(Bloomberg) -- Demetrius Crichlow will serve as head of subways and buses at New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, becoming the first African American to hold the position at the nation’s largest mass-transit system.
Crichlow, a third-generation MTA employee, has been serving as interim head of subways and buses since June. He takes on the role as the MTA, which runs New York City’s subway, bus and commuter rail lines, is seeking to boost ridership and cut down on fare evasion. About half of bus riders and 14% of subway users avoid paying the fare, costing the transit provider as much as $800 million this year.
Crichlow started at the MTA in 1997 as an assistant signal maintainer for the Long Island Rail Road, working his way up to overseeing operations for the commuter line at Penn Station. In 2007, he switched to MTA headquarters, eventually becoming head of the subway system.
“We have to address, as Demetrius has been doing, the loss of a sense of fairness that comes from a growth in fare evasion,” Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chief executive officer, said Wednesday during a press conference announcing Crichlow’s appointment. “Nobody likes to deal with this issue, but we have to because it’s fair to New Yorkers who want to feel like there’s one set of rules for everybody.”
The subway serves about 4 million rides each weekday, about 75% of 2019 levels, according to MTA data. While major felonies on the subway are down 6% this year compared to 2023, headline-grabbing stabbings and assaults deter ridership. There have been eight murders this year on the subway, according to New York Police Department crime data.
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