Q&A
MTA's global study and participation in addressing subway surfing
2:40:06
·
5 min
Council Member Brooks-Powers inquires about the MTA's study of other global cities' approaches to subway surfing. MTA representatives discuss their participation in global transportation organizations and their efforts to address the issue on an international scale.
- MTA engages with other transit agencies globally but notes NYC's unique scale and challenges
- Chicago's approach to subway surfing is mentioned, with NYC seen as more advanced in its efforts
- MTA participates in UITP, a global transportation organization, to discuss solutions for subway surfing
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:40:06
Just a couple more brief questions.
2:40:09
I thank my colleagues for getting into the social media component of it because I think social media plays a very big role in in continuing to entice young people into thinking that this is something wise to do.
2:40:24
But has the MTA studied other global cities with similar transportation networks to determine whether they deal with a similar problem?
2:40:34
And if so, what approaches have they
Jeremy Feigelson
2:40:39
tried?
2:40:40
I'll go first.
2:40:41
Chief Kemper might wanna comment as well.
2:40:43
We talk to our, you know, fellow transit agencies, all the time about this issue and other, safety and sort of human behavior challenges.
2:40:52
Notice I said fellow agencies.
2:40:54
I didn't say peers, because, the New York City transit system is just absolutely unique in terms of its scale, the amount of service, and the breadth of service we deliver, and the amount of challenges we have to deal with.
2:41:05
So, you know, we those conversations happen all the time with, with other transit agencies, not just in the US, but globally.
2:41:14
I was on a call with, about a half a dozen transit agencies from around the world just the other day talking about fare evasion challenges, for example.
2:41:21
So I can't say that we've got a specific, sort of remedy, on the surfing issue that's come out of those conversations.
2:41:28
But I wouldn't expect it, again, given the sort of unique scale of what we're up against here in New York.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:41:33
Understanding the uniqueness of the MTA and separating that for a moment and looking at other transportation agencies globally, have you seen any that have been working to address Subway Surfing?
2:41:50
Because they have that taken place as well.
2:41:53
And looking at them and saying, that seems like a good thing to kind of continue to explore.
Michael Kemper
2:42:01
So to to your point, I I I could speak about another city in particular.
2:42:11
I had a conversation with their police department about subway surfing.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:42:14
Which city?
Michael Kemper
2:42:15
Chicago.
2:42:16
Mhmm.
2:42:18
And and they, the way it was described to me is that they had a similar issue.
2:42:22
I I'm not sure about the scale what as compared to, New York City, but as far as, their approach, you know, consider me bias, I I thought we were, collectively as a you know, all the agencies working together, you hear what we're doing.
2:42:39
And we've been doing this for, quite some time.
2:42:41
We didn't just start doing this.
2:42:43
And, you know, I I thought we were, far ahead of of what they were doing.
2:42:49
But to your point, and that is a great point, I'm I'm only here 5, 6 weeks, and, it's actually a good idea for me to reach out to some other security officers from other, transportation agencies around, not only the country, but the globe and and and see what they're doing.
2:43:05
So thank you.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
2:43:06
Yeah.
2:43:06
Because I think even in Asia, Asia is pretty forward in their transportation and their transportation infrastructure.
2:43:13
So I'll be curious to see if they experience things like that in terms of the sense sensationalizing of subway surfing in one aspect, but then how they respond to it.
2:43:28
Also, just to kind of spark maybe some thoughts on what we could be doing here to further the work that, the agency have been doing.
2:43:37
And I will echo chair Stevens in commending the fact that this is, like, one of the few instances when I've actually felt that the agencies are communicating and have been working together, which is amazing, to set that foundation.
2:43:53
But obviously, we have a lot of work to be done.
2:43:55
When you see that in this year alone, the amount of fatalities exceeds what we've seen in the over a 5 year course, so that means that something is happening that is moving more and more young people to do this, and the response has to be quicker, and maybe we have to look at other options, to that.
Franck Joseph
2:44:19
And, chair, if I may add, we're at at Transit, we're part of a organization, a global organization called UITP, and it's, you know, transportation professionals coming together and and talking about various solutions including subway surfing, and we've actually been one of the leading agencies on it, thinking through what our, you know, solves.
2:44:39
We've shared, you know, our, the campaign that we're doing.
2:44:42
We've shared, you know, various ideas that we have and people have, you know, also shared information with us on what they're doing to solve it.
2:44:50
And, you know, it's real disheartening because everything that we're doing, it frustrates us because we haven't quite got that formula right to to the degree that we wish, but we are one of the leading folks, around the globe when it comes to addressing this.
2:45:03
We're gonna continue talking to our partners on on what they're seeing.
2:45:06
And so just wanted to let you know that we are actively doing that.
