On The Heels Of A Fare Increase, Summertime Ridership Survey Says 93% of Metro-North Customers are Satisfied With Service

New York, NY (December 14, 2010) – Metro-North riders found a note from the railroad on their seats tonight. The note was not about a service problem – it was an explanation of the 11.1% fare increase scheduled to take effect on December 30, 2010. In addition to the price up-tick for fares in New York State, the type of tickets sold and the terms they’re sold under have changed.

All WebTicket (internet purchase) discounts are being eliminated and a few types of tickets will no longer be sold via the web. Special event, ‘Getaway’, single day one-way and round trip tickets will no longer be available. The Mail&Ride 4% discount is being reduced to 2% or eliminated for travel between New York State stations. On-board step-up, ride extension and senior fares are also being increased. One-way and round trip tickets will be refundable only from 30 days of purchase, down from 6-months.
A $10 ticket refund processing fee will be implemented for redemption of unused or partially used tickets.
The life of issued tickets is being reduced. One-way and round trippers live only 14 days (reduced from 6 months) and ten-trips are reduced from 1 year to 6 months.

The bad news follows the good news Metro-North Railroad received that 93% of the customers surveyed this past June said overwhelmingly that they were satisfied with the train service overall. The poll had a range of topics from comfort, seat availability, and scheduling, to on-time performance and employee courtesy. The railroad also surpassed its sister commuter rail agency, Long Island Rail Road, for ridership last month.
"We at Metro-North are gratified that our customers are for the most part happy about taking our trains and that our front line employees continue to get extremely high ratings - 96% are satisfied with the courtesy and responsiveness of employees," said Metro-North President Howard Permut. "We will increase our efforts to improve in areas customers are least satisfied with, such as the perennial problems - toilets, both on trains and in stations, and communications during disruptions," he added.
Customer satisfaction is highest on the Harlem Line at 97% and the Hudson Line at 96%. The New Haven rating lagged at 88%, mostly due to the age of railcars and a chronic car shortage. This rating is expected to improve dramatically when 342 new M-8 fleet is introduced. Because the ratings are weighted by ridership and the low rating on the New Haven line, which is the busiest, brings down the overall satisfaction rating to 93 %.
On the two lines west of the Hudson (operated by NJ Transit under contract to Metro-North), the Port Jervis Line satisfaction rating is 84%, owing mainly to complaints about scheduling, and the Pascack Valley Line is 93%, higher because of the recent expansion of service with increased frequency.
Back on the East of Hudson side, among time periods, weekday off-peak and weekend off-peak got the highest ratings at 95% each, followed by the reverse peak at 93% and inbound AM peak at 92%. By line segment, the Upper Harlem and Lower Hudson each scored 98% satisfaction. The lowest ratings went to the Outer New Haven at 88% and the Inner New Haven at 89%.