List routes, stations, and stops

Beyond realtime arrivals, mta-js exposes the catalog behind the system: the list of routes, the ordered stations on a subway line, the ordered stops on a bus route, and batch lookups to resolve stop IDs you already have. Use these to build route pickers, draw a route map, or hydrate saved stop IDs into names and coordinates.

These endpoints require a hosted apiKey. See Authentication to get one.

Prerequisites

mta-js installed (npm install mta-js)
An MTA API key set as MTA_API_KEY in your environment

List routes for a picker

mta.routes.list() returns the route catalog. Pass the modes you care about, or omit for everything.

import { MTA } from 'mta-js'

const mta = new MTA({ apiKey: process.env.MTA_API_KEY })

const routes = await mta.routes.list({ modes: ['subway', 'bus'] })

for (const route of routes) {
  console.log(`${route.shortName ?? route.id} — ${route.longName ?? ''} (${route.mode})`)
}

Get the ordered stations on a subway route

mta.subway.routeStations() returns the route’s stop patterns. Pass a direction to order them in the rider’s direction of travel.

const stations = await mta.subway.routeStations({ route: 'L', direction: 'north' })

for (const pattern of stations.directions) {
  pattern.stops.forEach((stop, i) => console.log(`${i}. ${stop.name} (${stop.id})`))
}

Get the ordered stops on a bus route

mta.bus.routeStops() is the bus equivalent, returning ordered stops grouped by direction.

const routeStops = await mta.bus.routeStops({ route: 'M23' })

for (const pattern of routeStops.directions) {
  console.log(`Direction ${pattern.direction}: ${pattern.stops.length} stops`)
}

Hydrate stop IDs you already have

When you have stored stop IDs (favorites, a saved trip), resolve them in one call with mta.stops.byIds(). Each result keeps its requestedId and a found flag; set includeRoutes to attach the routes serving each stop.

const results = await mta.stops.byIds({
  ids: ['A27', 'L06', '308214'],
  includeRoutes: true,
})

for (const result of results) {
  if (result.found) {
    const lines = result.servedRoutes?.map((r) => r.shortName ?? r.id).join(', ')
    console.log(`${result.stop.name} — ${lines}`)
  } else {
    console.log(`${result.requestedId} — not found`)
  }
}

These guides use the SDK. For the raw REST endpoints, see Routes, Subway Route Stations, Bus Route Stops, and Stops by ID.

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Core Concepts

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Self-Hosting

List routes, stations, and stops

Prerequisites

​Prerequisites

Prerequisites