"Faster, cleaner and safer" is the mantra of New York City Transit President Richard Davey, as officials try to entice riders to return to mass transportation.

"The NYC Transit team is 100% focused on driving outcomes that strengthen our relationship with customers," Davey said at an MTA board meeting Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • The MTA released its fall survey and found riders are more satisifed with service

  • The survey also found fewer riders saying they are staying away from transit because of crime

  • NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Michael Kemper said that the mayor and governor's push for 1,200 additional cops in the subway system led to "a significant and sharp turnaround" in crime

  • However, nearly 20% of riders still said they want fewer people behaving erratically

Subway ridership regularly tops 3 million trips per weekday, which is more than 60% of pre-pandemic ridership.

Under Davey, the agency has relied heavily on surveys to monitor the riding public’s satisfaction with transit.

And a fall survey found that fewer riders are staying away from transit because of crime, compared to the MTA’s spring survey.

"For subway customers, 44% indicated riding less frequently due to personal concerns, down noticeably since the spring," Shanifah Rieara, acting chief customer officer at the MTA, told board members. "This is a clear indication that subway safety perceptions are improving."

The chief of the NYPD Transit Bureau says the October push from Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul to get 1,200 additional police officers to patrol the subway is paying off with fewer crimes.

"The results of the Cops, Cameras and Care program were swift and significant," Michael Kemper, chief of the NYPD Transit Bureau, said.

That October, when the additional cops started to patrol the subway, crime was up 41% compared to the previous year. In the past four months, crime went down more than 10.8% compared to the same period last year.

Kemper called it "a significant and sharp turnaround."

Meanwhile, on subway and bus performance, more riders reported they were satisfied, with 54% of subway riders, 64% of bus riders and 65% of Access-A-Ride Paratransit Service riders saying they are satisfied.

"Our core business is doing well. Service reliability waiting times and travel times, while improved since the spring, there is still more work to be done on unexpected delays," Rieara said.

The MTA’s survey also asked riders what would encourage them to ride the subway more often. Nearly 20% said they want fewer people behaving erratically. And to ride the bus more often, 20% said they wanted shorter waits for their weekday trips.