New York officials launched a campaign Tuesday to fight subway surfing, a potentially deadly trend in which young people ride on top of moving train cars.

The campaign will feature the slogan “Ride Inside, Stay Alive” and includes public service announcements in stations, signage designed by students, social media posts and physical cards that can be distributed in schools.

New York City officials say five deaths this year have been linked to subway surfing compared with five such deaths, in total, from 2018 to 2022.

“Each subway surfing death tragically strips young New Yorkers of promising futures,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said. “We cannot endure another tragedy on our trains.”

The Metropolitan Transit Authority documented 450 instances of people riding outside a train car from January to June.

The New York Police Department has taken enforcement action against 87 subway surfers, or nearly triple its level of enforcement in 2022.

Mr. Adams has called on social media companies to prohibit videos of subway surfing, saying the posts fuel the trend. He made the plea in June after a 14-year-old boy died while subway surfing in Brooklyn.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, on Tuesday praised the student-designed campaign, saying New Yorkers’ safety was her “top priority.”

MTA CEO Janno Lieber said that “riding outside a train car is subway stupidity and never ends well.”

“We are begging parents to speak with their children and teachers to talk to their students about what can seem like a game but can end in tragedy,” he said.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.