LIRR rider backlash to new ticket policy drives down satisfaction rating

The LIRR’s restrictive new ticket policies, which reduced validity periods from weeks to hours and can hit riders with an $8 surcharge for activating an electronic ticket right before it's scanned, have helped drive down the railroad’s customer satisfaction rate to its lowest level in two years, new figures show.

Now some Metropolitan Transportation Authority leaders are also criticizing the policies, which have resulted in 4% of electronic ticket users being charged penalties, according to MTA figures.

The newly released results of the railroad's spring survey registered overall customer satisfaction at 73%, down from 80% in the fall, and the lowest level since the spring of 2024, when it was at 70%. 

While various factors contributed to falling customer satisfaction, including weather-related service disruptions and a fare increase last winter, Tatyana Levina, the MTA's senior director of market research, said "the majority of the issue" appeared to be unhappiness over new ticket policies enacted in January that radically changed how many customers pay for their rides.

In addition to eliminating some options, like round-trip and ten-trip tickets, the new policies reduced the validity period of one-way tickets from 60 days to 4 a.m. the day after purchase. Users of electronic tickets, which account for about three-quarters of all tickets sold, are also being hit with a new $8 surcharge for repeated late activations.

Levina revealed that the fee is charged "after three unique instances" of activating an e-ticket right before a conductor scans it. The MTA has not disclosed its policy for how much time can pass between activation and scanning before a warning or fining. But Jon Kaufman, chief of strategic initiatives at the MTA, said at the Tuesday meeting, "if it's within 30 seconds ... you activated it too late."

The surcharge aims to discourage fare evasion from riders who wait to buy or activate an electronic ticket with the hope a conductor doesn’t come around, and they get to ride for free.

"Not surprisingly," Levina said, the 11% of survey respondents who reported having been hit with a penalty fee had some of the lowest satisfaction ratings at just 58%, as compared to 76% among those who had not been charged a penalty. About 17,000 LIRR riders completed the survey in April and May.

MTA officials noted that, overall, about 4% of registered LIRR mobile ticket customers have been assessed the late activation fee since January, and the share dropped to just 1% in June. MTA officials would not say how many riders have been charged the penalty, but the LIRR carries about 240,000 passengers every weekday.

"What’s most important to note ... is that those least happy are customers who are not playing by the rules," Levina said at a Manhattan meeting of the MTA Board’s railroad committee Monday.

But some board members questioned whether customers being penalized have actually done anything wrong. Board member Melva Miller, who's from southeast Queens, called some of Levina’s remarks "a little troubling," given some valid complaints about the new ticket policies.

Miller said she’s heard from riders who are delayed in purchasing electronic tickets because of poor internet connectivity, and then are penalized for late activation.

"I think the intention isn’t always that folks are trying to evade their fare," Miller said. "I think that improvements have to happen across the board ... to make it work better for customers."

Board member Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, similarly said he’s heard from riders who "follow the rules" and activate their tickets before boarding, and still receive a warning for activating late.

"That’s something that really ticks people off," Bringmann said.

At the Mineola station Tuesday afternoon, some riders expressed the same dissatisfaction with the new ticket rules as those surveyed.

"Before, it would be easy to plan ahead and buy tickets in advance ... Nowadays, I cannot, because if I buy a ticket, it’s going to expire," said Vanessa Sena, of Carl Place, who acknowledged the need to rein in fare evasion. "I do understand both sides. But honestly, from my perspective, I do feel it’s been a little bit for the worse."

Luciana Benedetti, of Sunnyside, Queens, drew a distinction between willful fare beaters and customers who ride for free ride because conductors don’t check their tickets.

"Sometimes I see they’re passing, and it’s not on me to say, ‘Oh look, you should check my ticket,’" she said. "I think it’s on them, not on us."

LIRR officials have said a late activation is registered when a ticket is activated close to the time when a conductor scans it. LIRR President Rob Free said the likelihood of a customer activating right before boarding, and a conductor checking a ticket as soon as they step on the train "is pretty minimal."

Free said he believes some riders are waiting longer to activate their tickets out of concern over the shortened validity periods. "I think there’s a lot of things we can address with customer information and education," Free said.

Despite the drop in customer satisfaction, MTA officials pointed to other metrics showing that the changes in ticket policies are paying off. Kaufman said, before the changes, 11% of electronic tickets weren’t activated on the day they were purchased — likely meaning customers got a free ride and saved the ticket for a future date. Now, only 2% of electronic tickets aren’t activated on the day they were purchased, and expire the next day.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.