Why the @FakeMTA Joke Train Rolls On

Josh Oswald, one of the founders of the satirical Twitter account, @FakeMTA, says his 17,800 followers are guaranteed to get riled up on three occasions: when a subway fare hike is announced; when, as happened this past Sunday, a fare hike takes effect; and massive train delays. 

That, he jokes, is why he never expects to run out of material.

Oswald and his Twitter partner, Reed Jackson, are in the eighth year of their experiment in dishing up comedic catharsis for the millions of minions who slog through the system each day. @FakeMTA mimics MTA service alerts, often with a pop culture twist — like this one, which appeared soon after the epic envelope mix-up at The Oscars:

Faye Dunaway slams into turnstile after Warren Beatty hands her expired MetroCard.

— Fake MTA (@FakeMTA) February 28, 2017

It's gotten to the point that when straphangers tweet a complaint at the MTA, they routinely tag @FakeMTA, as if calling them in for back-up. 

"We're seen as a sympathetic ear," Oswald said. "Everybody rides the trains and everybody hears the reasons for why it's down. No one believes it. So we're kind of like an inside joke that eight million people can share."

Listen to the story to hear how @FakeMTA has turned a particular subway line into Donald Trump's alter ego, and why Josh Oswald says that, fundamentally, the MTA is to be praised.