Andy Byford says he’ll stay on the litter patrol after he starts in his new role as president of New York City Transit in January.

“If I'm on a train and I see anything other than a newspaper, I normally have a bag with me and I’ll pick the garbage up and I’ll pop it in a bag,” he said.

Byford will oversee the city’s sprawling subway, bus and paratransit network after wrapping up as CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). He said his first order of business will be learning New York's transit system and getting to know its riders.

"I do passionately believe that New Yorkers have a right to know who's running their subway and I'll make myself available for feedback,” Byford said.

Under his watch, the TTC began posting a "daily customer service report" online and throughout the system to make its track record on delays and elevator service public. Improving customer service is on Byford’s agenda in New York, as is addressing long standing infrastructure issues and what he called the "prevailing culture” at the MTA.

"I know it's a big challenge,” he said. “I know that the politics and the media scrutiny is intense. I know that it will take time."

Byford said he’ll focus on implementing the Subway Action Plan — a more than $800 million effort by the MTA to get trains running on time, address overcrowding and update decades-old signals. He says an outside perspective will be an asset when it comes to navigating the complex bureaucracy and political fight over funding.

“I’m not an MTA lifer,” Byford said, “and maybe that will give me some advantage in that they'll listen to the newbie."

The last time New York City Transit was led by someone with no previous MTA experience was in the early 1990s.