A New York State investigation has found “deficiencies and inconsistencies” in how the Long Island Rail Road calculates ridership numbers and failure rates.
The report from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the LIRR ridership numbers are inaccurate because they count ticket sales, instead of trips or actual passengers.
The comptroller also found flaws with the railroad’s reliability rates. He says the LIRR counts miles traveled without a breakdown by each individual train car, not the distance traveled by the entire train. If counted by individual car, the miles traveled successfully without a failure are higher than if counted by train.
The report recommends that the railroad upgrade its metrics.
A spokesperson for the LIRR says they use “longstanding measures that are industry standards” and that they take the report “seriously.”
