City Service is a plan to add a new, subway priced train service for New York City residents using existing, underutilized LIRR and Metro North tracks and stations.

The plan would involve no new construction, would not interfere with current commuter services and could be up and running in a few months.

The MTA has identified nine underserved neighborhoods in the city that are densely populated and more than 1/2 mile from a subway station.
Commutes from these "transit deserts" are often an hour or longer.
Mass transit commutes require waiting for slow buses and riding on overcrowded subways (such as the #7, the #1, and the Lexington line).
Car commutes of 20-30 miles a day on clogged roads and bridges are a main source of unhealthy air pollution.

Metro North and the LIRR have about 50 miles of active track (shown in green) serving three dozen stations in the city.
Commuter train tickets are too expensive, leaving these tracks and stations underutilized outside of the 8-9 AM hour.
40 weekday City Service round trips carrying 40,000 people (80,000 riders) could be added to the schedule immediately, halving commute times for most passengers and reducing overcrowding on subways.

In early 2023, the $12 billion East Side Access Project to Grand Central Terminal (shown in blue) and Hudson Division Access to Penn Station (shown in red) will allow for an expansion of City Service.
East Side Access, intended to cut the commute times of 160,000 LIRR riders by about 15 minutes, would also make it possible for City Service, requiring $0 in added construction cost, to run through the peak of rush hour and to cut the commute times of 320,000 added riders by about 30 minutes.
There are 50 more miles of existing track in the city that could eventually carry City Service riders,

People from Eastern Queens will love the short commute times on City Service.

People from the Bronx will also love the short commute times on City Service.

Regular Metro Card prices with free transfers to buses and subways at both ends of the trip.
Popular with commuters using all modes of transportation because of low cost and short commute times.
Distribution by lottery to local city residents.
Special City Service monthly passes or Metro Cards with photo IDs.

731,000 vehicles enter the Central Business District (CBD) each weekday.
48,000 drivers are projected to switch to City Service, a 6.6% reduction in the total number of vehicles entering the CBD.

The subways from Eastern Queens and the Bronx are already extremely overcrowded.
Expanding bus and express bus services will not cut commute times for riders and will require heavy MTA subsidies.

An Expanded City Service with 160 roundtrips on weekdays could carry 160,000 people per day.

Every passenger mile switched from bus travel to rail travel saves the MTA $1.00. The MTA subsidizes express bus trips by $35 per rider per day.

A City Service roundtrip with ten cars would take about one hour and go 30 miles. According to MTA financial data submitted to the National Transportation Database, one such roundtrip would cost about $6,000.
The annual operating cost for a limited City Service, involving 40 roundtrips each weekday, would cost $60 million. An expanded City Service would cost $240 million a year.

Almost three quarters of the City Service operating costs would be covered by sales of MetroCards to former drivers and by savings from switching riders from buses to trains. This includes losses from current rail commuters switching to City Service.

Motor vehicle exhausts top the EPA's list of sources for ozone and for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
NYC is ranked #9 on the list of dirtiest cities in America with regard to ozone and one out of ten kids in the city has asthma.
There are an estimated 320 premature deaths annually in NYC due to PM2.5 emissions from cars.
Even a limited City Service would convert more than 10,000 drivers to train commuters and reduce the number of miles driven by 50,000,000 annually.