New Yorkers have a famously complicated relationship with the MTA–from subway rats sprinting across platforms and mystery ceiling drips to platforms that double as saunas every summer. But when nearly 94,000 riders have a chance to sound off on their daily commutes, the numbers speak for themselves.
The MTA recently released the official results of its Spring 2026 Customers Count Survey—conducted between April 13 and May 2, 2026—and the data has officially settled the debate on which subway lines cause the most grief across the five boroughs.
🚇 Systemwide Scores Are Up, But Grievances Remain
First, the surprisingly good news: overall subway satisfaction held steady at 63%, maintaining a massive jump from Spring 2024 when overall satisfaction languished at a grim 47%.
Service reliability (62%), waiting times (59%), and station cleanliness (60%) also all stayed stable compared to late 2025.
Riders also continue to feel safer overall compared to previous years, with 62% feeling safe on trains and 60% feeling safe inside stations.
In fact, safety is no longer the top thing on riders’ minds—service performance and reliability are now the #1 factor driving how New Yorkers rate their daily commute.
👎 The Lowest-Rated Subway Lines in NYC
If your daily commute involves the letter D or the number 5, you probably don’t need a survey to tell you things could be better.
According to tens of thousands of New Yorkers, these are the lowest-rated subway lines in the system right now:
- D Line (59%)
- 5 Line (59%)
- W Line (60%)
- M Line (61%)
- J/Z Lines (61%)
- 2 Line (61%)
- 4 Line (61%)
Between shared track bottlenecks, long headways, and frequent weekend reroutes, these lines scored lowest in customer satisfaction across the entire subway map.
👍 The Best Subway Lines in NYC
On the flip side, some trains are actually earning praise from New Yorkers.
The L and 7 trains share the top crown in the city with an impressive 72% customer satisfaction rate. Their dominant performance is largely credited to Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling, allowing for faster, more frequent service and minimal delays.
The Q line and the G line also scored high marks—the G train notably benefited from the introduction of brand-new subway cars last year, leading to much higher cleanliness scores.
🚊 Beyond the Subway: How Other Transit Modes Fared
- Buses (64% Satisfaction): Local, Limited, and Select buses saw a 3-point bump. Queens bus satisfaction surged by 5 points to 67%, signaling that riders have finally adjusted to last year’s Queens Bus Network Redesign. Staten Island buses jumped 7 points to 67%
- Metro-North Railroad (79% Satisfaction): Metro-North remains the highest-rated agency in the entire MTA family, led by the Hudson Line at 82%. However, satisfaction dropped 8 points overall—primarily driven by rider pushback against new ticketing policies
- Long Island Rail Road (73% Satisfaction): LIRR also took a 7-point hit over ticket policy changes and delay frequency, with the Oyster Bay (63%) and Long Beach (66%) branches seeing significant drops
- Access-A-Ride (71%+ Satisfaction): Despite serving a record-breaking 1+ million trips per month this spring, Access-A-Ride maintained high customer marks for on-time pickups
You can explore the full breakdown of the MTA Spring 2026 survey data on the official MTA website.