New York City Transit President Richard Davey spent Thursday riding the subway, visiting different stations to speak with riders about their mass transit experiences. 

The MTA sets up areas to hand out important pamphlets and have one-on-one time with riders at different stations across the city as part of their “Transit Talks” initiative. The goal of the initiative is to learn of ways that riders can feel safe and happy.  

While safety Is a concern, Davey says that ridership is up along with customer satisfaction. He says the MTA has plans to make sure cars are cleaner and subways are arriving more frequently. In the coming months, Davey says that all subway cars will have two cameras, and unarmed guards will be hired to stand outside some stations to reduce fare evasion. 

Davey says they will take what they learned from riders on Thursday to make subways safer and cleaner while celebrating the 118th anniversary of the New York City subway. 

After learning of the Queens bus crash Thursday morning, Davey said he was just happy nobody was hurt. 

“The operator acted heroically,” said Davey. “Customers were able to get off that bus. As I understand, the individual who was arrested had mental health issues, was known to police… my message to riders is thankfully that individual is in custody.”