MTA Studies Millennials to Meet Their Transit Needs

Matt Flegenheimer writes about how the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to meet future transit needs. It "constructed a detailed profile of the millennial — broadly defined as a traveler born after 1980".

The authority said that much of its research into millennial trends came from rider surveys. In his presentation, (William Wheeler, the authority’s director of special project development and planning) noted that one of the top priorities for young passengers was up-to-the-minute train information “so they can make quick decisions.”

MTA is already meeting that need for the Metro-North Railroad. "(A)s part of a package of service improvements announced on Monday, (it) will invest $1.7 million per year to add “real-time customer information displays” at all of its stations in New York State by 2020."

In his companion, on-line piece, Flegenheimer writes about other aspects of the "$18 million package of service improvements — the second time in two years that the authority has enhanced or restored service that had been cut in 2010 amid a budget shortfall."

“For the second year in a row, the state has invested in significant enhancements and expansions to our state’s transit system that will improve the experience of the eight million commuters who use the M.T.A.,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement.

Non-millennials will be pleased to see that other, non-technology improvements include more frequent bus, subway, and commuter service.