CNN
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New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would resume sending automated transit alerts to Twitter on Thursday after the social media company backed away from plans to charge public service accounts for access to the platform.
In a statement Thursday, MTA Acting Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara said Twitter had tried to charge MTA more than $500,000 per year for access to its platform, but MTA refused.
“We’re pleased Twitter has committed to offering free API access to public service providers,” MTA tweetedrefers to a software interface that allows third parties to create automated posts on Twitter.
At another place tweethe added: “We know our customers miss us, so starting today, we will continue sending out service alerts on @NYCTSubway, @NYCTBus, @LIRR, and @MetroNorth.”
In recent weeks, Twitter has attempted to charge businesses a fee for the ability to access its platform. The paid plan costs $2.5 million per year for top level access. The introduction of the paywall in March sparked widespread warnings by public services of possible weather disruptions and transit warnings.
Amid the protests, Twitter changed course on Tuesday and said that verified government accounts would once again be able to post automated tweets for free.
