New York City straphangers could have a tougher time riding the rails after the the city's subway authority announced that it is leaving Twitter.
The New York Metro Transit Authority has tweeted out service updates to its 1.3 million followers since 2009. However, this week it announced that it would no longer post updates on the social media platform.
Users were immediately confused and concerned about he change, asking for more information on the reason behind the decision.
According to the MTA, Twitter's service disruptions has led to them closing their Twitter account, which mostly posts updates about service disruptions.
But users pointed out reports that the MTA has balked at paying Twitter $50,000 a month for access to Twitter's application programming interface (API).
The authority, which governs the bus and train systems in southeastern New York, is often low on cash and is expected to report a $600 million budget shortfall this year.
To keep its passengers in the loop, the MTA says travelers should go to its website for the up to date information and that it would continue to answer direct correspondence on Twitter.
In February, Twitter began an initiative to review who has free access to the company's APIs, and transit services like the MTA now fall into the "Enterprise" tier that has to pay a hefty sum every month.
