Straphangers hankering for a salty snack or a cold beverage as they traverse the subways face ever-dwindling options as more and more retail stalls in the system have gone dark in recent years.
But they may not have to go hungry or thirsty for any longer as the MTA announced Thursday that it has begun installing vending machines inside of empty retail spaces across 26 subway stations.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, during Wednesday’s MTA board meeting, said the agency has filled some of those spaces not just with vending machines, but also with traditional retail stalls or art installations.
“Vending is obviously low cost, it doesn’t require as much investment in terms of the physical installation, and it works,” Lieber said.
The MTA has already introduced the machines at three stations — 2nd Av on the F line, 23 St on the R and W lines, and 116th St on the 6 line. Another 23 stations are slated to get the retail units next year, including Atlantic Av-Barclays Center, Broadway-Lafayette St, and Flushing-Main St on the 7 line.
Lieber said the vending machines are one of the many ways that the agency is trying to fill vacant retail units since many of the traditional newsstands that occupied them shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We love the old school newsstands, but the economics of the old school newsstands eroded during COVID, and most of them didn’t want to come back,” Lieber said. “So we found a lot of different ways of animating and activating those spaces.”
The MTA selected CC Vending, Inc. to install and operate the kiosks after holding a request for proposals (RFP) process, it said. The contract between the MTA and the firm lasts for five years, with the option to extend it for another five.
The Coca-Cola Company is providing the food and beverages for the initial phase of the rollout, according to the MTA. They boast traditional vending machine fare, such as potato chips, candy bars, nuts, soda, and bottled water.
Meanwhile, the accord between the MTA and CC Vending, Inc. also allows the latter to begin selling a variety of other items, including technology, health, and beauty products, alongside snacks and beverages.
MTA Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara, in a statement, said the vending machines serve as a way to improve riders’ experience in the subway system.
“By turning vacant retail spaces into customer amenities, we are activating a space into one customers can benefit from,” Rieara said. “We’re making stations more welcoming and more convenient, and we look forward to the installation of more vending machines and greater variety.”
