The MTA Wants Your NYC Subway Travel Diaries

NEW YORK CITY — The MTA wants to know the good, the bad and the ugly of your commute. The agency is collecting selected commuters' travel diaries as part of a survey aimed at better understanding travel patterns, an MTA spokesman said.

"Thousands of travelers" will get a chance to submit travel journals into the middle of next year as part of the survey, MTA spokesman Shams Tarek told Patch in a statement.

In exchange for a $15 gift card, the MTA certain New Yorkers to record every trip they take on a certain date, including walks and bike rides in addition to subway, bus and train trips, the New York Daily News reported Monday, citing a copy of the survey.

"The MTA is required by the federal government to conduct comprehensive surveys capturing the origins and destinations of travelers in our service area, to model travel demand for future projects,” Tarek said.

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The market research firm RSG is handling the survey, which can be completed online, by phone or using a smartphone app, the Daily News reported. Tarek did not provide an estimate of the survey's cost.

If you didn't get one of the MTA's travel diary requests, any rider can fill out an online survey seeking commuter feedback in exchange for a chance to win free subway, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad trips.

Some straphangers, though, have aired their travel tales — both good and bad — on social media with the hashtag #MTAdiaries.

The most frequent thought I have on the train is "I think that's poop." #MTADiaries
— UseableID (@UseableID) May" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/UseableID/... 8, 2017

(Lead image via Patch)