and Lines with Highest Customer Satisfaction Rates
268,500 Customers Submitted Evaluations
View Spring 2022 Bi-Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for LIRR and Metro-North Here
View Spring 2022 Bi-Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for NYC Transit Here
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the results of the bi-annual Spring 2022 Customer Satisfaction Survey for New York City Transit (NYCT), Metro-North Railroad, and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The survey is used to gauge MTA customer satisfaction by receiving feedback on the customer experience across the Authority’s agencies. The scope of the survey covered a vast number of topics ranging from service reliability and on-time performance to station cleanliness and personal security.
Customer satisfaction has been a key component in the MTA’s strategic initiative to improve the overall customer experience as it continues to welcome back customers to the transit system. The MTA has taken unprecedented measures since the customer satisfaction survey was initiated last year and continues to welcome feedback from customers on a bi-annual basis.
“Our North Star is improving and maintaining focus on customer satisfaction,” said New York City Transit President Richard Davey. “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.”
“Ensuring our customers have the best experience possible is our top priority, said Metro-North Railroad President and LIRR Interim President Catherine Rinaldi. “We appreciate our customers taking the time to take the survey, and we are paying attention to their feedback as we welcome back more riders to both commuter rails.
“The customer satisfaction survey shows our customers are finding their experience using all modes of mass transit to be better overall,” said MTA Acting Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara. “New Yorkers are letting us know what they like and what they feel needs work, and we appreciate their participation by taking the survey. We will do everything we can to make our customers feel most comfortable whether they are using the subway, buses, and the commuter rails.”
For this latest survey, here’s a breakdown of participation:
- 175,000 New York City Transit subway customers submitted evaluations
- 47,000 New York City Transit bus customers submitted evaluations
- 22,000 LIRR customers submitted evaluations
- 21,000 Metro-North customers submitted evaluations
- 3,500 Access-A-Ride customers submitted evaluations
The Spring 2022 Customer Satisfaction survey was conducted from June 14 to June 27 and was offered in nine languages including English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Italian, Haitian Creole, and Bangla. The survey was also offered to customers by phone for those who preferred speaking to a live agent. The MTA, in total, received 268,500 evaluations and survey responses. The Authority also initiated a change in the methodology of the survey conducted in the Spring of 2022 by standardizing and unifying the scale across all agencies, eliminating neutral as an option, and unveiling a new ten-point scale, rather than the previous five-point scale featured in the Fall 2021 survey.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Overall satisfaction for personal security while on board trains increased for both LIRR and Metro-North since the last survey conducted in the Fall of 2021. For subway customers, the top concerns included safety and security. For bus customers, overall satisfaction increased, and customers’ top concerns included service and reliability.
Below are customer service highlights from each of the MTA’s agencies:
LIRR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Overall satisfaction increased by two percentage points to 81% since the Fall 2021 survey.
- LIRR line level satisfaction has increased for nearly all lines. Port Washington scores are up significantly by seven percentage points from the Fall 2021 survey to 85%.
- Key drivers of satisfaction for LIRR are primarily service-related, including service reliability, on-time performance, and seat availability.
- Fares are the most important driver of satisfaction for LIRR customers.
- Oyster Bay and West Hempstead branches gained four percentage points since the last customer satisfaction survey was conducted in the Fall of 2021.
METRO-NORTH HIGHLIGHTS:
- Overall satisfaction remains extremely high with 87% of customers saying they were satisfied or very satisfied.
- Key drivers of satisfaction are service-related, which includes service reliability, on-time performance, and seat availability.
- On-time performance, service reliability, seat availability, personal security on board, safety from accidents, and cleanliness all ranked in the mid to upper 80-percentile.
- Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines have all achieved high overall customer satisfaction scores ranging from 85% to 89%.
- Nearly two-thirds of customers list their top reason for riding less frequently is the ability to work from home.
NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT HIGHLIGHTS:
SUBWAY
- Satisfaction rates are at 48%.
- Safety and security were indicated as extremely important to subway customers, and satisfaction scores in that area remain low.
- Very important key drivers for customers overall subway experience include personal security on trains and stations, people behaving erratically on trains, service reliability, and homelessness on trains.
- Eastern Pkwy–Brooklyn Museum subway station was the highest rated subway station with an overall 91% station rating and an 87% cleanliness rating.
- Service attributes also show as very important, with higher satisfaction scores.
- Among those using the subway less now than they did before COVID, personal security was the most mentioned reason for the reduction in use.
BUSES
- Local, Limited and Select Bus customers provided 63% satisfaction rate.
- Bus customers are more concerned and less satisfied with service than they are with safety and security.
- Very important key drivers for Local, Limited and Select Bus customers include wait time and service reliability.
- Important key drivers include crowding on buses, travel time, others wearing masks on buses, cleanliness, fares, unexpected delays, and personal security.
- Express Bus customers are more satisfied at 76% overall.
- SBS M86 bus was the overall highest rated bus route with a 91% route ranking.
- For those reducing use of Local, Limited and Select buses, service quality and COVID concerns were the most mentioned reason, and the ability to work from home was the most mentioned reason for reduced use among Express bus customers.
ACCESS-A-RIDE
- Access-A-Ride customers provided 61% satisfaction rates.
- Among the attributes measured on the survey for AAR service, on time pick up and the ride showing up were the most important, and both are rated lower by customers than their overall experience.
- Important key drivers for customer experience include drivers’ ability to drive safely, travel time, and ability to secure ride for the day and time requested.
The MTA conducted a robust outreach campaign to invite participation and ensure a statistically valid sample. Outreach has included extensive marketing and a recruitment campaign, including a direct email blast sent to 2.2 million MTA customers. Customers were also notified through the Authority’s social media channels.
The MTA will continue to engage more deeply with Metro-North, LIRR, and NYC Transit subway and bus management teams to provide additional details and context to the results of the Spring 2022 Customer Satisfaction survey.
The MTA’s top priority is to work with the teams from service delivery, customer journey experience, accessibility, and communications to help define and support improvement initiatives.