Quick Verdict
SubwayInfo.nyc MCP connects real-time New York transit data to AI assistants and ordinary applications. As of July 21, 2026, its documentation lists 22 MCP tools and 21 REST endpoints covering subway, bus, NYC Ferry, LIRR, Metro-North, and Citi Bike. It is useful for personal commute assistants, MCP demonstrations, and non-commercial prototypes. It should not be the only source used for catching a train, accessibility decisions, last-service checks, or disruption planning.
This is an independent project, not an MTA or government service. Its terms make personal, non-commercial use free. Anonymous traffic is limited to 10 requests per minute per IP; API-key tiers list 60, 300, and 1,000 requests per minute. Public pricing for Standard and Premium is unknown, and a higher rate limit does not itself grant commercial rights. Upstream feeds, caching, networks, and the service can all introduce stale or incorrect results.
Best For
- Personal AI assistants that need NYC transit context.
- Developers building a small non-commercial arrivals or alerts prototype.
- Teams learning remote HTTP MCP, tool schemas, and agent discovery.
- Engineers prepared to handle rate limits, caching, timeouts, and upstream attribution.
- Not suitable for products requiring official endorsement, commercial redistribution rights, or an SLA.
Key Features
- 22 MCP tools for arrivals, status, alerts, stations, routing, bus, ferry, rail, bike, and natural-language questions.
- 21 JSON REST endpoints with resource-specific caching.
- Remote MCP endpoint at
https://subwayinfo.nyc/mcp. - OpenAPI, API catalog, MCP server card, agent skills, and health metadata.
transit_askfor 3-500 character natural-language questions.- Read-only data access with no ticket purchases or transit-system control.
Use Cases
An assistant can answer when the next 1 train reaches Times Square, whether the A line has an alert, or how many Citi Bikes are near Grand Central. A personal dashboard can use the REST endpoints for arrivals and service status. Route suggestions remain advisory and should be checked against operator information.
Treat all returned transit content as untrusted external data. Validate station IDs, directions, timestamps, and alert periods; cap retries after HTTP 429; display data timestamps; and keep a fallback when the service is unavailable. Compare regional options such as Lviv Timetable MCP and mirodn Public Transport MCP by upstream provenance and licensing, not only by tool count.
Pricing
| Tier | Published limit | Price and boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous | 10 requests/minute/IP | Free for personal non-commercial use |
| Free API key | 60 requests/minute | Email application with identity and use-case details |
| Standard | 300 requests/minute | Published price unknown |
| Premium | 1,000 requests/minute | Published price unknown |
The terms prohibit commercial scraping without permission. Commercial use, redistribution, and bulk caching require direct approval plus review of upstream provider terms.
Pros
- One integration covers six NYC transit modes.
- MCP and REST support both agents and conventional applications.
- Tool, endpoint, and rate-limit documentation is specific.
- Anonymous read-only access lowers the experimentation barrier.
- Discovery and health metadata simplify integration.
Cons
- Unofficial and not endorsed by the MTA or a government agency.
- Free terms are limited to personal non-commercial use.
- Standard and Premium pricing is not published.
- Accuracy and freshness depend on several upstream and caching layers.
- Anonymous use still produces technical and aggregated analytics data.
Alternatives
| Tool | Coverage | Best fit | Main boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| SubwayInfo.nyc MCP | Multiple NYC modes | Personal assistants and prototypes | Unofficial, rate-limited, unknown commercial pricing |
| Lviv Timetable MCP | Lviv transit | Deterministic MCP/REST use | Local scope and GTFS dependency |
| mirodn Public Transport MCP | Several European regions | Self-hosted provider experiments | Pre-alpha and provider-specific terms |
| Claude | General assistant | End users wanting a chat UI | Needs this MCP connection for its live tool data |
FAQ
Is SubwayInfo.nyc MCP an official MTA service?
No. Its terms explicitly describe it as independent and unaffiliated with the MTA or any government agency.
How many tools and endpoints does it expose?
The documentation lists 22 MCP tools and 21 REST endpoints as of July 21, 2026.
Is every API tier free?
Personal non-commercial use is free. Standard and Premium limits are documented, but their prices are not published.
Do anonymous users need an account?
No. An API key application, however, asks for a name, organization, use case, and expected volume.
Does the service store queries?
The privacy policy says it does not store AI queries or conversations. It may process anonymized IP, request, device, endpoint, and aggregated usage data, while Cloudflare may process infrastructure information.
Are arrival times guaranteed?
No. The service disclaims accuracy and timeliness. Verify important travel decisions with official and on-site sources.
Bottom Line
SubwayInfo.nyc MCP is a well-documented bridge for personal NYC transit assistants, with 22 MCP tools and 21 REST endpoints. Use it with visible timestamps, rate-limit handling, and official-data fallbacks. Do not infer commercial permission or paid-tier pricing from the free personal-use entry point.