Richard Davey came to New York City Transit in spring 2022 and immediately had to deal with the Sunset Park subway shooting, when Frank James opened fire on a N train and sent riders running for their lives. Around that same time, the fatal shooting of Daniel Enriquez aboard a Q train also shook the city.

Davey says he came in with a clear focus.

“My job day one is really in three places. It’s going to be safety and security, bringing riders back, reliability and cleanliness,” he told the press Thursday.

What You Need To Know

  • Outgoing New York City Transit president Richard Davey says under him, the system's on-time performance climbed to over 80%, up from between 50% and 60% pre-COVID
  • Davey called customer satisfaction his “North Star,” and it climbed to about 80% during his tenure
  • Davey says one of his regrets was not being able to tackle fare evasion on buses, and he wishes congestion pricing was moving forward
  • As he leaves to head MassPort, Davey hopes New Yorkers felt he made a difference

An overriding theme of his presidency, Davey called customer satisfaction his “North Star.”

“Customer satisfaction is improving, service has been getting better,” Davey said on “Mornings on 1.” “Subway service, the best in 10 years last year. In the last eight weeks, it’s been the best and maybe even more.”

Service increased on several lines, including the G, 1, and C trains. On-time performance climbed to above 80%, up from 60% to 70% pre-COVID.

Davey would use weekend and night closures for track work to give stations what he called re-NEW-vations: new paint and other cosmetic work — 83 stations were given makeovers in two years. Agents were also brought out of the token booths to interact with customers and customer satisfaction rose to 80%.

There were incidents including train derailments, and of course subway crime. But NYPD data shows transit crime has dropped below pre-pandemic levels. The main problem that persists is fare evasion.

“If you ask me what I didn’t accomplish — cracking the code on fare evasion on buses. That’s going to be up to the team to continue to push,” Davey said.

Davey spent part of his second-to-last day getting one last taste of New York at Don Pepi Deli in Penn Station, making good on a promise to eat a sandwich there before leaving.

He’ll start his new job, leading MassPort, which overseas Massachusetts’ airports and ports, in August. Davey said he didn’t expect to leave without congestion pricing moving forward.

“I was looking forward to leaving New York, having led the country in this question and now that’s in jeopardy,” Davey said.

But he’s grateful for the city, even though he couldn’t name the Yankee Stadium station Fenway South.

“This is a tremendous city, and I appreciate New Yorkers having welcomed a Bostonian with open arms,” Davey said. “You didn’t convert me into a sports fan, a New York sports fan. But it’s a really special place. And as I said two years ago, I hope that this guy from Boston has made a difference in people’s lives positively. And you know the system is in great hands. It’s an amazing team at New York City Transit. Presidents come and go, but the trains and buses always run.”