MTA lacks on returning lost-and-found items to subway and bus riders

Lost something on a NYC Transit train or bus in NYC? Don’t count on getting it back, according to an MTA Inspector General’s report published on Aug. 21.

MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort’s team conducted undercover work last year that found lost items were being held too long in the field before making its way to the agency’s Lost Property Unit (LPU).

In a field test, more than 80% of items that auditors “found” and gave to transit workers — including jewelry, books and clothing — were never logged into the agency’s lost-and-found database. Only one of the 24 items that were turned in, a key chain with an email address on it, was recovered.

A 'troubling' number of turned-in items never made it to lost-and-found

The team also found that a “troubling” amount of lost and turned-in items