NYC’s New Subway Chief Eyes Better Service to Boost Ridership

(Bloomberg) -- New York City's new subway and bus chief will focus on how to improve service as the biggest public transportation system in the nation works to bring more riders back to its mass transit network.

Richard Davey, a former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation who also ran Boston's mass-transit system, will begin his tenure on May 2 as President of New York City Transit at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the city's subways, buses and commuter rail lines.

Like most public transportation systems in the U.S., the MTA's subways and buses need more investment to improve service as the agency must also focus on cost-effectiveness, Davey told reporters Tuesday at MTA's headquarters in downtown Manhattan.

“The riders deserve a better system and want a better system,” he said, sitting next to Janno Lieber, MTA's chief executive officer and Davey's new boss. “And so it's incumbent on us in transit to be efficient to see if there are better ways to do business, but at the same time I'm also pretty convinced -- having just spent a few days here -- that there's going to have to be investment.”

Davey will be joining the MTA as its main focus is to boost ridership as many people continue to work at least part of the week from home. The average New York City office worker plans to cut time in the office by 49%, according to Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University.

The MTA's weekday subway ridership is nearly 60% of pre-pandemic levels. Increasing ridership will help the transit agency address an estimated $2 billion budget deficit in 2026.

Crime has increased on the system during the pandemic as more people are sheltering in the subway's stations and trains. There were 461 reported assaults in the subway last year, the most since 1997. Mayor Eric Adams, who took office in January, has increased police presence in the system.

Davey plans to work with the New York City Police Department and mental-health outreach workers to reduce crime. To improve service, he'll focus on the subway's power system, signals and tracks to reduce delays.

“Really rolling up our sleeves in the nitty gritty of the system is what I'll bring,” Davey said.

Davey served as general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which oversees Boston's mass transit, before becoming Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of Massachusetts' Department of Transportation from 2011 through 2014.