[11] As of 2018[update], the New York City Subway's budgetary burden for expenditures was $8.7 billion, supported by collection of fares, bridge tolls, and earmarked regional taxes and fees, as well as direct funding from state and local governments.

[53][95] After the IND Sixth Avenue Line was completed in 1940,[100] the city went into great debt, and only 33 new stations have been added to the system since, nineteen of which were part of defunct railways that already existed.

[128] The Transit Authority announces planned service changes through its website,[129] via placards that are posted on station and interior subway-car walls,[130] and through its Twitter page.

[135] The maps are not geographically accurate due to the complexity of the system (Manhattan being the smallest borough, but having the most services), but they do show major city streets as an aid to navigation.

The newest edition took effect on June 27, 2010, and makes Manhattan bigger and Staten Island smaller, with minor tweaks happening to the map when more permanent changes occur.

Thus, riders must swipe their MetroCard or tap a contactless payment card or smartphone on an OMNY reader upon entering the subway system, but not a second time upon leaving.

[17][187] Fares were stored in a money room at 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn starting in 1951, when the building opened as a headquarters for the New York City Board of Transportation.

[188] The building is close to the lines of all three subway divisions (the IRT, BMT, and IND) and thus was a convenient location to collect fares, including tokens and cash, via money trains.

[189][190][191] In June 1993, a fare system called the MetroCard was introduced, which allows riders to use magnetic stripe cards that store the value equal to the amount paid to a subway station booth clerk or vending machine.

[220][223] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the MTA began automating the subway by installing CBTC, which supplements rather than replaces the fixed-block signal system; it allows trains to operate more closely together with lower headways.

[252] In July 1985, the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City published a study showing riders abandoning the subway, fearing the frequent robberies and generally bad circumstances.

In November 2004, the MTA again put this rule up for approval, but was again denied,[265] though many police officers and transit workers still confront or harass people taking photographs or videos.

[266] On April 3, 2009, the NYPD issued a directive to officers stating that it is legal to take pictures within the subway system so long as it is not accompanied with suspicious activity.

[267] As of 2021[update], the MTA Rules of Conduct, Restricted Areas and Activities section states that anyone may take pictures or record videos, provided that they do not use any of three tools: lights, reflectors, or tripods.

[268] On July 22, 2005, in response to bombings in London, the New York City Police Department introduced a new policy of randomly searching passengers' bags as they approached turnstiles.

[271] Najibullah Zazi and others were arrested in September 2009 and pleaded guilty in 2010 to being part of an al-Qaeda plan to undertake suicide bombings on the New York City subway system.

[276] In June 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency for the New York City Subway[277] after a series of derailments,[278][279] track fires,[280][281] and overcrowding incidents.

[278][285] On July 21, 2017, the second set of wheels on a southbound Q train jumped the track near Brighton Beach, with nine people suffering injuries[279] due to improper maintenance of the car in question.

[286][287] To solve the system's problems, the MTA officially announced the Genius Transit Challenge on June 28, where contestants could submit ideas to improve signals, communications infrastructure, or rolling stock.

[290][291][292][293] The first phase, costing $836 million, consisted of five categories of improvements in Signal and Track Maintenance, Car Reliability, System Safety and Cleanliness, Customer Communication, and Critical Management Group.

According to the Times, these decisions included overspending; overpaying unions and interest groups; advertising superficial improvement projects while ignoring more important infrastructure; and agreeing to high-interest loans that would have been unnecessary without these politicians' other interventions.

[298] Worsening subway reliability and service cuts in the early 2020s have been attributed to chronic mismanagement at the agency and a botched restructuring plan that was implemented under former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

[300][304] The Long Island Rail Road East Side Access project, which opened in January 2023,[305] was expected to bring many more commuters to the Lexington Avenue Line.

[233][325][326] In systems like the London Underground, stations are simply closed off when they are overcrowded; that type of restriction is not necessary yet on the New York City Subway, according to MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.

The metallic structures, designed with the help of architectural firms and meant as a piece of public art, are placed atop existing grates but with a 3-to-4-inch (76 to 102 mm) sleeve to prevent debris and rain from flooding the subway.

On August 27, 2011, due to the approach of Hurricane Irene, the MTA suspended subway service at noon in anticipation of heavy flooding on tracks and in tunnels.

[337] All services on the subway, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North were gradually shut down by 7:00 P.M. to protect passengers, employees, and equipment from the coming storm.

In March 2009, the Transit Authority announced a series of changes to its vermin control strategy, including new poison formulas and experimental trap designs.

[395] Rolling stock on the New York City Subway produces high levels of noise that exceed guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In order to reduce noise for all future stations starting with the Second Avenue Subway, the MTA is investing in low-vibration track using ties encased in concrete-covered rubber and neoprene pads.