Why is AirTrain so expensive?

Like other Port Authority properties, the AirTrain did not receive subsidies from the state or city for its operating costs. This was one of the reasons cited for the system's relatively high initial $5 fare, which was more than twice the subway's fare at the time of the AirTrain's opening.



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The increase came just a year after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey raised the AirTrain fare to $8 from $7.75. Port Authority officials called the most recent raise an “automatic inflation-based adjustment” in a December press release that highlighted the agency's 2023 budget.

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Fare: $11.15 for most riders. Walk outside and follow the signs to the Sutphin Boulevard/Archer Avenue/JFK Airport subway station. You will need to swipe a MetroCard or use OMNY to pay the subway fare. Take the elevator or escalator down one level to the Manhattan-bound E train.

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Well, it turns out the Port Authority does sometimes lift the fee from AirTrain/subway commuters, but only when the bottlenecks at the exits get really, really bad.

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