The agency has declined to provide public information to the Straphangers Campaign, a watchdog group that has been critical of the MTA and NYC Transit.

Over the past few months, the Straphangers Campaign has requested copies of public documents from the MTA with little response, even after numerous requests. In a letter responding to one request, the agency made itself the judge of proper use of public information, stating, "We have not provided the [information] you requested...In the past, the Straphangers have improperly used this statistic."

As we noted in MTR #189, NYC Transit's information stonewall has arisen at a time when the agency, thanks to electronic fare collection, is gathering more and better data about its system and riders than ever before. When Straphangers Campaign officials brought the situation to the attention of a top MTA official, he responded, "Well, you know you're not making any friends around here."