Traveling To Or From LGA? Ride For Just $15

by Chris Dong

Ah, LaGuardia Airport. There nothing is like arriving off of a flight to a confused mass of humanity, rolling your oversized rollerboard past stained carpets and Au Bon Pains, into a fluorescent basement, onto a bus, and then into an overpriced taxi to get you into New York City proper.

Related: Yes, LaGuardia Still Requires You To Take A Shuttle Bus To The Taxi Stand

Whatever you do, avoid taking a taxi from LaGuardia in the near future. Thankfully, the airport is well underway to getting a complete overhaul and frankly, stop being so terrible to get to and from. Private companies like Lyft is also making it easier to get a ride into the city.

Now, a new public-private partnership between the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and ridesharing company Via is making the ride from LGA much more affordable. 

LGA Connect: Affordable Rides To All Parts Of NYC

lga connect

Rides from LaGuardia to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are just a flat $15. Rides to the Bronx and Staten Island will cost $20.

Compare that to a shared Lyft, Uber, or a taxi and we’re talking savings of $15 to $30 or more, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Don’t Have Via? 

Get $10 off your first Via ride using my referral link. You can also enter code CHRISTOPHE3E4 under the code section of the Via app.

That means your first ride from LGA could be just $5. Nice! (I’ll also get $10 towards Via if you sign up and ride.)

What To Expect From LGA Connect

lga connect

LGA Connect rides can be booked 7 days a week between 8am and 1am through the Via app, or interestingly, also can be booked offline with the help of a dispatcher at a designated “LGA Connect” pickup point outside of Terminal C/D.

Yes, this program only is available for travelers at Terminals C & D, unfortunately.

In the Via app, passengers select “LGA Connect” from the menu, and enter their destination. Via’s algorithm matches multiple passengers headed in the same direction into a single vehicle and provides passengers with vehicle identification information and an ETA. Rides depart within 10 minutes, and passengers will be dropped off at a nearby corner within walking distance of their destination.

Additional passengers are $5 each.

Why This Is Interesting

90% of travelers to and from LaGuardia take a private vehicle which is a staggering number for a major city airport. The goal of the LGA Connect program is to

…reduce private vehicle trips from the airport with the introduction of congestion-reducing, convenient and affordable shared rides as part of public transit.”

In fact in the joint press release, LGA Connect is called “on-demand public transit” which seems to be a bit of oxymoron.

It’s interesting that the Port Authority is willing to brand this as “public transit”option. While most Via-cles are primarily 8-passenger Mercedes Metris mini-vans, they’re not full-on bus replacements. There’s already several bus lines that connect LGA to the rest of the city. Clearly, that’s not enough, and with ongoing traffic, those buses easily get stuck in-between terminals.  I have to wonder how much is Port Authority paying to subsidize this.

At the very least, this is a great option for passengers arriving to Terminal C & D (mostly Delta customers) to get into the city.

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2 comments

kq747 November 23, 2019 - 9:57 am

Having trouble with the referral link…how is it supposed to work? Thanks

Reply
Chris Dong November 23, 2019 - 10:09 am

Hi there! The link should open up the app (to download) for $10 free. Alternatively, you can also add the code manually: CHRISTOPHE3E4

Reply

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