New York City subway, train, and bus riders will no longer receive real-time service advisories on Twitter.
According to a representative from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Twitter had requested that the agency pay the sum of $50,000 per month in order to maintain access to the platform’s application programming interface (API). When contacted by email, Twitter did not provide a comment.
Suspension Without Warning on Twitter
A customer care worker at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail control center put up a simple notice for early morning riders to explore alternate routes after the delays were reported.
However, the alert never reached the 1 million followers of the subway system’s Twitter account, despite being posted promptly to the MTA’s website and app. Officials immediately learned that Twitter had abruptly cut off the agency’s access to the platform’s administrative dashboard.
The MTA staff responded quickly, as this was the second similar incident in as many weeks. On Thursday afternoon, the platform’s top brass reached a consensus to end all service alert publishing.
This decision added the nation’s largest transportation network to the expanding list of accounts, from NPR to Elton John, who have curtailed their presence on Twitter or departed the platform altogether since Elon Musk took control of the company.
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MYmta and TrainTime Mobile Apps
Twitter has hinted that free-for-all information dumps by private accounts may be coming to an end.
The business stated last month that it would begin charging accounts that regularly publish alerts—such as public transportation and weather organizations—to use its application programming interface (API).
It could cost as much as $50,000 per month, according to MTA estimates. Paying that much caused anxiety for a transit agency that is facing a multi-billion dollar deficit.
The MTA cited Twitter’s lack of a chronological timeline and a spike in hostility as other grounds for leaving the network. They also wanted to promote their MYmta and TrainTime mobile apps. Includes metro and commute train timetables.
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