Overview

• Auditors reported that more than 80% of items handed to NYC Transit staff were never entered into the lost-and-found database, and only one test item was eventually returned.
• Of the 24 test items, just four reached the Lost Property Unit while 20 were never recorded, according to the audit.
• On the Long Island Rail Road, investigators retrieved 47% of 19 test items and cited inconsistent practices for items not required to be logged.
• The review found it took at least 27.4 days to move items to the Lost Property Unit and that manual claim-to-item matching without automation fueled a backlog.
• The MTA accepted nine recommendations for NYC Transit and five for LIRR and says it will change how items are tracked, stored and returned across a system handling tens of thousands of items and claims annually.