Metro 'State of the Agency' meeting addresses ridership, public safety, new rail lines

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined other Metro officials Monday morning for the annual "State of the Agency" address. Bass spoke at 9 a.m. at Union Station, located at 800 N. Alameda Street.

Bass joined with Metro Board First Vice Chair and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, outgoing Board Chair Ara Najarian and Metro CEO Stephanie N. Wiggins.

Bass also formally accepted the Metro Board Chair gavel from Najarian, a Glendale city councilman who is completing his term as chair.

Major topics included the opening of two major rail lines, a return to pre-pandemic ridership levels and implementation of Metro's new public safety plan. Bass and Wiggins detailed their goals for the rest of the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to next June 30.

In May, the board approved the agency's $9 billion budget for fiscal 2024. It represented a $232.4 million, or 2.6 percent, increase over the 2022-23 spending plan.

Ahead of that approval, Metro officials had emphasized public safety as the agency came under close scrutiny in prior months due to high-profile crimes on or near the transit system. The budget includes $290.5 million in public safety, and supports the agency's Reimagining Public Safety Framework -- "a multi-layers strategy for enhancing public safety" on the system.

Though Metro extended its law enforcement contracts with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and the police departments of L.A. and Long Beach, the board also moved forward to develop a feasibility plan for an in-house public safety department. Metro is aiming to present the plan to the board in January 2024.

According to Metro, over a six-year period starting in 2017, law enforcement contracts cost the agency approximately $911.9 million.

In addition, the budget invests in a higher level of service frequency and reliability, cleaning and public safety.

Metro plans to allocate $201 million in cleaning efforts to fund 10 roving cleaning teams, hire 24 more full-time custodial staff and hire up to 50 temporary part-time custodial staff dedicated to the B (Red) and D (Purple) lines.

Last month, the board also celebrated the expansion of the transit system with the opening of the long-awaited Regional Connector. The connector added three underground stations, and allows riders to travel between Azusa and Long Beach, and between East L.A. and Santa Monica, without transferring.