A task force formed to address operator and rider safety on public transit in the wake of the slaying of a Metro bus driver last year has delivered its recommendations.
The Regional Transit Safety Task Force handed over its report to the King County Council’s transportation committee last week.
The task force identified six initiatives including adding bigger, strong barriers to protect Metro’s drivers. The recommendations also focus on improving communication and coordination during emergencies, increased focus on rider Code of Conduct, increased security resources, and increased focus on mental crisis response, youth-centered strategies, and support for unhoused riders:
- To eliminate delays and confusion during emergencies, regional interagency coordination is strengthened through establishing a regional response infrastructure with formal MOUs, unified response protocols, standardized incident definitions, and a proposed Unified Regional Operations Center that connects Metro, Sound Transit, law enforcement, dispatchers, and local jurisdictions.
- To increase rider trust and accountability, a regionwide Rider Code of Conduct campaign introduces standardized signage and aligned enforcement protocols under K.C.C. 28.96 and local laws.
- To provide visible presence and quicker interventions at high-incident locations, on-the-ground safety is enhanced with increased staffing of diverse responders, site-based pilots, expanded real-time data sharing, and outreach and reporting tools that shorten response times and improve perceptions of safety.
- To reduce daily risks faced by frontline staff, operator safety is reinforced through installation of physical barriers across the bus fleet, paired with new training, post-incident support, and supervisor backup.
- To ensure vulnerable riders are met with alternative responses instead of enforcement-first approaches, task force priorities expand to include behavioral health crisis response, youth-centered safety strategies, and support for unhoused riders.
CHS reported in June on early work around the recommendations focused on new buses with bigger, stronger barriers to protect drivers and sorting out how to retrofit Metro’s entire 1,400-coach fleet to add the enhanced protection.
The other recommendations will take more time but there is funding to work with. This summer, $26.1 million was earmarked in the supplemental county budget for safety and security investments for King County Metro to fund more Transit Police and Transit Security Officers across its regional network. The funding also went to building the larger and stronger operator safety partitions for all Metro buses.
The county’s effort comes as the Transit Safety and Security Task Force formed this year following the December murder of transit operator Shawn Yim in an overnight confrontation in the University District.
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I ride the bus every single day and I’ve literally never seen a fare enforcement person on a bus. They’re on the lightrail sometimes but never on the buses… and about half the people who get on my bus don’t pay.
Sounds like your bus needs to be made a priority for fare enforcement officers or ambassadors to be assigned to ride.
I don’t want to be hassled. It bothers me some to see people freeloading, but I’ve noticed there’s less of it since the crackdown. The sign on the bus seems to be effective.
Definitely get rid of the “non destinational riders” asap.
Stop pocket watching and caring about people paying fares or not. Public transit should be free anyway, ffs
Olympia’s Intercity Transit has been fare-free for some time now. Same for Aberdeen’s Grays Harbor Transit. I wonder how its going for them.
Information – interpret this as you will.
Aberdeen Grays Harbor Transit’s budget is a little under 13 million. They have around 90 employees. Grays Harbor will likely soon have to deal with a budget shortfall because most of their money comes from a local sales tax and that revenue and the interest they have been accruing through investments are both expected to be down.
Olympia’s operating budget is around 163 million, much of which appears to come from state grants associated with the Climate Commitment Act. They are looking at a loss of around 143 million in projected funding if the act is repealed via initiative 2117. They appear to be planning for this eventuality by amassing a reserve of around 1.5 years of operating expenses. They have around 500 employees.
King Country Metro’s budget is around $4 billion, they employ around 17,700 people. Metro also relies on sales tax for the majority of its budget and falling revenues are expected to cause expenses to exceed revenues by 2028.
It is seriously not the best use of tax money to expect transit to run it’s own social worker services…
Let transit focus on what they need to focus on, which is getting its drivers and passengers safely and efficiently to their destinations.