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All public transit systems are digging themselves out of the tough pandemic years, but New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has had an especially brutal stretch after a string of concerning crimes, and it’s now looking to AI to make the subways safer.
The MTA is working with AI companies to deploy technology that would analyze security footage as it’s being filmed, according to Gothamist. Without using facial recognition, it would identify “problematic behaviors” and scan for “potential trouble.” The goal is to predict which riders could be criminals and catch them before they act.
“AI is the future,” says MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper. “We’re working with tech companies literally right now and seeing what’s out there right now on the market, what’s feasible, what would work in the subway system.”
The system would issue automated alerts to the New York Police Department (NYPD) if it finds a potential issue. About 40% of cameras on subway platforms are monitored in real time, so this system could do the same for all cameras without needing to staff a human. That will come with the risk of the AI tool falsely accusing innocent riders.
“Using artificial intelligence—a technology notoriously unreliable and biased—to monitor our subways and send in police risks exacerbating these disparities and creating new problems,” New York Civil Liberties Union Senior Policy Counsel Justin Harrison tells Gothamist. “Real public safety comes from investing in our communities, not from omnipresent surveillance.”
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Chinese subways have been using facial recognition for years, such as to take rider payments, according to the South China Morning Post. Russia is currently expanding its facial recognition payment system, Face Pay, to subways in more cities as well, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reports.
“This system will become yet another powerful instrument in today’s Russia for the surveillance and control of citizens,” says Russia-based human rights organizer Andrei Fedorkov, according to RFE/RL.
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul has increased video surveillance on subways since she took office, including installing two subway cameras in every car in 2022, Gothamist reports. The Trump administration is putting pressure on the city to reduce crime drastically, and threatening to pull funding if it does not, the AP reports. The same goes for transit systems in Chicago and Washington, DC.
“If people can’t go to the subway and not be afraid of being stabbed or thrown in front of tracks or burnt…we’re going to pull your money,” says US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a March interview on Fox.
The MTA has clapped back with some data, claiming crime is down 40% compared to 2020. So far, 2025 has seen “fewer daily major crimes in transit than any non-pandemic year ever,” according to John McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations.
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