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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Following the death of a woman on the Metro B (Red) Line and a series of violent attacks on public transit operators, Metro officials are expediting efforts to acquire and install protective barriers for drivers on thousands of buses.
Metro's Board of Directors on Thursday approved an emergency procurement declaration to speed up acquisition and installation of barriers for about 2,000 buses due to the "sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators."
Officials said that given delays experienced in receiving the tempered glass over the past few months, staff recommended the emergency declaration to bypass normal procurement procedures and expedite the installation of the barriers.
The board's approval allows the agency to immediately purchase supplies to retrofit buses with a fully enclosed tempered glass design, which is also shatterproof and reduces glare. Metro is expected to install the barriers by the end of 2024 under the expedited action, rather than the usual anticipated timeline of roughly three years.
According to Metro, assaults on bus operators increased from 92 attacks in 2019 to 160 in 2023, and they continue to escalate this year.
In addition, Metro board member and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger introduced a motion, co-authored by several of her colleagues, to quickly explore other solutions to bolster public safety, prompted by the death of 66-year-old Mirna Soza Arauz, who was stabbed in an apparently unprovoked attack on April 22.
"Metro riders deserve to be safe on the system, and we will continue to do all that," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who chairs the Board of Directors, said during last week's meeting. "We can keep not only our riders, but also our operators, safe, and I know that as a board, we will step up to this challenge because that's what frankly the people of Los Angeles deserve."
Barger's motion called for staff to secure station gate entrances and exits, analyze data on violent crimes -- including those by reoffenders -- occurring on the system, and speed up pilot solutions at some of the most "challenging" stations. The motion was co-authored by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, as well as L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian, Inglewood Mayor James Butts and Glendale City Councilman Ara Najarian.
Among other measures the Board of Directors called for were quickly increasing security cameras, implementing facial recognition technology, and using other technology. The agency may also look into ways of banning problematic individuals from Metro altogether.
"We have received reports highlighting improvements since last year on crime stats and over other key areas," Barger said. "But the reality is that we are fighting a battle with one hand tied behind our back."
At one point, Barger said she didn't feel safe riding Metro by herself.
While there was overall agreement to explore as many options as possible to improve Metro's safety, there was disagreement as to how to best get there.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath was critical of Metro's policing contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department, Long Beach Police Department and L.A. County Sheriff's Department. She suggested that the agencies have not been forthcoming about how they've improved their approach to deploying their officers across the transit system.
Butts was supportive of implementing more security technology across the system.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell had said the agency needs to keep the broader context in mind while discussing public safety and not commit to "knee jerk reactions."
The Board of Directors is expected to hear more about potential public safety measures within 60 days.