King County Metro supports regional approach to safety

At King County Metro, we look forward to the inaugural meeting of the King County Regional Transit Safety Task Force on March 20. While we continue to take proactive steps to support our employees and riders, a regional approach will tackle the broader challenges that can negatively affect transit. Making our communities and neighborhoods safer will, in turn, make public transportation safer.

We appreciate partnering with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 587, which called for the task force. Participants include advocacy and community groups; behavioral health and alternative response teams; government officials at the city, county and federal level; labor unions; law enforcement; public health and safety representatives; and transit agencies.

The Regional Transit Safety Task Force will align the many stakeholders; provide a collaborative forum; determine data-supported interventions in the short-, medium- and long-term; coordinate on budget and policy; and ensure accountability. Our shared goal is measurable and sustained safety improvements that will make a difference in the lives of our employees and riders.

King County’s and Metro’s safety improvements

While this regional approach to the issues beyond transit is needed, King County and Metro have continued to advance safety on and near transit.

• Protecting bus operators. Metro will improve operator safety partitions across its entire bus fleet. The new partitions will be much larger to deter riders from reaching under, over or around the barrier; stronger—built of heavy-duty aluminum and reinforced glass; and can be locked by the operator. We recently held a successful “road show” across all our bus bases so operators could see the prototype, ask questions and provide feedback. Based on our operator’s guidance, Metro is placing the first order for 89 new battery-electric buses with the greatly improved partition already built in and will be installing similar enhanced doors in existing buses. Because equipment and installation timelines of roughly two years are slower than we would like, we are simultaneously exploring how to move quicker to fleet-wide coverage.
• Expanding safety presence. We’re continuing to hire more transit security officers and transit police officers. The number of transit security officers has more than doubled in recent years to 175 and we’re assisting the King County Sherriff’s Office’s recruitment efforts for 10 new transit police officers, too. Transit police have increased how frequently they proactively step onto a bus to assess and prevent potential safety issues by 225 percent. More officers also allow proven initiatives—like Operation Safe Transit—to ensure a safe, secure and welcoming atmosphere. Operation Safe Transit, to date, has successfully disrupted activities from drug selling to violence, and has made 523 arrests. Additionally, we are looking to expand the work of Metro behavioral health specialists. Their work keeps generating favorable data showing reduced incidents, positive feedback from Metro employees, and supportive comments from riders and community members.
• Increasing Night Owl operations support. Since 2022, Metro has deployed transit security officers at key locations to support employees operating Night Owl service during overnight hours. This includes teams at Tukwila International Boulevard Station, 3rd Avenue & Virginia Street, and 3rd Avenue South & South Main Street. On April 14, Metro will expand this presence to also include Sound Transit Link light rail U-District Station, Renton Transit Center, and 26th Avenue Southwest & Southwest Barton Street. This addition will support the routes 7/49, 36, 160 and RapidRide C Line terminals by using transit security officers to clear coaches, assist with security incidents and remove operators from these interactions.
• Adding resources to downtown Seattle. In cooperation with the City of Seattle, Metro will deploy additional transit security officer resources along 3rd Avenue and Jackson Street, starting in late April. This will include more teams working in the afternoon and evening hours to promote safe and usable transit zones. Teams will also ride coaches on both corridors to promote appropriate behavior and address issues that arise while coaches are in service. In addition, effective April 1, Metro Transit Police, in agreement with the Seattle Police Department, will assume primary law enforcement responsibilities for Streetcar.
• Improving the door-to-door experience. Our customers deserve to feel confident in their safety getting to and from their bus stop, and while waiting for the bus, regardless of where and when they ride. Our bus operators have also shared that improving the environment at bus stops and transit centers is one of the best ways to set the tone for behavior and expectations on board. Our move to a 24/7 cleaning schedule in fall 2024 is already producing positive results. In a recent survey, public approval for cleanliness at Metro increased 10 percent. Additionally, Metro’s investments have expanded accessibility, updated bus stops, added lighting, installed street furniture and more.
• Making expectations clear. Last fall, Metro updated its “Code of Conduct” onboard signs. The new placards emphasize the expectations that are most important to our employees and riders: respect, safety and paying the fare. There are easy-to-understand icons, QR codes linking to translations, and phone numbers and websites for riders to provide urgent and non-urgent feedback. We’re also transitioning back to fare inspections. We’ll begin asking for proof of payment on March 31, and warnings, fines and alternative resolutions will start on May 31.

Even one security incident is too many and our goal will always be zero. The timing of the inaugural meeting of the Regional Transit Safety Task Force during Transit Appreciation Week is fitting. Taking more action to make transit safer is the most important way to care for our employees, riders and communities.

Michelle Allison is general manager of King County Metro. She was previously deputy general manager and is only the second woman to lead Metro. Allison joined King County in 2010 and Metro in 2017, where—prior to becoming general manager—she oversaw the agency’s bus operations, facilities, marine, rail and vehicle maintenance divisions.