LaGuardia to Manhattan: Free Q70, M60 Bus or Taxi Costs

Your options from LaGuardia

The MTA's own advice is that traffic decides the trip: by public transport, "your trip could take up to an hour or more", depending on route and traffic (MTA LaGuardia guide, checked 19 October 2026).

The free Q70 to the subway

The Q70 LaGuardia Link costs nothing to board. The MTA's LaGuardia-to-NYC page says it leaves Terminals B and C every 8 to 10 minutes and runs nonstop to the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Av/74 St-Broadway subway station in about 15 minutes in typical traffic. The Q70 schedule lists the 7, E, F, M and R at that stop and a 24-hour span of service.

From Terminal A, take the airport shuttle to Terminal B first, or use the M60, which the MTA says is quicker from Terminal A.

At Jackson Heights you tap into the subway for $3. Which line to take depends on where you are going. The 7 runs to Grand Central-42 St, 5 Av, Times Sq-42 St and 34 St-Hudson Yards; the E runs to Lexington Av/53 St, 42 St-Port Authority, 34 St-Penn Station and the World Trade Center. Check your hotel's nearest station before you board.

The M60 SBS: $3 to upper Manhattan

The M60 Select Bus Service stops at Terminals A, B and C and runs across to Manhattan, with stops at 106th, 116th and 120th Streets on Broadway and several along 125th Street. It connects with the subway along 125th Street and at 116th Street, and with Metro-North at Harlem-125 St.

The MTA's LaGuardia-to-NYC page gives two prices for the M60, $3 in one place and $2.90 in another. The MTA's other airport guides and the subway both use $3, so plan on $3. Tap to pay as you board, and tap the same card at the subway gate: transfers between bus and subway are free for two hours with the same card or device.

Choose the M60 if you are staying in Harlem, Morningside Heights or the Upper West Side, or if you land at Terminal A.

LaGuardia taxi fares and surcharges

LaGuardia has no flat fare. Trips run on the meter, and the Port Authority's taxi page publishes estimates to Manhattan that exclude tips, tolls and MTA congestion pricing (checked 19 October 2026):

The TLC fare page, which sets the rules, adds to the meter ($3.00 start, then 70 cents per fifth of a mile or per minute in slow traffic):

• $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge on trips to and from the airport
• $2.00 airport access fee for pickups at LaGuardia
• $0.50 MTA State Surcharge and $1.00 Improvement Surcharge
• $2.50 congestion surcharge for trips into Manhattan south of 96th Street
• $0.75 congestion pricing toll in Manhattan at or below 60th Street
• $2.50 weekdays 4pm–8pm, or $1.00 overnight from 8pm to 6am
• Tolls and tip

If the route uses a tolled crossing such as the RFK Bridge or the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the E-ZPass car toll is $7.46 (effective 4 January 2026), which drivers add to the fare.

Worked costs for one, two and four people

Assume a Times Square hotel and an off-peak daytime arrival. One card can pay the subway fare for up to four people once it has already made a ride, according to the MTA's tap-and-ride page; otherwise each adult taps their own card.

The per-person taxi range starts from the Port Authority's low estimate plus the $3.25 in congestion charges. The Port Authority does not say whether its estimates already include the TLC's $5 LaGuardia surcharge, $2 access fee and $1.50 in state and improvement surcharges, so the top end adds those and one $7.46 toll to its high estimate. Even shared four ways, the cab costs about three to six times the bus-and-subway route. It earns its price when you have big cases, small children or a late arrival, because the Q70 and the subway both mean carrying luggage up and down stairs.