No more trips to Midtown Manhattan for MTA passengers as new customer service centers offer personal assistance in areas.

Travelers will no longer need to travel to Lower Manhattan to exchange an expired MetroCard or apply for discounted fares.

On Tuesday, the MTA opened three dedicated customer service centers on the subway system to save commuters the trip to the agency’s Stone Street headquarters.

MTA Chairman and CEO Yanno Lieber, Chief Account Officer Shanifa Riara, Director of Accessibility Camuel Arroyo and NYCT President Richard Davey open the first satellite customer service center at Stillwell Ave Station on Tuesday.  in Coney Island.

“People had to come from the north Bronx, east Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island – anywhere – to make simple transactions,” MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said at the opening of the Coney Island center. “I said, ‘That makes absolutely no sense.’

Two new centers are located in Brooklyn, at Coney Island Stillwell Avenue and Barclays Center, and a third is at 161 St. Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

A dozen more customer service centers will open before the end of the year, according to the MTA. When all centers are open, there will be three in Brooklyn, three in the Bronx, three in Queens, five in Manhattan, and one in Staten Island.

Similar MTA customer service centers are being planned in each area.

The service centers are part of the MTA’s effort to change how drivers use the system.

Vending machines have gradually replaced the work of token kiosk clerks, who were ordered in 2021 to stop exchanging damaged passenger MetroCards and cease cash transactions.

The new service centers won’t handle cash either, but they will provide a place for passengers to get cash from their expired MetroCards, get help setting up an OMNY account, or apply for discounted fare programs.

Lieber said the centers will provide more than just technical support. “Frankly, people deserve to come and bring their complaints,” he said.

A booth at the MTA Customer Service Center that opened on Tuesday in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

Another change will be the removal of customer service agents from the booths so that they can walk around their stations. “We want it to be something [where] our customer service agents who really help people can come out from behind those thick plexiglass walls and interact with customers,” said Lieber.

Station agents across the system are being trained in their new role in helping customers, according to Robert Kelly, vice president of stations at TWU Local 100, representing bus and subway workers. “Our members are learning a new way of doing business,” he said.

MTA Client Relations Agent

Placing them outside of Manhattan will also make it easier to find riders in need of financial assistance and enroll them in the relevant programs, Lieber said.

“One point I want to highlight is part of the customer service job … will be to encourage everyone who qualifies to apply and enroll in the Fair Fares program,” he said, referring to the city/MTA program. offering a half discount on bus, metro and paratransit travel for those who qualify.

“That’s one of our main goals – targeted accessibility for those who need it most.”

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