By Scott Etkin
The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) released results from its latest customer survey this week showing slight gains in satisfaction across many areas — while still leaving plenty of room for improvement — as the system tries to rebound from the many changes brought on by the pandemic.
Eighty-thousand New Yorkers gave their input for the spring 2023 survey, which is conducted twice a year (in the spring and fall). Subway, bus and paratransit services (Access-a-Ride) all received higher satisfaction rates compared to spring 2022. The average subway satisfaction rate was 56% (up 8 points year-over-year), and Local, Limited and Select Bus customer satisfaction levels were 65% — leaving both scores below the MTA’s goal of 70% satisfaction by 2024.
For subway riders, the most important factor in their experience was, not surprisingly, matters of personal safety. Specifically, “people behaving erratically on board trains” was the single-most important issue. While “personal security on trains” and “personal security in stations” improved by 1% and 3%, respectively, since last fall, more than two-thirds of people are still dissatisfied with the amount of erratic behavior they’re seeing.
Service reliability was the next most important category for customers, and more than half are satisfied (56%), which is unchanged since last fall. On-board satisfaction rates for UWS trains are right around the average for all train lines (54%):
- 1 Line: 56% satisfaction (up 2% from last fall)
- 2 Line: 52% satisfaction (up 1%)
- 3 Line: 55% satisfaction (up 2%)
- B Line: 55% satisfaction (down 2%)
- C Line: 51% satisfaction (up 2%)
Satisfaction data was not provided for individual bus routes. The closest breakdown is by borough, which showed that Manhattan has the best scores. Local, Limited and Select buses in Manhattan had a 76% satisfaction rate (flat since the previous survey), well above the citywide average score of 69%.
Commuters around West 86th Street tend to be particularly happy with their service. The 86th Street B/C Line came in as one of the highest-rated stations in the city (83% satisfaction). The M86 Select Bus Service (SBS) and M79 SBS were also among the highest-ranked bus lines, with 88% and 93% satisfaction ratings, respectively.
In the report, MTA highlighted higher satisfaction scores at stations that have been recently renovated (as part of the MTA’s “Re-NEW-vation” program) or received a new customer service center. Neither of these improvements have taken place on the Upper West Side so far.
Also of note: 4 out of 10 riders use OMNY, the tap-to-pay system, instead of a MetroCard. People tend to enjoy this relatively new addition to subways and busses, giving it a 79% satisfaction rate. The rollout of OMNY started in May 2019 and finished in December 2020.
For those looking to give their input, the next MTA customer experience survey will take place in the fall. In the meantime, riders can contact the MTA at this link.
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I believe the survey is only online so that leaves out some riders.
As for use of OMNY – that should be clarified as “of riders who pay”.
There is massive, routine fare beating. For example in some stations, the door is opened and people flood in.
BTW recently saw a person unsuccessfully jump the turnstile.
I offered to pay her fare.
She declined – and tried again to jump the turnstile.
Not a great scientific sample, but as an UWSider, I would give the subways something in the 80-90% range. I have never had a safety issue (and I ride 24/7), for the most part service is frequent enough and breakdowns have become exceedingly rare. Trains are fairly clean. I do fault the police for not cracking down on farebeating, but most things I don’t like about the system have to do with the people that ride, not the way the system is run. The buses are a different story…
so now that justified the price increase starting from August , so MTA can waste the money for more displays in the stations ! the reality is most of the stations smell a pee or weed !
You mean the joke of a survey that takes 20 minutes to fill out.
I say that I’m a Hawaiian speaker of Vietnamese ancestry who takes the shortest subway rides for my commute from SI to Manhattan through the Bronx.
It’s not a serious survey.
The DA’s office has personally spoken at a Community Precinct Meeting and said that they do not want to put anyone in jail for fare beating/jumping turnstiles, etc because that person will then be exposed to negative things and it could make them worse. There you have it. Right out of the DA’s office’s mouth.
So if they are given a summons and do not pay it, nothing happens.
Have any complaints? Call DA Bragg’s office and your local elected officials. And now we all pay more our subway rides with deranged mentally ill people – which is why personal safety was the #1 concern.
I was one of the folks subject to the MTA police humiliation on the SBS. The machine hadn’t produced a receipt. They hauled me off the bus, ran my card into the reader next to them. It also did not produce a receipt, and they charged my card multiple times. Grr.
Fares will be going up and congestion pricing is looming which will impact on taxis and a Uber among everything else.
Given demographics of Manhattan it would not be surprising to see more young/healthy people switch to Citibike – and abandon the subway and bus.
That would be a disaster for the bus and subway system.
If it’s ok to beat the fare on the subway then why do they employ the MTA police to harass and fine riders on the SBS routes? Serious question. They have no trouble pulling seniors, non English speaking persons, and young students off the bus because they can’t produce their paper receipt or pull up their proof-of-payment on their apps fast enough. This has been going on since the first route was introduced on 2nd avenue years before Covid. They were aggressive then and they’re aggressive now. Why not put them down in the subway?
It’s another form of fare-beating. The police actually issue summonses for fare-beating in the subway as well, and probably to the same extent that they check the SBS routes. You’re much more likely to see it on an SBS bus because you’re on it for 10-20 minutes, while you pass thru the subway turnstiles quickly. Personally, I don’t care how you beat the fare and how old you are or whether or not you speak English. Why should anyone be allowed to ride an SBS bus without paying?
I never said that anyone should be allowed to beat the fare. In addition to the 30 minute ride, I’m waiting at the stop for 15-20 minutes twice a day. The MTA police don’t leisurely get on the bus. They storm on the bus in a group screaming at the passengers. I don’t want to see seniors, nannies with kids, or school age kids that have been waiting at the stop with me, get pulled off the bus and lined up on the street like criminals because they panic and can’t produce their paper or e receipts fast enough. And just for the record, the bus has to sit there while they’re going through everyone’s phones.
Everything about this system completely defeats the purpose of the SBS routes!
Really? Have you actually seen a rider pulled off the bus who produced a receipt to show to the police, but didn’t do it “fast enough”? I honestly have a hard time believing that.
Because they also feel safer above ground. Sent
I used to take the subway everywhere until I got fed up with the ” erratic behavior” around 2016 and started riding my bike to work. We used to take the bus for short distances but the behavior was even more erratic. Now I only walk or take a cab
Just because subway riders say that they’re “satisfied” doesn’t mean that they’re enthusiastic about using the system or genuinely want to use the system. What people need to understand is that the overwhelming majority of people merely tolerate the subways, they’re there because they have to be there. Only a subway buff would say they love riding the subway or maybe recently arrived transplants from Iowa who never saw a subway in their lives.
I didn’t know that the goal of the subway was to run a system that riders love. I thought their goal was to run a system that’s safe, clean and efficient. Whether or not they’re doing that is an entirely different story, but I’m pretty sure love is not part of their mission statement.
When you run a system that people merely tolerate and are there because they have to be there, then people look for any excuse to leave, especially when there’s a mode of transportation that is very compelling and makes the grass look much greener on the other side. We’ve seen this with cars, we’ve seen this with Uber/Lyft, we’ve seen this with express buses in the outer boros and UES where they had 2 routes (X90 and X92), we’ve seen this with Citibike.
Failing grades, across the board. What a surprise, given the insistence that critical transportation infrastructure must also double as a mental ward.
Whatever happened to the much publicized Mayor’s Subway Safety Plan of mere 12-15 months ago? Let me guess – failed miserably due to lack of political will – and was swiftly swept under the rug.