On-Time Performance Remains Above 75%, Up from Approximately 60% Last February; Number of Delays Fell by Nearly 20,000 *Per Month*; Major Incidents Fell to 48, Down 14% Since Last February; Substantial Improvements Seen Across Broad Range of Metrics 

Subway Action Plan Launched by Governor Andrew Cuomo‎ in 2017, and Funded by Governor, Legislature and City to Stabilize and Improve Aging System

MTA: Progress Comes While Authority is Undergoing Major Cost Cutting and Consolidation – Additional Revenue from Congestion Pricing and City and State Partners is Needed to Continue Progress and Avoid Massive Fare Hikes

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) President Patrick Foye, New York City Transit President Andy Byford, and Subway Senior Vice President Sally Librera today announced new statistics showing the continued dramatic subway performance improvements that have been achieved since the launch of the Subway Action Plan and Save Safe Seconds, including the fewest number of weekday delays that the system has seen in almost five years. Weekday On-Time Performance continues to be significantly improved over 2018, and weekday major incidents are declining steadily. In addition, customer-based performance numbers pointed higher, and Mean Distance Between Failure for the subway rolling stock is trending in a positive direction. MTA officials today said that these results show the Subway Action Plan and NYCT’s Save Safe Seconds campaign and “back-to-basics” approach is paying dividends for riders across the system.

The Subway Action Plan was launched at the direction of Governor Andrew Cuomo‎ in July 2017, and funded by the governor, legislature and city, with the goal of taking extraordinary measures to stabilize and improve the more than 100-year old subway system.

"This is another example that the funds invested in the Subway Action Plan by Governor Cuomo, the legislature, and city are delivering sustained improvements and tangible benefits," said MTA President Patrick Foye. "To keep this momentum going, we will need to secure additional and dependable revenue sources so that we can continue the work of improving our system to deliver a service our customers deserve.”

“We are now seeing numbers that show consistent and sustained improvements resulting from the Subway Action Plan and Save Safe Seconds,” said MTA New York City Transit President Andy Byford. “Our ability to reduce our major daily incidents is resulting in fewer delays, faster trains, and an overall better experience for our customers.”

Weekday On-Time Performance for February was approximately 76.4%, an increase of 14.7% from February 2018 and only 0.3% below January 2019. February statistics also show a greater durability in the subway rolling stock as the Mean Distance Between Failures was 131,798 miles, an increase of 3.0% from February 2018; 12-month average MDBF increased 1.5% from last February.

Positive numbers were also realized in many of our customer-focused metrics, including Service Delivered, Additional Platform Time, Additional Train Time, and Customer Journey Time Performance. All trended higher than February 2018 and their 12-month averages. Most notably, Customer Journey Time Performance for February was 82.0%, an increase of 4.3% from last February, and the Additional Train Time or average additional unanticipated time customers spend onboard the train due to various service issues, dropped 27% from February of last year.

MTA officials noted that Weekday Major Incidents totaled 48 for the month of February, down 14.3% from 56 in February 2018 and 52 last month, and only the second time they have been below fifty since the metric has been measured. Weekday Delays in February were 37,119, a reduction of 38.6% from February 2018, and the lowest monthly total since August 2014.

Officials continue to stress that the MTA is in a dire financial position, with an operating budget deficit of approximately $500 million as early as next year, growing to nearly $1 billion by 2022.  The MTA also has zero funding allocated for its next capital plan (2020-2024). In order for this progress to continue, it is absolutely necessary to pass congestion pricing and secure additional and reoccurring revenue from city and state funding partners. Without additional revenue from congestion pricing, fares would increase by approximately 30%, over currently scheduled increases.