Metro board backs whopping $9 billion budget, more safety officers, custodians

Nov 18, 2023

LA Metro adopted a $9 billion budget on Thursday, May 25 that increases funding for bus and rail operations, law enforcement, transit security officers, homeless outreach teams and custodians in an effort to improve safety and boost ridership on Los Angeles County's mass transit system.

The 2023-2024 budget attempts to address sagging rail ridership stemming from a post-pandemic increase in remote workers, combined with recent high-profile crimes and the presence of 800 homeless individuals sheltering on Metro rail trains every night that keep riders away.

At three townhall meetings to discuss the 2023-2024 budget, the public focused on safety, cleaner stations, homeless issues, sheltered bus benches and system reliability. In response, the budget includes $201 million for cleaning — an increase of 13% — plus authorization to hire 40 more Metro Transit Security Officers, mostly to patrol buses.

"We do have our challenges on bus and rail lines with safety and security," said Whittier City Council member and Metro board member Fernando Dutra. "It is critical we up our game."

On Wednesday night, May 24, a bus driver was stabbed at an intersection in Woodland Hills. He remained in critical condition Thursday. Metro has announced a $25,000 reward for anyone providing information that leads to the arrest of the suspect.

Arrests for violent crimes on rail and buses were down in March, Metro reported on Thursday. Metro's implementation of anti-drug use enforcement is mostly what led to a 32% jump in arrests on the rail system in March. The bus system did not see an increase in violent and property crimes in March.

Metro reported it saw more than 23.4 million rides in April, averaging 880,000 weekday riders on bus, rail and "microtransit" service. Total ridership was 10% higher in April 2023 over April 2022, the highest ridership level recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March of 2020.

Metro's budget allocates $2.4 billion to operate its system, a modest 5% or $113 million increase over last year's budget. It will provide 8.9 million hours of service — 9.6% more than pre-pandemic levels. The budget increases investment in bus service by 6.6% more than last year.

The budget's largest percentage increases address safety, homelessness and cleanliness. Here are some examples:

• A $23.6 million increase over last year to hire 24 more full-time custodians and 50 temporary cleaning workers for the B (Red) and D (Purple) Lines, which run through central L.A. and Hollywood. Instead of cleaning trains and buses only at the end of service, the workers will also clean them in mid-service.

• $13.5 million more for outreach to the homeless sleeping on trains and buses or encamping outside train stations and at "end-of-line" neighborhoods in North Hollywood, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Downtown L.A. and Azusa. Another $10 million will go to a new partnership with the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, plus $1.8 million for short-term shelters. This represents a 65.6% increase from last year.

• The total cost of new law enforcement contracts with Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Long Beach Police Department will grow 3.7%, from $169.5 million to $175.8 million. The combined cost for public safety, including law enforcement contracts, Metro's own security force, homeless outreach teams, and its Transit Ambassadors, will be $290 million.

While Metro board members generally praised the budget, groups advocating for more "care first" ambassadors wanted fares reduced or eliminated, and they wanted cutbacks in armed law enforcement.

"We applaud increases to mental health and homeless health but we find care-based strategies are meager as compared to law enforcement," said Alfonso Directo, advocacy manager for ACT-LA, a group that supports low-income Metro riders.

Metro continues to pay construction costs for the L (Gold) Line extension to Pomona, and the D (Purple) line extension to Westwood. Money is also budgeted for improvements to the G (Orange) Line in the San Fernando Valley and for pre-construction work on the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Project, a light-rail train that will run along Van Nuys Boulevard.

The budget also includes: $602 million for highway development; $541 million for transit capital purchases such as electric buses and train cars; $2.24 billion for planning and construction of capital projects, mostly rail; $2.1 billion in pass-through dollars for other county transit agencies and for transportation needs in the county's 88 cities.

While capital funds often come from federal and state grants, Metro also gets considerable dollars from four sales tax measures: Proposition A, Proposition C, Measure R and Measure M. Revenues have shot up $757 million, or about 16.3%, over last year.

Fare revenues are being estimated at $146.8 million, a nearly 38% increase from last year's budget. And federal grants are expected to increase by $766 million over last year's budget.

Metro's $1.3 billion from the federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) has been exhausted. With the ending of COVID-19-related funding, the agency in 2025 will face operating deficits, according to the budget.

Metro Board Chair and Glendale City Council member Ara Najarian was concerned about the decline in federal and state revenues for mass transit agencies in 2025.

Kathryn Barger, Los Angeles County supervisor and Metro board member, said the agency needs to plan for what some are calling a "fiscal cliff" — a steep drop in monies from state and federal governments. "We’ve addressed the concerns on cleanliness and public safety (in the 2023-2024 budget), but what are we doing for the ‘What if’?" she asked.

Staff members said the agency is advocating for full funding from state and federal agencies.

Lindsey Horvath, an L.A. County supervisor and Metro board member, suggested the board look into reducing cost overruns on capital rail projects.

"Last month we had $200 million alone in ‘change orders,’" Horvath said. "We will have a lot more work in the years ahead."

The fiscal year 2023-2024 budget takes effect July 1 and runs through June 30, 2024.

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