‘SORRY’ FOR THE BAD TRIP

MTA’s new cards offer commuter condolences

Is it too late now to say sorry?

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will soon offer you an apology with a courtesy pass the next time your commute is messed up.

“We apologize for your ride today, and pledge to do better,” reads the mea culpa on passes that straphangers can grab at station booths starting Sunday.

In the subway’s sorry state of affairs, the pass will let riders resume their disrupted commutes at another subway station, or on buses.

If the MTA doubly screws up, they’ll give you two passes, if continuing on your way requires two rides — such as a bus and a train ride, or two bus rides.

Station agents and supervisors can hand out the passes if they believe they’re necessary.

NYC Transit stations chief Rachelle Glazier wrote in a memo Wednesday that the passes are “a way for us to acknowledge and apologize for a disruption” and part of “renewed efforts to meet the needs of our customers, and reinforce our commitment to do our best every day to improve their experience using our system.”

The courtesy passes will replace the so-called block ticket that riders can get when a problem forces them out of the subway system.

A new twist with the passes is that station agents and MTA employees can hand them out when elevators break down.

NYC Transit’s chief customer officer, Sarah Meyer, conceived of the kinder, humbler courtesy passes at the direction of agency chief Andy Byford.

“The new Courtesy Pass program allows us to improve our customer service by better serving people with disabilities or strollers, and it’s another front in our efforts to eliminate jargon and communicate more clearly,” Meyer said. “We’ve also been raising awareness of this program much more aggressively than the previous version.”

But riders said that the MTA can save its “sorries” and the cash it took to print them.

“I’d prefer they take that money and put it toward the maintenance of the system,” commuter JR Rodriguez, 37, from Washington Heights, said. “I’m past the apology. I want to see action.”

Rider Lucas Levy, 29, said an apology means nothing without some action.

“Spending money toward an apology rather than fixing the subway, that’s a waste of money,” Levy, a Manhattanite, said.

Trains may be packed (top) or not going where they’re supposed to (below) but MTA hopes you’ll get a warm fuzzy from its Courtesy Pass (above), which also aids disabled riders when elevators are out.

“I’m past the apology,” says rider JR Rodriguez.