Yes — four real ones, and the cheapest costs $3 in total. The free Q70 LaGuardia Link bus runs from Terminals B and C to the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue subway station, where a $3.00 OMNY tap puts you on the E, F, M, R or 7 train into Manhattan, so the whole trip from the terminal to anywhere the subway reaches is three dollars. The M60 Select Bus Service is the only bus that runs directly between Manhattan and the airport, also for a $3.00 fare. A yellow taxi runs on the meter with no flat fare, and a booked car is quoted per trip in advance. LaGuardia has no AirTrain and no subway station of its own: every trip out of LGA starts on a bus, in a taxi or in a booked car, and the only question is what you pay for the next leg.
Free Q70 bus from LaGuardia: the $3 route to Manhattan
The Q70 LaGuardia Link has been fare-free for every rider since 2022, runs 24 hours a day with articulated buses fitted with luggage racks, and departs every 8 to 10 minutes in the daytime between Terminals B and C and the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue station, with a stop at Woodside for the Long Island Rail Road. You board at any door and pay nothing, and you only start paying when you tap into the subway at Jackson Heights — $3.00, the MTA base fare since January 2026. Transfers between bus and subway are free within two hours when you use the same OMNY payment, and OMNY caps spending at $35 per week automatically. The full trip takes 45 to 90 minutes with transfers — the cheapest ride in the city and the slowest one, and the hardest with heavy luggage, because the subway leg means stairs, crowds and a walk at the far end. From Woodside the LIRR is the faster second leg — a CityTicket costs $5.25 off-peak and $7.25 at peak, as of January 2026 — but it only helps near Penn Station or Grand Central, and it costs more than the subway. Getting to LGA Airport using public transportation follows exactly this route in reverse, and booking airport transportation from New York LaGuardia is the alternative for travellers who land with more bags than the bus can comfortably carry.
- Q70 LaGuardia Link — free, 24 hours, Terminals B and C
- Jackson Heights — E, F, M, R and 7 trains to Manhattan
- Woodside — 7 train and LIRR CityTicket connection
- Subway fare $3.00 by OMNY tap, free transfer within 2 hours
- M60-SBS — the only bus direct to Manhattan, $3.00
Skip the Bus Queue — Get Your LGA Price Now
LaGuardia taxi fare to Manhattan: the metered alternative
A yellow taxi from LaGuardia runs the standard city meter — $3.00 to start, then 70 cents per fifth of a mile above 12 mph or per 60 seconds in slow traffic — plus a $5.00 LaGuardia airport surcharge, and the usual stack on top: a 50-cent MTA state surcharge, a $1.00 improvement surcharge, a $2.50 state congestion surcharge for trips touching Manhattan below 96th Street, and a 75-cent congestion-pricing toll below 60th Street, plus any tunnel toll and a tip. There is no flat fare from LaGuardia the way there is from JFK, so the meter keeps running in traffic and the same trip costs more at 5 p.m. than at 2 a.m. The taxi wins on one thing no bus can match: it takes you to the door, with no transfer, no stairs and no walk from the station, and for a family of four with four suitcases that door-to-door trip is often worth more than the $3 bus fare saves. The taxi loses on price certainty — you will not know the final number until the meter stops — and on the surcharge stack, which adds roughly $4.75 of fixed charges before the meter has run a mile. A taxi fare from NYC to LaGuardia Airport runs on the same meter in reverse, a taxi ride from LaGuardia Airport to JFK Airport is metered the same way, and the airport closest to Manhattan is LaGuardia, which is why the metered trip is shorter than the JFK equivalent even though the fare structure is less generous.
The direct bus and the booked car
The M60 Select Bus Service is the option most visitors overlook: it is the only MTA bus that runs directly between Manhattan and LaGuardia, up 125th Street and across to the airport, for the same $3.00 fare, with no subway transfer at all. It is slower than the Q70-plus-subway combination in light traffic and faster when the subway is crowded, and it drops you on the street in Manhattan rather than in a station — which matters if your hotel is on the Upper East Side or in Harlem rather than Midtown. The fourth option is a booked car, and it is priced on a different logic from all three public options: JetBlack quotes per trip, so the price is fixed before the car arrives, the driver meets you at the terminal, and the luggage rides in the trunk rather than on your lap. The JFK–Manhattan economy sedan is published at $65 flat, and a LaGuardia trip is quoted the same way, per trip for your exact destination — ask for the finished number with tolls and tip stated separately, because flat rates exclude tolls, tip and governmental fees. One more fact changes the choice: LaGuardia now has three passenger terminals, A, B and C, since Terminal D closed in June 2022, and Terminal A is closed to the public after Spirit Airlines, its sole tenant, ceased operations on May 2, 2026, with Frontier operating from Terminal B — so the Q70 and the M60 both serve Terminals B and C, and a traveller booking a car should confirm which terminal their airline uses before giving the driver a pickup point. A LaGuardia Airport transfer is quoted per trip, travel from JFK to Times Square by car follows the same fixed-quote pattern at the other airport, and transfers from JFK Airport to Manhattan show what a quoted transfer looks like when the price is set before you land.
What is the cheapest way from LaGuardia to Manhattan?
The free Q70 LaGuardia Link bus to Jackson Heights plus a $3.00 subway tap — $3.00 in total. The Q70 has been fare-free since 2022, runs 24 hours from Terminals B and C, and connects to the E, F, M, R and 7 trains.
Is there a subway or AirTrain at LaGuardia Airport?
No. LaGuardia has no direct rail connection and no AirTrain. Every trip starts on a bus, in a taxi or in a booked car: the Q70 to the subway, the M60 bus direct to Manhattan, a metered taxi, or a pre-booked car.
How much is a taxi from LaGuardia to Manhattan?
It is metered, with no flat fare: $3.00 to start plus $0.70 per fifth of a mile, a $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge, a 50-cent MTA surcharge, a $1.00 improvement surcharge, congestion charges below 96th and 60th Streets, plus tolls and tip.
How long does the Q70 bus and subway take to Manhattan?
Plan 45 to 90 minutes with transfers, depending on the hour and your destination. A booked car or taxi is faster when traffic is light, and the M60 bus direct to Manhattan takes a similar time with no transfer.
Sources
- MTA — Getting to Manhattan from LaGuardia Airport (Q70 LaGuardia Link free; M60-SBS $3.00; transfer rules), accessed 2026-11-08
- MTA — Board Adopts Fare and Toll Increases (base fare $3.00 effective January 4, 2026; CityTicket $5.25 off-peak, $7.25 peak), accessed 2026-11-08
- NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission — Taxi Fare (meter $3.00 plus $0.70 per fifth mile; $5.00 LGA surcharge; no flat fare from LGA), accessed 2026-11-08
- LaGuardia Airport — Terminals (three terminals A, B and C since June 2022; Terminal A closed; Spirit ceased May 2, 2026; Frontier at Terminal B), accessed 2026-11-08
- JetBlack Transportation — owner-confirmed service facts (per-trip quotes; flat rates exclude tolls, tip and governmental fees; JFK–Manhattan economy sedan $65 flat; 24/7 dispatch), confirmed 2026-10-26
