These subway-themed gifts will restore your faith in the MTA

It was a tough year for straphangers — an impending L train closure, subway slashings and bug pranks gone wrong. But there were also bright spots, including the promise of new trains and buses, the return of the W line and the announcement of an on-time openingfor the Second Avenue subway.

Whatever your feelings about the MTA, the NYC subway is a way of life for the city’s millions of residents, and a reminder of that feeling could be the perfect gift for the transit enthusiast in your life.

The best place to start shopping is the New York Transit Museum Store. It’s packed with official MTA merchandise, from transit line T-shirts to collectible subway signs. Try this humorous cosmetic pouch that shows improper primping behavior on public transit, or for the kids (or kids at heart), a motorized subway train set.

You subway trainmay never be on time, but you can be with this subway map clock from Zazzle.com. Or, go back in time with this vintage subway postcards that show what the old interiors once looked like.

For a more personalized gift for the home, try one of these wooden subway signs. Etsy seller SidewaySigns promises that they have been approved by the MTA and “meet their quality standards as an authentic reproduction sign.” Customized signs of any subway station or even your own made up station are available.

For more transit gift ideas, try CaffePress.com, where you can get almost any NYC transit inspired gift, including this “Pizza Rodent” shirt.

TransitGifts.com also has MTA related gifts, as well as items from Amtrak, NJ Transit and more urban transit lines.