Only 48 percent of straphangers satisfied with the subway, according to latest MTA survey
Central Park North at 110th Street was rated the worst subway station by commuters; Photo by Adam Moss on Flickr
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday announced the results of its spring 2022 customer satisfaction survey for New York City transit. According to the survey, just 48 percent of respondents were satisfied with the subway system, with safety and security as the top issues for disatisfied riders. When looking at specific subway lines, straphangers rated the D as the worst and the L train as the best.
Chart courtesy of the MTA
The MTA conducts a survey bi-annually to collect riders’ opinions on each transit option. In this latest survey, 175,000 subway riders, 47,000 bus riders, and 3,500 access-a-ride riders submitted ratings.
The survey results showed that the L train had a 53 percent satisfaction rate, followed closely by the G with 52 percent, the Q with 51 percent, and the 7 with 50 percent. The higher reliability rating for the L and 7 trains can be attributed to their newer communications-based train control automated signaling systems, according to AMNY.
The D came in last in the survey, with only 40 percent of riders expressing satisfaction with the train line, followed by the A and E lines at 41 percent and the J and Z lines at 42 percent.
The MTA also asked riders to rate the city’s subway stations. Of the five lowest-rated stations, three are in Harlem (Central Park North, 116th Street, and 125th Street) and two are in the Bronx (3rd Avenue-149th Street and 191st Street).
Commuters gave the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum station the highest marks, with a 91 percent satisfaction rate, followed by Wilson Avenue, Gun Hill Road, 96th Street, and Beverley Road stations.
“Our North Star is improving and maintaining focus on customer satisfaction,” NYC Transit president Richard Dave said. “We take feedback seriously and want all our customers to feel confident that they will experience reliable and safe service every time they take subways and buses. We are thrilled more people are returning to ride and are looking forward to learning from their continuing feedback.”
According to the spring survey, the major drivers of subway experience include the feeling of personal security in both trains and stations, service reliability, people behaving erratically on trains, and homelessness on trains.
Out of all the city’s transit options, express buses received the highest satisfaction rate at 76 percent. Local, limited, and select buses had a 63 percent rate, and access-a-ride had a 61 percent rate.
Results showed that transit riders were most satisfied with local, limited, and select buses in Manhattan, with 76 percent of riders expressing satisfaction. The lowest satisfaction rate for these buses was in the Bronx, with 59 percent expressing satisfaction.
The highest rated local, limited, and select bus route was the M86 SBS bus with a 91 percent overall rating, followed by the M79 SBS at 90 percent, the M104 at 84 percent, the Q70 SBS at 82 percent, and the M31 at 81 percent.
The B7 and Bx40 buses received the lowest satisfaction at 48 percent, followed by the S40/90 at 47 percent, the B14 at 45 percent, and the Q55 at 44 percent.
According to the survey, the most important drivers of customer satisfaction in the bus lines are wait time and service reliability. Other important factors included crowding, travel time, cleanliness, personal security, delays, people wearing masks, and price of fares.
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