The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) has launched a customer care pilot program, Respect the Ride.
The idea is to improve safety and the customer experience on the L.A. Metro system. As part of Respect the Ride, L.A. Metro is deploying a variety of staff to help riders, identify and resolve problems more quickly and make L.A. Metro a more welcoming experience for everyone.
The specific goals are:
- Help riders navigate the L.A. Metro system, pay fares and get discounted fares). Although L.A. Metro resumed fare collection on buses earlier this year, the current crop of discounts will help all riders potentially save money.
- L.A. Metro also has staff on hand to help riders use the Transit app — the official app — to plan transit trips and get real-time arrival estimates for buses and trains.
- L.A. Metro is also adding more custodians to keep stations as clean as possible, especially the high-touch areas.
- Through staff, signage and announcements, L.A. Metro is reminding everyone of good transit etiquette and that there is a Code of Conduct designed to make riding a pleasant experience for all.
- L.A. Metro working closely with its own security staff and law enforcement partners — the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department — to ensure the bus and rail system is well patrolled and is there to help when riders need it.
- L.A. Metro is continuing to use its homeless outreach staff to connect unhoused riders with social services and housing.
Homelessness has been a serious regional issue for years — and one that has certainly impacted L.A. Metro. And the pandemic didn’t help. A lack of available shelter and other interim housing resulted in an increase in unhoused individuals seeking shelter on the system.
L.A. Metro says it has been taking the problem seriously — and has been working with the nonprofit organization PATH to provide outreach on the system. As the homelessness issue has deepened, the L.A. Metro Board of Directors in 2021 approved spending $5 million annually for more outreach, case management and temporary housing for unhoused riders.
L.A. Metro says it made some progress. More than 400 unhoused riders have been connected to emergency, interim and permanent housing placements since last July. The teams at 7th/Metro have helped place 96 people in permanent supportive housing since January.
