The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has requested more information from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) regarding its efforts to address violent crime on its transit systems. This request comes after the MTA did not adequately respond to safety concerns raised by the Department of Transportation in March.
According to a report by the New York Post, incidents of assault have increased by 66% compared to 2019. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy expressed dissatisfaction with the MTA's response, stating, "MTA giving USDOT the runaround when New York City grapples with a dramatic uptick in subway assaults is unacceptable." He emphasized that victims and commuters deserve better protection and called for improved security measures.
In March, Secretary Duffy had asked Janno Lieber, MTA Chair and CEO, to detail actions being taken to enhance safety on subways and buses, reduce crime, and address fare evasion. The MTA's response on March 30th was deemed insufficient as it lacked specific answers about resource allocation for crime deterrence.
The FTA is now demanding detailed information on several points: criteria for selecting effective safety risk mitigations, metrics for measuring their effectiveness, the operational status of surveillance cameras, and potential revisions to train car designs to include open gangways.
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