Should LA Metro’s popular Transit Ambassadors program become permanent?
Metro Ambassadors on the L line LA Metro train Monday, March 6, 2023. About 300 new Metro Transit Ambassadors will serve as greeters and be eyes and ears for problems and trouble on trains and buses for Metro is now in service across the metro platforms. Metro hopes the new ambassador program will increase rider safety and comfort.
Ambassadors have had 502,656 interactions with riders beyond just a greeting, according to data from October 2022 through September of this year, Metro reported. Face-to-face interactions with riders increased during that period by 256% when compared to about 175,000 visits to Metro’s Customer Service Centers during that same time period.
Metro Ambassadors in their bright green shirts walk on the platform at Union Station on Monday, March 6, 2023. About 300 new Metro Transit Ambassadors are serving as greeters and also reporting incidents involving the unhoused or drug users to law enforcement. One section of the ambassadors employed by Strive Well-Being will be voting for union representation. on June 9, June 10, 2023.
“You see people smoking fentanyl, or hanging out. If there’s not too many of them, I will tell them ‘You can’t be here,’ ” Bolanos said. More often, he’ll flag down an LAPD officer or Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy. If no officer is around, he’ll call the Metro rail operations center who will dispatch help.. The workers had asked to join Metro and build seniority so they can be in line for Metro jobs.
Former Los Angeles City Councilmember and Metro board member Mike Bonin remembers the discussions about starting an unarmed team of ambassadors to soften the reputation that some LAPD officers and sheriff deputies had for arresting a disproportionate number of Black and Latino riders for fare-evasion. “Most of what can be done by law enforcement can be done by someone else,” Bonin said on Wednesday.
Reed said adding ambassadors to law enforcement and Metro Transit Security helps people feel at ease. Riding transit can make people feel alone and vulnerable. “So when there is someone there you can speak to, you are not there alone. It makes a tremendous difference,” Reed said.
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