The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority reported a record drop in crime for 2009 on Monday. While the MBTA would like to take credit for the lowest numbers the system has seen in at least 30 years, the decline in crime can also be related to a trend of fewer crime incidents in cities and towns nationwide. Though the transportation system has enforced a ‘see something, say something’ campaign, its influence is indeterminate, especially where a significant number of T riders are adorned with iPods when the safety campaign announcements play over the intercoms in subway stations.

Certainly, it is an accomplishment that the MBTA coasted through 2009 without homicide and that the numbers of reported robberies, assaults and larcenies also fell, but safety measures should not be limited to prevention of crime and violence. Equipment, maintenance of that equipment and mechanics should be taken into consideration as well, especially on an old system like the T, where the track record for accidents and mechanical difficulties isn’t pretty. Unfortunately, there have been few updates on that front that since the city’s independent review of the T’s safety and finances in November.

In the last few years, transit systems across the country have garnered the attention of the media following text message-induced crashes, mechanical malfunctions and general technological mishaps. And while the efforts of the MBTA on behalf of crime prevention are commendable, its latest safety report does not tell the whole story.

The MBTA has pledged commitment to effective public transportation, in terms of both timeliness and cost, but resists raising fares even at when riders say they would pay more for improvements and a better safety record. So why does the T continue not to take action, considering accidents, malfunctions and delays caused by technical difficulties to be more of an inconvenience than a hazard?

If the MBTA was committed to improving safety over image, it wouldn’t devote precious resources to publishing incomprehensive reports on safety improvements accredited in part to a campaign whose slogan many monthly pass holders wouldn’t recognize it if slapped them in the face. Instead, they would work on what else matters as much, if not more, to riders on a daily basis ‘-‘- the likelihood that a train will arrive at its destination safe and sound.