Traffic congestion has been bad in New York City for almost as long as there have been automobiles in America. With its narrow streets and high population density, it is physically impossible for all of New York's citizens to drive their own cars. You won't see any gas stations or branches of the Vancouver auto body shop in Manhattan. This is because the majority of people traveling in this densest of boroughs take the subway. If you're planning on moving to New York City, the subway is something you'll want to become familiar with.

The New York City subway is one of the oldest public transit systems in the entire world. There are 400 stations connected by 230 miles of track that carry five million people per day to their destinations on weekdays. That's more than all the other public transit systems in the United States put together. New Yorkers never have to worry about being called in to their electronic circuit design firm in the middle of the night because the subway runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The history of the New York subway system goes all the way back to the Beach Pneumatic Transit system, which was demonstrated in 1869. This portion of track was not incorporated into the city system when it was launched in the 1900s. The vast majority of the track is deep underground in tunnels that also carry gas lines, cable glands, and sometimes telephone wires.

Regardless of where you want to go in New York City, the subway can at least get you within walking distance. There are 26 different color coded lines designated by letter/number symbols and names that serve all five boroughs. If you were to set out across town at the same time as a friend in a vehicle, you would likely arrive first unless your friend was driving a municipal vehicle with lights and sirens in the middle of the night. If you're riding the subway at night, be careful as crime on the subway is not uncommon.

The basic fare to ride the New York subway is $2.25. You can pay this to the clerk at the turnstile. Alternatively if you've caught on to the tech trend with automatic waterers and ATMs and you ride the subway a lot, you can buy a MetroCard from vending machines at the stations that are good for certain time periods (usually 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month) and save some money.