay for the union of locomotive engineers.
Transit also played a major role in Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in New York City’s mayoral election. Making all of the city’s buses free for all riders was among the democratic socialist’s signature proposals. The voters supported it, but the MTA questioned it and its future success is up in the air.
The last Year of the Snake was in 2013 — and the transit world dealt with similarly good and bad circumstances. The subways and buses got a 25-cent fare hike and the system’s infrastructure was in shambles due to damage from Superstorm Sandy the year before. Ridership reached record levels. And then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed “lock box legislation,” which allowed him to take dedicated funds from the MTA without publishing a transit impact statement.
2026 is the Year of the Horse — defined by confidence, intelligence and responsibility. If the pattern holds true, the transit world could be in for a smooth ride.
Marc A. Hermann / MTA
Curious Commuter
Have a question for us? Use this form to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!
Why do all subway stations have blue construction sheds taking up significant platform space even when there is no sign of actual construction going on?
- Clare, The Bronx
Those blue construction sheds are likely for the dozens of elevators the MTA is installing to access existing station platforms throughout the system. Between the last five-year construction plan, which started in 2020, and the new one funded this year through 2029, the transit agency has made 46 stations compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, with another 46 in construction and 60 new stations in the future. It’s a lot, but nowhere near every station in the system. Building a new elevator in a station can take around two years, the MTA estimates, but that obviously depends on the size and design parameters of each station, which in New York City can vary greatly. MTA officials have routinely celebrated the pace it takes to get one of these projects done.
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We're also talking about...
Citi Bike prices. They’re going up again in 2026, for the fifth consecutive year. The company said growing its network across the city and “unexpected tariffs” this year have increased operational costs.
Other uses for the MetroCard. As New Yorkers say farewell to the MetroCard, we spoke to some resourceful residents, including a nail technician and a phone repairer, who found other uses for the MetroCard in their work.
OMNY’s rocky start. The MTA hasn’t worked out all of the kinks of the OMNY tap-to-pay system yet, even as it's set to take over the subway and bus fare system in 2026. Some riders are frustrated.
The “pizza principle.” For decades, you could count on a slice of pizza and a subway fare costing around the same in New York City. But with inflation and other factors, is that still true? We investigated.
Subway surfing deaths. Subway surfing deaths are still happening despite the MTA and NYPD’s efforts. Five people died in 2025, including two teen girls, because of the dangerous trend.
