The New York City subway ended Twitter service alerts after Musk put a price tag on the API

Real-time service alerts from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will no longer be available on Twitter. It was regularly used by subway, train and bus passengers in New York City. The authority has decided to cut ties with the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, which has resulted in the loss of this important service for public transport users.

After Twitter asked Microsoft to pay to use its API, it is now asking the MTA to pay a $50,000 monthly fee to ensure access to Twitter’s API, an MTA official said. is saying The MTA posted on its official Twitter account:

For the MTA, Twitter is no longer reliable enough to provide the constant updates riders expect.

It said goodbye to Twitter for service alerts and information. To continue getting updates, it is offering users an alternative.

According to an interview with Fortune, the MTA says API payments are not the best use of its resources while they have other reliable alternatives for customers. They have internal and domestic features and functions. MTA Acting Chief Customer Officer and Senior Advisor Shanefa Riara said they want to use all platforms to communicate with customers, but they want one that is consistently reliable.

The MTA has several Twitter accounts to push updates including @NYCTSubway, @NYCTBus, @LIRR, and @MetroNorth. It immediately suspended the use of these accounts until further notice. It will monitor the status and use them to respond to messages.

Twitter has a free tier for the API but it’s not practical for large clients like the MTA. Twitter will complete deprecation of its old APIs on April 29. Amid a $600 million and growing budget deficit, it is not looking to add additional spending.

Source: MTA (Twitter) through good fortune