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Notice of claim deadlines for transit agencies

Most public transit systems set two deadlines: one for the notice of claim, and a later one for the lawsuit.

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A notice of claim is a written letter or form that lets a public transit agency know you were injured and that you want payment for those injuries. Many agencies need to receive it before you're allowed to sue. The deadline is often much shorter than the deadline for filing a lawsuit. In New York City, the limit is 90 days from the accident.

Notice deadline for each transit system

Send the notice within 90 days
MTA New York City Transit and NJ Transit (New Jersey)
Send the notice within 180 days
TriMet (Portland) and Valley Metro (Phoenix)
Send the notice within 182 days
RTD (Denver)
Send the notice within 1 year
Maryland Transit Administration (Baltimore)
Send the notice within 2 years
MBTA (the T, Boston)
No notice; file a lawsuit within 1 year
CTA (Chicago) and Metra (Chicago area trains)
No notice; file a lawsuit within 1 year and 90 days
LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) and Metro-North (New York and Connecticut)
No notice; file a lawsuit within 2 years
MARTA (Atlanta) and Brightline (Florida)
No notice; file a lawsuit within 3 years (DC, Maryland), 2 years (Virginia)
Metro (WMATA, Washington, DC)

180 days, 182 days and 6 months are close but not the same: each comes from that state's own law.

Filing a claim notice with NYC Transit

Were you hurt on a subway train or a NYC Transit bus? Then your notice has to reach NYC Transit no later than 90 days after the accident. Handing it in on your own is fine. Registered or certified mail works too, and its receipt proves you sent it.

Your notice goes straight to NYC Transit, rather than the city's own offices. The city's claims office confirms that these claims belong with NYC Transit.

Suing comes with a separate, longer time limit. For NYC Transit, that limit is 1 year and 90 days from the accident.

What should a New York notice include?

Your notice has to be written down and sworn. Sworn means you sign it as true under oath, or someone acting on your behalf does.

It includes your name and address, plus your lawyer's name and address when you have one. It states when and where the accident took place and describes how it happened. Finally, it names the injuries you're aware of at that point.

What happens if you miss the 90-day notice of claim?

New York judges can still accept a late notice. The judge looks mainly at whether the agency knew the key facts by the end of those 90 days, or shortly after. But a late notice is never allowed once the lawsuit deadline has passed. For NYC Transit, that's 1 year and 90 days.

New Jersey gives you the same 90-day window to notify NJ Transit. A judge there may accept a late notice, but only within 1 year of the accident. You would also need to show, in signed statements, a serious reason why the notice was late.

Deadlines in other states

Each transit system has its own deadlines for the notice and the lawsuit.

Missed California's 6-month window? You can still put in a written request asking to file your claim late. That request has to come within 1 year of the accident.

Colorado is stricter. If you miss RTD's 182 days, the right to sue is gone for good.

Questions people often ask

Who can complete the notice of claim?

A lawyer can handle it for you, or you can fill it out on your own. In both cases, you or someone acting for you signs it under oath.

How much time do you have for a notice of claim in New York?

With NYC Transit, the notice is due in 90 days and the lawsuit in 1 year and 90 days.

What is a notice of claim for?

It lets the agency know about your claim, giving it a chance to investigate what happened before any lawsuit gets going.