Watch out, rail-riding rogues – the MTA's new security cameras will not have a delete button. Most video-surveillance tapes get erased every couple of days or weeks. But when the MTA rolls out its new system, much of the footage will be saved forever, the company providing the software told The Post.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City does not publicly disclose a single, uniform retention period for all camera footage for security reasons, but typical industry and law enforcement standards suggest a window of 7 to 30 days. Most subway station and bus footage is overwritten automatically once the storage capacity is reached. However, if an incident is reported—such as a crime, accident, or "Automated Camera Enforcement" (ACE) violation—that specific footage is flagged and stored for a much longer period, often years, as part of a legal or investigative file. For bus lane violations (ACE), the footage is typically processed and stored long enough to issue the violation and allow for the 60-day warning or appeal period. If you need footage for a legal matter, it is critical to request it immediately through a subpoena or FOIL request before it is purged.