Are you heading to New York City? Here we have some great tips for getting around New York City. The city has many affordable and convenient transits for the public to move around NYC. It’s about your budget and affordability, whether renting a car, booking a yellow cab or Uber Taxi, or going through the bus. It’s all up to you, where to go and how you can travel in the city.
New York City has a legit transit system for various ways to move around into the city's five boroughs quickly and conveniently. However, the most crowded places to visit in New York City, and the streets are always buzzing with people walking on the side roads, driving cars, and riding on the subways. It’s pretty expensive to rent a car in the city. The yellow cab and Uber rides are also costly, but the other means of transit are affordable and better options to move in the Big Apple quickly.
How to Get Around New York City Conveniently - Best 17 Ways
1. Fly with a Plane over NYC
Flying by plane over NYC is restricted, but you can take a helicopter ride over Manhattan. Helicopter rides offer fares and a limited time, and the travelers can choose their destination. It’s a remarkable experience to ride over the Manhattan skyline in the clouds, where you can explore the breathtaking views of Manhattan and enjoy the unforgettable moments of this journey.
2. Ride-hailing apps in New York
Ride-hailing apps provide economical and luxury cars, taxis, and cabs for different fares according to your vehicle choice, comfort, and destination. Passengers can book a cab using the ride-hailing app through smartphones. They can put their location, choose the destination, accept the fares, and click ok, then wait for the vehicle on the location for a few minutes. They can trace the journey through GPS, and the app points to vehicle movements and the route to the destination. The popular ride-hailing apps in NYC are;
Uber: Customers can call cab drivers via hailing apps. Its rides are the most convenient and reliable in NYC.
Curb: It’s the most famous ride-hailing app in NYC that offers the best competitive and affordable fares.
Lyft: This ride-hailing app offers on-demand rides and is cheaper than other taxi and ride apps during busy hours.
Arrow: They have certified drivers and provide reliable safety during the rides. They offer competitive fares like other ride cabs.
The Drivers Co-op: Its fares are regular and affordable. Its rides are convenient.
Revel: It has competitive fares, but it’s not as popular as other ride apps.
Gravity: These yellow cabs are equipped with advanced technology and a photo booth.
Myle: This ride app offers a vast collection of vehicles and rides and offers standard options for passengers.
Via: They accept calls for rides. It’s a convenient ride app that makes it prominent with other apps.
3. Accessible Transport in NYC
Disabled people can use accessible transport in NYC. The accessible transport is; Yellow Taxi is available for accessible transit Access-A-Ride NYC Paratransit MTA NYC Buses Airport Transit Water Ferry MTA NYC Train.
4. How do you pay for public transit in NYC?
Passengers can buy Metro Cards and NYC transit passes to travel in MTA transit. They can also use the Omny fare payment system installed at every subway station. Passengers can tap their credit or debit cards through Omny and pay the fare for subway rides.
5. New York Public Transit System - MTA
New York City has an authorized Metropolitan Transit Authority-MTA with many reasonable transits like buses, ferries, rails, and subways working 24/7 on weekdays. The great subways are the most affordable and convenient transit for travelers and first-timers in NYC to move around the city quickly. These subway routes connect Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. Buses are also an easy way to travel to the town, and bus stops are available on every corner of the streets with a signboard and a route map for the bus routes. The NYC transit system also has train routes connecting NYC with Long Island, Hudson Valley, and more around the city.
Travelers can buy transit passes according to their routes and budget and get more discounts on transit systems in the city. Tourists can get special discount packages on tourist transit passes in NYC.
6. Yellow Cabs or Taxi
Yellow Cabs or taxis are the most popular means of transit for comfortable traveling in NYC, but they are costly. It’s easy to get a cab from the corner of the street even on the most crowded streets of Times Square. You can weave by hand to catch the Taxi if you see a cab available on the road. The yellow light indicator is turned on when the cab is available for the ride.
The usual base fare starts from 3$, but it will rise according to your route and travel duration. Be sure about the path before catching a Taxi, and you can get help with Google maps, track the right location and route on the map, then get the cab to watch out for the destination and its fare. However, Taxi drivers are well aware of the roads and routes, which are the busiest and the shortest route to the destination so you may rely on them. Still, they can mostly charge you more than the usual fare by a long way, so it's better to know your destination before getting into the cab.
You can pay by cash or by debit or credit card, and all the cabs have the device to accept payments by debit or credit card. Ensure that the meter is on when the ride starts because many drivers don’t start the meter and charge an extra amount to the new passengers in the city.
7. Uber Cabs
Uber cabs are luxurious cabs that can be accessed only by android apps. These smartphone apps are downloadable for free. You can book a ride via the app by choosing your custom cab, fare, and destinations. These luxurious cabs are expensive compared to yellow taxis. But these cabs are more comfortable than other taxis. So, if you are heading to a family restaurant in NYC for dinner with your family or a bar for a cocktail party, the Uber cabs are the best luxury ride for you.
8. Rent a Car
The traffic in New York City is quite horrendous. The crowded streets and roads are bustling with rush drivers, and walking paths are always busy with pedestrians. It’s better to rent a car from the airport and drive your way by looking over Google maps in NYC. However, renting a car is costly but a luxury to travel around the city. If you are not the best driver and can’t handle the heavy traffic, then it’s not better to drive in NYC, and you can take yellow taxis or uber cabs.
You must pay a lot to park the car daily while hanging around the city. It starts from 25$ to 55$ per day, parking the car expense all day in NYC. If you are familiar with the roads and traffic in the United States, you can easily handle it; otherwise, managing a rental car in New York City will be hectic.
9. Subways Transits
The subway is the most popular and affordable transit in the Big Apple. Tourists and travelers can get a great discount on subway passes. The New York subway stations are the most extensive subway systems in the world and the most convenient way to get around NYC. NYC has 472 subway stations, the bustling and oldest subway stations worldwide. These subway stations serve the four boroughs of New York City 24/7 on weekdays.
Riding a subway is more exciting, and you can find the nearest subway station by your location quickly. The subway stations have signs to show the map of the routes so that you can pick the path for your trip. You can pay the fare by metro card or travel passes or purchase a single ticket from the ticket counter or the vending devices to issue the tickets. With one ticket you can travel as long as you need, there’s no zone system, so you don’t need to buy another ticket. Subways are the most convenient transit and safe to travel in NYC with kids and family.
10. Railroads and Trains
The railroads and commuter trains also work as a transit in New York City for distant traveling in the boroughs of NYC. You can buy the tickets from the ticket booths at the railroad stations and the e-tickets from the e-ticket app on android phones. Ticket fares are according to your destinations and time durations.
11. Water Ferry in NYC
It’s a fascinating thing to get around the NYC skyline with the water ferries or boats. New York City has water all around, connecting the islands with water, so the transit system has water boats and ferries to travel to the islands. NYC Ferry services, NY waterway, Staten Island Ferry, and New York water taxis are available to travel to the islands.
Many water ferry terminals and boats for water transit systems connect Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Rosevelt Island. You can buy tickets from ticket vending devices or on board with cash or credit cards or from the NYC Ferry app. Staten Island Ferry is a free water ferry service. It’s best to get around the Staten Island ferry and get the views of the NYC skyline and the Lady Liberty Statue from the water ferry for a free tour.
12. Public Buses
You will find the bus stops every two to three street corners. The bus stops are marked with signs showing the bus routes at the bus stop. You can purchase the tickets with cash or with metro cards. The metro cards are available at subway station booths, vending machines, and from stores. When you get onto the bus, you need to swipe the MetroCard at the entrance machine on the bus.
There are local and Express buses, and local buses are for everywhere in the city. Still, express buses are commuter routes for the major areas and the particular reduced routes in the city. Public buses are a cheap way to travel around the city. However, its fares are similar to the subways, but it’s up to you which one is the better transit for you.
13. Walk around the NYC
You can walk around the city without heading to distant areas. While walking on the sidewalks and pathways, you can explore NYC’s remarkable skyline, the skyscrapers, the splendid architecture and designs, the wall arts, the shopping malls, shops and stores, bars, restaurants and cafes, public parks, and exciting attractions in New York City.
14. Explore the City on Bikes
Exploring the Big Apple and getting around Manhattan on a bike seems exciting and fun for kids and teens. You can enjoy things to do in NYC with teens while exploring the city on bikes if you have young children. You can enjoy exploring NYC on bikes if you are a teenager or have young children. New York City has a bike rental program and many pick-and-drop points. The fares are accessible, like buses and other transits.
You can rent a bike via travel passes on the mobile app or directly from the counter at the bike rental points. The age required to rent a bike is at least 16 years or older. Teens can also rent a bike on the Central Park bike tour to explore the lush greenery around.
So, if you want to enjoy NYC’s skyline by pedaling a bike, or an exciting bike tour, Let’s rent a bike and enjoy the Big Apple tour on a bike!
15. Helicopter Rides
So, it’s an extravagant and high-end luxury to ride in a helicopter over the Manhattan skyline, getting the panoramic views of the tallest buildings of NYC, the bars and clubs, sparkling billboards at Times Square, restaurants, and grand hotels in NYC.
The heliports in New York City have many helicopter ride services, but they are costly, starting over 200$ approx. Get a breathtaking helicopter ride at night and enjoy the exciting views of the Grand metropolis and the lavish nightlife in NYC.
You can get some fascinating clicks from the edge of the helicopter while exploring the city from the skies to show off on social media posts and to your friends.
16. Aerial Trams
The great fun ride in NYC is the Aerial Trams or electric trams in Rosevelt Island. The electric trams operate from Manhattan to Rosevelt Island from the height crossing the East River. You can get breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline’s views and the Swirling water of the East River from the Sky peaks in the tram. The Aerial Tram is not working with MTA of NYC; hence you can use the metro cards for traveling in the trams, and the fares are equal to the bus and subways fares. You can also transfer the MetroCard fares from the trams to the buses and subways.
17. Hop-on Hop-off Ferry Service
New York City has plenty of transit options with so much fun and excitement. Hop-on Hop-off ferry service is one of them. The ferry service is a bit slower than other transits, but it's the best way to get around New York and the skyline, towers, streets, stores, and shops with the light commentary regarding New York City.
These ferries are open from the top, and you can enjoy the city’ views from the open-air ferry. You can get travel passes for the ferry service, like the New York Pass, New York Explorer Pass, and New York Sightseeing Pass.
Conclusion
If you are a New Yorker, then it’s not a problem for you to move around New York City because you know everything about the Transit systems in NYC, but if you are a tourist or a visitor to New York City, you might need this guide to take transit to get around NYC.
From the Airport to the Hotel or Guest house, you can get the yellow Taxi or cab with your luggage. Grab some NYC travel passes for the subway transits and travel around the city via subways. Get to the nearest subway station, and it will be a very affordable and comfortable transit to move around the city, especially for tourists and visitors.
The Hop-on Hop-off ferry service is also charming for exploring the city with exciting commentary and information on the ferry. The water ferry and boats are also a great option to get the iconic views of NYC’s skyline at night and the panoramic views of Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge.
