Debate at LA Metro board: Tap-to-exit stations, enforcing fares, weapon detectors

Supervisor Janice Hahn, the newly installed chair of the LA Metro board, wants more train station exits locked so that riders must prove they paid to ride by tapping their fare card to exit — or face non-payment citations or removal from the station.

A “Tap-To-Exit” pilot program began on May 28 in the North Hollywood B (Red) Line station in an effort to boost safety on that line, which has been near the top for violent crimes on the train lines, unlawful drug use and homeless people loitering or illegally riding the train for shelter.

The pilot program is aimed at providing more assurance that people who are riding the trains paid the fare to board the line.

Metro passengers are required to use a TAP card to pay before boarding a bus or train, but the honor system has been in place for years with little enforcement. Under the first-ever Metro Tap-To-Exit pilot program, passengers exiting the train are required to again tap the fare card to leave the station.

L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said in recent comments that the vast majority of people arrested or detained in connection with wrongdoing on the transit system had not paid the proper fare. The idea is to remove riders, often who are homeless, mentally ill or taking illicit drugs, from the system.

“The majority of violent crimes are from those with untreated mental health conditions and drug addictions,” Wiggins said in May.

Safety on the transit system has been a major topic in recent months, with a series of attacks on bus drivers and passengers in April, May and June.

On May 27, a bus driver tried close the doors to stop a homeless person who had been violent, but she lunged at the driver, grabbed his eyeglasses, broke them and scratched the driver’s face. The attack occurred on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Two murders of passengers appeared to be committed by mentally ill assailants, killings that were unprovoked, authorities reported. On May 17, Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, a teacher visiting from Mexico, was riding the Line 108 bus in Commerce when a passenger got out of his seat and fatally shot him. The second involved the fatal stabbing of 66-year-old Mirna Soza Arauz on April 22. Arauz was riding the B Line train at the Universal City Station in Studio City.

At her first meeting of the board on Thursday, Hahn will discuss a plan to expand the Tap-To-Exit program to more lines. The item on the agenda calls for expanding the program to 10 end-of-line stations on the six Metro rail lines.

The pilot program in North Hollywood reduced reported crime and other incidents on Metro’s Transit Watch app by 40%, Hahn said.

“The numbers cannot be ignored – the Tap-To-Exit program is even more effective than many of us had imagined and I agree with Metro that we should expand it quickly,” said Hahn in a prepared statement.

“I’m interested to see if this is successful,” Hahn said in an interview on Wednesday, July 24. “Then we may consider expanding it to all exits, which is a lot.”

In a bilingual survey of more than 100 passengers who came through the North Hollywood B Line Station, nine out of 10 passengers reported they felt safer and noticed cleaner stations and trains since the program began, Hahn reported.

“These figures are even higher among our women riders, with nearly every female saying this pilot has improved public safety on Metro,” said Jose Ubaldo, Metro spokesman, in an emailed response.

Hahn, who became chair of the 13-member board on July 11, represents the Fourth District in the South Bay and Southeast L.A. County. She vowed to ride more trains and buses and report her experiences during monthly board meetings.

Recently, she publicized her recent rides on the J Line (formerly the Silver Line), a 38-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) line that runs between El Monte, Downtown Los Angeles and the Harbor Gateway. She said she encountered “cleanliness issues” and when she reported it to Metro’s Customer Relations line, she said she was connected to a live agent in less than a minute.

On Thursday, she indicated support for a weapons detection system rollout also being considered, most likely at Union Station in Downtown L.A., to keep weapons out of stations and off trains and buses, she said.

Adding metal detectors to every bus and train is impractical, but having them at major hubs could make a difference. “Weapons detectors at different places (on the system) begins to send a message,” Hahn said.

Like many Metro rail and bus riders, Hahn also said she’s experienced train delays. She’s also rode the B and E Metro rail lines. She said regarding delays, she realizes how these affect riders who end up late to work or miss a doctor’s appointment. “Any kind of delay is more than inconvenient,” she said.