The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s New York City Transit released grades for its M line subway service, with riders rating the line an overall grade of C, improving over last year's C-minus.

NYCT received 900 Rider Report Cards from riders rating the M service. Out of those responses, 848 returned via mail and another 52 responses were received through the Internet.

"Reasonable wait times for trains" and "Station announcements that are informative" both received a C-minus this year, up from D-plus last year. "Cleanliness of subway cars" was graded C-plus this year, up from C-minus in 2007, while "Lack of graffiti in subway cars" moved upward to a B-minus in 2008 from C last year. Overall, grades for the M line improved in 12 of the 22 areas riders were asked to grade, including the overall grade, while none declined.

M riders were also asked to prioritize the areas where they'd like to see improvements. "Reasonable wait times for trains," and "Minimal delays during trips" held the same top two positions this year as they did in 2007. "Cleanliness of stations" jumped to third in 2008, up from fifth place in 2007.

Meanwhile, "Sense of security in stations" ranked fourth this year, up from seventh place in 2007 and "Adequate room on board during rush hour" rose from sixth place in 2007 to round out 2008’s top five.