The AirTrain is so expensive that even the agency that operates it offers a tip to avoid it.
The Port Authority is advertising a "travel hack" for air travelers to dodge the agency's $8.50 AirTrain, advising drivers to head to one of the stations that doesn't charge for the overpriced shuttle service.
The agency that operates the regions airports, tunnels and bridges, and the PATH train between New York and New Jersey ran an ad on social media this week telling people to get dropped off at the AirTrain's Lefferts Boulevard station to bypass the steep price for a rail ride to the end of the line.
"From there it's a FREE eight-min train ride to terminals," the Instagram video says. "So much better than sitting in congested roadways."
Transit advocates called the agency's pro-car stunt "absurd," adding that it shouldn't be charging for the short shuttle in the first place.
"But the Port Authority has a point. The AirTrain should be free," said Danny Pearlstein, Policy and Communications Director at Riders Alliance.
The Instagram video published in July but appeared as an advertisement on Monday, according to journalist and Streetsblog contributor Nolan Hicks.
The maddeningly car brained Port Authority is buying ads on Instagram to tell people to … get dropped off at Lefferts and avoid the fare.
— City Nolan (@ndhapple.bsky.social) 2024-11-25T16:01:27.694Z
The ad came as the Port Authority prepares for a whopping 8.7 million travelers going through its airports and other transportation facilities during the Thanksgiving week through Dec. 2.
The bi-state entity has long charged more for the short-distance connector than other mass transit in the area, despite the people movers being fully automated.
The PA upped the price of a ride to $8.50 last year, making the journeys nearly three times the price of a subway trip, and more than a seat on the Long Island Rail Road to Midtown.
Passengers only have to pay the fare at Howard Beach and Jamaica, the two stops that connect to the subway and the LIRR, which the state's separate Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates.
At Lefferts Boulevard and Federal Circle, travelers can get on and off for free, but the Port Authority charges for car parking at those stops. The former station also connects to three MTA bus routes — the B15, Q10 and Q3 — which remain better options to get to your plane for free without a private automobile, Pearlstein said.
"Until the Port [Auhtority] fully comes to its senses, riders should take the bus and connect for free inside the airport rather than paying in Jamaica or Howard Beach," said the advocate.
A Port Authority spokesperson insisted that the agency prefers travelers take transit to its facilities, citing recent campaigns for riders to do so during the JFK's massive reconstruction.
The post targeted travelers who "find they must drive" to the airport, with the rep arguing that the agency was trying to lessen congestion right outside the terminals by redirecting motorists to nearby Lefferts Boulevard instead.
"For more than a year, we have been strongly encouraging travelers to take the LIRR or the subway to the AirTrain JFK," said Cheryl Ann Albiez in a statement.
"The post you’re referencing targets travelers who do not heed our advice about public transit or, for any number of reasons, find they must drive to JFK to drop off or pick up a traveler," Albiez continued. "These are not people otherwise paying an AirTrain fare or using the AirTrain at all."
Update (Tuesday, Nov. 26, 9:38 a.m.): This story has been updated to include comment the Port Authority provided after initial publication.
