The Metropolitan Transportation Authority did not look far for an executive to run one of the New York transit agency’s most important divisions.
On Wednesday, the M.T.A. chose Demetrius Crichlow, a nearly 30-year veteran of the authority, to serve as president of New York City Transit, which oversees the city’s subway and bus networks.
Mr. Crichlow, 49, who followed his father and grandfather into the M.T.A., had been filling in as interim president since this summer. Now, he takes over the position permanently at a time when public transit in New York City is struggling with crumbling infrastructure, a steep budget shortfall and rampant fare evasion.
“I am striving to get better performance on our trains. I am striving to get better weekend performance. I am striving to get cleaner stations,” Mr. Crichlow said during a phone call Wednesday afternoon.
M.T.A. officials said that a national search was conducted before Mr. Crichlow was selected.
He steps into his permanent role during a difficult financial period for the authority. It has yet to restore a funding stream for more than $15 billion that was lost when Gov. Kathy Hochul halted a congestion pricing program in June.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the M.T.A. has lost billions at the farebox because of reduced ridership. Weekday ridership is now hovering at around 75 percent of prepandemic numbers.
Fare evasion on the subways and buses has also cost the M.T.A. hundreds of millions each year. In 2022, the authority lost some $600 million to fare beaters, according to a report commissioned last year by the M.T.A.
In its most recent needs assessment, the M.T.A. identified $65 billion in necessary upgrades to the transportation network that includes buying new subway cars, fixing century-old tunnels and installing elevators. Yet despite its ambitions, laid out in a five-year capital plan that was released last month, the authority has only about half of the money to pay for the improvements.
Mr. Crichlow grew up on Long Island and began his career with the M.T.A. in 1997 as an assistant signal maintainer with the Long Island Rail Road. He rose through the ranks and in 2007 joined the authority’s executive leadership team, working as a special assistant for operations for the chairman and chief executive at the time, Elliot G. Sander. In his current post, Mr. Crichlow is the first Black person to fill what is arguably the second-most important job at the M.T.A.
Mr. Crichlow assumed control of the city’s subways and buses following the departure of his predecessor, Richard Davey, who left the position after two years. On Wednesday, Mr. Crichlow said that a longer tenure was needed to make a lasting difference.
“One thing that I’ve learned for a fact is this organization needs more than two years of a person coming here to run it,” Mr. Crichlow said during a news conference announcing his appointment. “It takes more than two years to establish real change.”
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