Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been given the helm as the new chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Metro, the nation’s second-largest transit agency, to address a priority challenge: passenger safety, particularly women and homeless deaths.
?Women report that they don?t feel safe,? Mayor Bass said, after taking the gavel of Metro presidency from outgoing leader Ara J. Najarian.
?We must address the human suffering that we have seen in our public transportation system, as in many other cities,? he said in relation to the homeless, of whom 50 have died this year in the Metro system.
The mayor promised that Metro will have 24 dedicated teams to work in partnership with community organizations; the objective is to develop ?navigation centers? for the homeless and carry out the necessary outreach to move people from stations, trains and buses to stable housing.
?We are going to make the most of surplus and underutilized land to fuel Metro’s co-development program, to increase Metro’s production of housing units tenfold, so that we reach 10,000 housing units by 2031,? Mayor Bass said during the annual ?State of the Agency? Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).
In front of community leaders, mayors of numerous cities, the mayor recognized that thousands of residents of southern California depend on Metro to go to work, school or to their medical appointments, due to the fact that the service of the public transport agency is essential.
?But, for Los Angeles to prosper and survive in the future, Metro cannot primarily be a system or a last resort, but must be a system of first choice,? he said, in response to the need for more Angelenos to use Metro as their first choice of transportation and become less dependent on car use.
This would lead to determining the health of the air that is breathed and the decrease in the amount of greenhouse gases, as well as the level of traffic jams in the streets, highways and highways on daily trips.
In fact, Bass reported that ridership using Metro’s rail and bus services has increased 16% to nearly 900,000 boardings every weekday, though he acknowledged that ridership is still low.
Los Angeles County has a population of just over 10 million, and half are in the workforce (4,969,400), according to the Los Angeles Almanac. That would mean that only a fifth of the people who work use the public transport system to carry out any type of daily activities.
Serious security issues
Mercedes Garza and her granddaughter Abigail Fonseca, who traveled by Metro from Long Beach to Union Station, told La Opinión that they do not feel ?100 percent safe? when they have to use the Blue Line.
“There are a lot of homeless people on the trips and you don’t know how they’re going to react,” said the woman, who works at LAX. ?Sometimes, I think they are wrong in the head; I understand them, but is it very dangerous? Before, Metro was clean, now the seats smell like pee?
Mercedes’ testimony was corroborated by several Metro ambassadors consulted by La Opinión.
“On the Red Line you see a lot of drugs, people get on it and carry weapons, and many times they are dangerous people,” said Jesús García, a Metro ambassador.
?Yes, many are homeless,? added Lisette González. ?I have seen people suffer from overdoses.?
?There is also violence and gangs,? said Nicole Simpson, while her partner, Jerome Barker, noted: ?Our job is just to report what we see.?
World Cup 2026 and the Olympic Games 2028
Poverty, insecurity and homelessness, drug addiction and mental health are crises that must be urgently addressed, said Stephanie N. Wiggins, Metro’s executive director.
?But when I consider that we delivered 269,000,000 rides last year and increased ridership in the last 12 months, I am confident that we can connect Angelenos with one another and inspire them to make us the first choice for transportation.?
He acknowledged that there is still a long way to go, but Metro is building the most ambitious transportation plan in the nation.
?In 2028, the Olympic and Paralympic Games present us with an immense challenge and an even more epic opportunity,? he said. ?Transportation will be public and without the use of cars.?
In 2026, the Soccer World Cup will take place, which is hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States, including games in Los Angeles.
?We are building a transit legacy for the people of Los Angeles, and we are building it with purpose, with equity and with the contribution of 10 million people,? said the official, who recalled that, during the 1984 Olympic Games, the city only had passes to transport people in diesel trucks, and by 2028, thanks to measures approved by the voters, the county will have 130 miles of Metro Rail stations, 121 stations, 75 miles of busway and bus rapid transit.
Crimes decrease by 53%
Stephanie N. Wiggins thanked officers and LAPD Chief Michel Moore for improving the way they deter and respond to crime on Metro public transportation services.
In fact, he reported that at Westlake MacArthur Park calls for service and arrests of people with weapons have dropped to zero since May, medical emergencies at the station have dropped dramatically, and valid tickets to board trains have increased more than 100 percent.
?Progress is not just limited to Westlake MacArthur Park,? he said. ?Crime in all categories has decreased throughout the Metro system since May, and overall, crime fell 53% on the rail system and 13% on the bus system.?
response teams
Regarding the insecurity and dangers on the Red and Purple lines of the Metro, and the comments of the ambassadors, José Ubaldo, Metro spokesman, announced the specific actions that are being developed to face the problems.
?Since last year we have been implementing a work plan in various parts: participation of LAPD police, Long Beach police and county sheriffs who have increased patrols at train stations, platforms and buses,? said Ubaldo.
?With non-police security guards, patrolling has increased, and with private guards, surveillance has increased to complement security.?
He added that Metro ambassadors ?are our eyes and ears; apart from providing information services to passengers, solving questions where they are going and where they can make connections?.
In addition, he added that the ambassadors are always ready to identify if there is something improper in public transport and report the bad things so that the guards, LAPD or bailiffs take action.
Regarding cleaning complaints, he revealed that the transportation agency has teams that work all the time.
?If there is an elevator full of dirt, there are people who go fast and clean it,? said Ubaldo. ?We are directly attacking that.?
He reported that they have teams of people who care for the homeless or indigent, interview them and make an assessment of their needs and get them temporary housing.
?We also have a strong mental health team; ambassadors are trained to use Narcan when people go too far [sobredosis] with drugs?, reported. ?They [equipos de personas] They are not only there to give information, but also to save lives, and all these attack teams are giving good results?