MTA President Demetrius addresses transit fare hike: 'We are doing our best'

Facing serious backlash over the upcoming fare hike in 2026, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) President Demetrius Crichlow attempted to address commuter concerns directly last week.

- By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff

Times Square Transit Talk event with NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) President Demetrius Crichlow on Thursday, Oct. 9. Crichlow attempts to address Brooklynite's concern about fare hike. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Crichlow is the first Black man to hold the president's position in the MTA's history. A lifelong New Yorker, he is the third generation of men in his family to work in transit. He started his career in 1997 as an assistant signal maintainer for the Long Island Railroad (LIRR).

The Amsterdam News caught up with Crichlow and his leadership crew at the 42nd Street station, just below the bustling tourist junction that is Times Square, at their usual Transit Talk event. He spoke with people about phasing out MetroCards, fare hikes, major infrastructure improvements, subway crime, and other issues. Some listeners were amiable. Others were not convinced the train was worth the price of admission.

Here's what he had to say to the AmNews in a short interview. (Questions and answers have been shortened or edited for space and clarity.)

AmNews: Why are you here today?

Crichlow: The reason why we're here is that one or two times a month, my team my executive leadership team goes out and hears the concerns of customers. [We] talk to customers directly, and we engage with them. What I found is most people want to be able to have a face that they can talk to, and have someone who's actually a part of the organization someone who has the experience to be able to say, I had this issue before, I changed this, I'm looking at this. Having someone like the head of buses to talk to you about issues that we have with bus service or the head of subways to talk about issues that you have with subway service is the way that we really speak to our customers. We do this either once or twice a month, and we've gotten a really good response.