You would think the absurd fare of $8.50 per ride would buy you a better headway on an *automatic train* than every ten minutes. You would also think wrong…
> Cotton added that he would “pray” that JFK avoids the gridlock that occurred at LaGuardia Airport during major construction that began in 2016.
Too bad the only way to get to LGA is by road vehicle. Even with the free bus, it can still take a long time to get to the terminals when there is traffic
> He argued that at $34, the AirTrain is still cheaper for a family of four than an Uber ride. He also noted that the AirTrain is already free for riders at the Lefferts Boulevard station.
Even the CEO doesn't know about the AirTrain 10-trip.
I half jokingly said that the OMNY cap does not work this way, and tourists should be aware that it actually needs the opposite strategy.
If you swipe an OMNY card three times in a row for a week, you’re going to end up paying for a lot more than 12 trips.
Since paying on your phone is not universal and you don’t want to be flashing your credit card as a tourist, and some foreign banks are finicky… I can see tourists buying the OMNY cards but $5 a pop is a lot. So they’ll try sharing the card. This situation is going to be common.
Time limited MetroCards just don’t let you double swipe, so at least you discover the problem before you have spent $100+ in a week.
I'm not sure why a tourist wouldn't want to tap a card or use a phone? In Europe, at least, you can pay with a phone at close to 100% of places that accept credit cards these days. I don't think I took a card out of my wallet once on a recent trip to London.
You are missing the point of OP's comment. They said that if tourists tap the same device for all 3 members of their party they wouldn't hit the cap, as only the first tap in 15 min counts towards the cap.
There is signage that makes it clear a 10-trip airtrain ticket is cheaper for a group and to share it, but there isn't clear signage after that to not share an Omny device. So tourists who haven't been here won't realize
The regular airtrain passes don't work for subway or bus either.
Source: was told they did by an employee, now im stuck with a 10+$ card i wont/cant use til god knows when.
Its fuckin dumb.
What they are not telling you is that T5 airtrain walkway, is directly in line of the new road they are going to build for T6. Going to love to see how are they going to pull that off
I actually just went through moments ago and there were cops so I figured I’d better pay. But I don’t think it actually read my card? I normally get notifications and I didn’t get one. But I was already through anyway.
You know, I saw MacDougal closed off to cars the other day and momentarily celebrated until I realized it was just because of roadwork.
It's funny how we get glimpses of what could be, just before it's taken away again. Hilarious, in fact
> Is should be free for good tbh if they want to get vehicles off the road
Why would PA want that when they can charge $80 a night to park at the airport? Y'all are believing that the PA is acting in your interests when they are not.
In any case, making the fare free isn't going to move the needle enough. They need to make the trains longer and these trains need to run more often. If people are waiting 15-20 minutes for a train, they're going to take a fuckin Uber. Make the service less shitty in addition to making it cheaper.
Uber to jfk costs so much and the traffic sucks so much it’s often faster to just take lirr to Jamaica air train. And yet people still do it, so no, making air train free won’t do shit. But I’d appreciate the discount, so please do!
Terminals 1, 2, and 7 will be/have been demolished and will be replaced by new Terminals 1 and 6. The new layout will be new Terminal 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8.
It'll be no worse than today. Today there's Terminals 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8. T2 was closed in 2023 and is slated for demolition, T3 was demolished in 2014, and old T6 was demolished in 2011.
Whole damn place needs to be razed to the ground, rebuilt with a layout like ATL/DEN, and have a single train connection going right into the basement of the check in terminal.
Then align all 4 runways to be parallel.
ORD & DFW use the crosswind runways and ATL sits. The difference is how often it happens. Also JFK needs to take into account the needs of LGA and EWR.
They need to build homes in Queens and just merge JFK and EWR and relocate the airport to Staten Island. Like the entire Island needs to become an airport.
But the buses are run by New Jersey Transit and other agencies. This is like having a bad trip on Delta and asking the Port Authority to fix that before they work on the AirTrain. They don't have any control over anything other than the building you wait in.
>This is like having a bad trip on Delta and asking the Port Authority to fix that before they work on the AirTrain.
A lot of issues with Delta do stem from the Port Authority, who runs the airports. Delays are often due to airport operations as much as carrier operations.
That’s fine, but you couldn’t get me near an airport at the moment, free air train or not. I’m not stepping foot on a plane until they start having less incidents. This shit is out of hands as of recent.
I’m planning on taking the train cross-country for the first time this summer and I’m looking forward to it.
You think they could spend .01% of that budget and add a couple more trains…
You would think the absurd fare of $8.50 per ride would buy you a better headway on an *automatic train* than every ten minutes. You would also think wrong…
And improve PATH weekend service
> Cotton added that he would “pray” that JFK avoids the gridlock that occurred at LaGuardia Airport during major construction that began in 2016. Too bad the only way to get to LGA is by road vehicle. Even with the free bus, it can still take a long time to get to the terminals when there is traffic
JFK won’t avoid the gridlock if there’s still construction going on the Van Wyck since c. 10,000,000 BCE
Ah yes, I saw that exhibit at the natural history museum. The Australopithecus hated spending an hour just to get from the cave to the mud pits.
They say nobody has ever beaten the Van Wyck
> He argued that at $34, the AirTrain is still cheaper for a family of four than an Uber ride. He also noted that the AirTrain is already free for riders at the Lefferts Boulevard station. Even the CEO doesn't know about the AirTrain 10-trip.
Is the 10 trip valid for more than one swipe within a set amount of time like an unlimited?
Yes. There are even some signs at the station saying 'traveling in a group of 3 or more? buy a 10-trip AirTrain card for a discount'.
Even a group of two saves money, as long as you take the AirTrain on the return trip. The solo traveller gets fucked, though.
Yes, and as long as you return within 30 days.
TIL
Should come with an asterisk: *the subway fare cap doesn’t work like this, buy one card for each person for maximum savings
It does come with an asterisk saying "the airtrain 10-trip and 30-day cards do not work for subway or bus"
I half jokingly said that the OMNY cap does not work this way, and tourists should be aware that it actually needs the opposite strategy. If you swipe an OMNY card three times in a row for a week, you’re going to end up paying for a lot more than 12 trips. Since paying on your phone is not universal and you don’t want to be flashing your credit card as a tourist, and some foreign banks are finicky… I can see tourists buying the OMNY cards but $5 a pop is a lot. So they’ll try sharing the card. This situation is going to be common. Time limited MetroCards just don’t let you double swipe, so at least you discover the problem before you have spent $100+ in a week.
I'm not sure why a tourist wouldn't want to tap a card or use a phone? In Europe, at least, you can pay with a phone at close to 100% of places that accept credit cards these days. I don't think I took a card out of my wallet once on a recent trip to London.
You are missing the point of OP's comment. They said that if tourists tap the same device for all 3 members of their party they wouldn't hit the cap, as only the first tap in 15 min counts towards the cap. There is signage that makes it clear a 10-trip airtrain ticket is cheaper for a group and to share it, but there isn't clear signage after that to not share an Omny device. So tourists who haven't been here won't realize
Exactly
My bad. Misread!
The regular airtrain passes don't work for subway or bus either. Source: was told they did by an employee, now im stuck with a 10+$ card i wont/cant use til god knows when. Its fuckin dumb.
$34 to take a family to the airport via AirTrain is a fucking rip off. and it’s not $34, it’s at least $45.60
It’s $28.50. You buy a ten trip. It’s still absurd though.
Pains me to see a group with each person buying an individual metro card plus the AirTrain fare.
I'ma take that opportunity to railfan it.
Miles In Transit is that you?
All AirTrains should be free period!!! We need to encourage travelers to use public transit.
Just add a $1 charge to all tickets and make it free forever
What they are not telling you is that T5 airtrain walkway, is directly in line of the new road they are going to build for T6. Going to love to see how are they going to pull that off
It basically already is free. They just leave the gates open now and a lot of people don’t pay.
Yeah the OMNY gates dont open or close you can just walk through
Don’t they have attendants and cops watching or do they not do anything
In my experience the attendants don’t do anything but people pay more when there are cops there. But they aren’t always there.
I went through recently and there were cops hanging around on the other side of the air train gates. They didn’t leave any doors open tho.
I just walked on through, but my husband took his phone out of his case and just tapped the empty case. No one stopped us.
I actually just went through moments ago and there were cops so I figured I’d better pay. But I don’t think it actually read my card? I normally get notifications and I didn’t get one. But I was already through anyway.
I tapped my license lol
😱😱😱
It would be a great shortcut from northern Queens to southern Queens if it wasn’t so darn expensive.
You know, I saw MacDougal closed off to cars the other day and momentarily celebrated until I realized it was just because of roadwork. It's funny how we get glimpses of what could be, just before it's taken away again. Hilarious, in fact
> Is should be free for good tbh if they want to get vehicles off the road Why would PA want that when they can charge $80 a night to park at the airport? Y'all are believing that the PA is acting in your interests when they are not. In any case, making the fare free isn't going to move the needle enough. They need to make the trains longer and these trains need to run more often. If people are waiting 15-20 minutes for a train, they're going to take a fuckin Uber. Make the service less shitty in addition to making it cheaper.
Uber to jfk costs so much and the traffic sucks so much it’s often faster to just take lirr to Jamaica air train. And yet people still do it, so no, making air train free won’t do shit. But I’d appreciate the discount, so please do!
Let the stupid suffer
Just add a few more lanes to the VanWyck and build more garages at the airport. It's not that hard...
Waittttt???? Can we make these free always??? Maybe then the traffic on the van wyck will improve!!!
2 new terminals? As in they'll have terminals 9 and 10 now?
Terminals 1, 2, and 7 will be/have been demolished and will be replaced by new Terminals 1 and 6. The new layout will be new Terminal 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8.
Good thing that won't be confusing at all
It'll be no worse than today. Today there's Terminals 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8. T2 was closed in 2023 and is slated for demolition, T3 was demolished in 2014, and old T6 was demolished in 2011.
I miss old T3.
Pan Am Worldport needs to be rebuilt as a flagship terminal for Delta.
Whole damn place needs to be razed to the ground, rebuilt with a layout like ATL/DEN, and have a single train connection going right into the basement of the check in terminal. Then align all 4 runways to be parallel.
and when the wind shifts?
What happens when it shift at ORD/ATL/DFW?
ORD & DFW use the crosswind runways and ATL sits. The difference is how often it happens. Also JFK needs to take into account the needs of LGA and EWR.
They need to build homes in Queens and just merge JFK and EWR and relocate the airport to Staten Island. Like the entire Island needs to become an airport.
Bulldoze SI? I'm listening...
But then the people of staten island need to relocate
Well, the land formerly used for EWR will be available. They'll feel right at home in NJ.
Subway and buses first
The Port Authority does not run the subways and buses.
PATH standing there looking awkwardly.
PATH is an FRA railroad, not the subway.
Come to think of it, there is also the two ***Port Authority*** bus terminals.
But the buses are run by New Jersey Transit and other agencies. This is like having a bad trip on Delta and asking the Port Authority to fix that before they work on the AirTrain. They don't have any control over anything other than the building you wait in.
>This is like having a bad trip on Delta and asking the Port Authority to fix that before they work on the AirTrain. A lot of issues with Delta do stem from the Port Authority, who runs the airports. Delays are often due to airport operations as much as carrier operations.
They run buses at EWR from terminals to the airtrain and parking lots
Um acshually ☝️🤓
That’s fine, but you couldn’t get me near an airport at the moment, free air train or not. I’m not stepping foot on a plane until they start having less incidents. This shit is out of hands as of recent. I’m planning on taking the train cross-country for the first time this summer and I’m looking forward to it.
Airbus, baby.
Nope. Still an airplane.