Everybody agrees that the subways are just getting better and better, according to the people who run the subways. According to the MTA's third annual Customer Satisfaction Research Results the subways are cleaner, conductors are more courteous, escalators work better and really everyone is just satisfied. The only concerns New Yorkers seem to have more of is some pesky "personal safety" issues and maybe could they turn the A/C up a bit more?
To get these stunning results the MTA called up 1,829 local landlines and asked the random folks who answered if they took the subway or a bus in the last month. 1,200 of those people said yes and then stayed on the phone to chat about how much they just loved the services the MTA provides (For some context: there were 5,284,295 rides taken on the subway in 2011 on an average day). 70 percent of them are happy with the "overall value for the money using the subway!" But it really wouldn't kill them to make the temperature in subway cars a little more comfortable.
And it wasn't just the MTA's subway performance that everyone was just totally satisfied with! Bridges and Tunnels [PDF] are up five points to 85 percent satisfaction "with increases in categories including safety and security, road signs and road conditions." A new high of 78 percent of people particularly liked those electronic signs. Metro-North, meanwhile, has a 93 percent overall satisfaction rate [PDF] which is well ahead of the LIRR [PDF]—though that service is up, too, with 86 percent saying they are satisfied or very satisfied with it (that is up eight percent from last year when the weather kept getting in the way).
The only bad news for the MTA as it gets ready to ask us all for more money, was Bus Service [PDF]. The slowest of the mass transits is down one percent this year to a 69 percent satisfaction level. What can you do? Oh, just ride on the Off-Peak hours when satisfaction is a good seven percent higher. Or just wait until less people take 'em? The saddest bus stat was probably the 13 percent of bus riders who say they have recently switched from the bus to the subway. Why? "Half (49%) of the switching to the subway is because 'bus service is too slow.'" Which is why we need more SBS-style bus lanes.
So, to recap, if you'd like some good news about how much people enjoy their subway rides, we've got the report for you below. And if you want a more realistic take on how people feel about their subway rides, that is what the Straphangers Campaign's annual State of the Subways Report Card is for.
