Whether you ride Metro every day or occasionally, we want you to feel welcome, safe and above all, to have a great ride. That’s why we’re excited for you to meet our Metro Ambassadors who you will see throughout the Metro system, uniformed in green polo shirts. They’re available and at your service seven days a week.
Metro Ambassadors will help you navigate our system, provide extra eyes and ears on our buses and trains, and support riders who need assistance. They’re here to welcome you to Metro, answer your questions, connect you and other riders to the resources you need, and report issues they see.
Ambassadors first started appearing on our system in October when the K Line opened. Now that we’ve trained and deployed more than 260 Metro Ambassadors, we held an official launch and celebration of the pilot program today at Union Station.
Why is the Metro Ambassador program so important? Riders and many who want to use our system have expressed overwhelming support to help enhance public safety. We took those concerns seriously.
Point of emphasis: Metro Ambassadors aren’t security officers, and they ARE NOT replacing existing security staff or law enforcement. They’re part of our Customer Experience department – and they’re also part of our multi-layered plan to reimagine public safety with Transit Security Officers, law enforcement, improved cameras and lighting, more frequent cleaning, as well as homeless outreach and crisis intervention teams.
Metro Ambassadors are diverse and come from the neighborhoods we serve. They have lived experiences which make it possible for them to perform their job with empathy, respect and skill.
Metro Ambassadors will:
- Support Metro riders as they navigate the system. Metro Ambassadors provide a welcoming and visible presence and provide support that customers can rely on.
- Connect riders to resources they need, be it directions to get them where they’re going, info about how to pay their fare, or services available through our homeless outreach teams. Metro Ambassadors are here to help.
- Report any maintenance, cleanliness or safety issues such as a broken escalator, a mess on a bus or train or a safety incident. Metro Ambassadors are our eyes and ears on the system that help us to respond to issues more quickly.
As we mentioned above, the Metro Ambassador program is a pilot, which will continue for up to three to five years. This will allow us to monitor the program closely, collect customer feedback and continually improve the service.
Want more information? Please visit the Metro Ambassador page on metro.net.
Here are answers to three common questions we’ve received about the Metro Ambassadors:
Metro Ambassador Ari Silva talking to media during today’s event.
How does Metro determine where to deploy Metro Ambassadors?
We’ll deploy Metro Ambassadors to where they’re needed the most — busier bus and rail lines and stations and based on customer and employee feedback.
Metro Ambassadors will also help riders during special events, and we’ll deploy them to parts of our system that we think needs extra attention.
What kind of training do the Metro Ambassadors receive?
Metro provides training in trauma informed response, disability awareness, mental health awareness, customer experience, station cleanliness and evaluation, conflict de-escalation, and homeless engagement, among others.
The training curriculum was developed by and delivered by Metro specifically to meet Metro rider needs and is the result of direct customer and employee feedback. Numerous Metro departments helped develop the curriculum. For example, Metro’s Office of Civil Rights provided up-to-date training on disability awareness — an area critical to many Metro riders.
What kind of feedback have we received about Metro Ambassadors so far?
Public feedback has been positive; riders have said they appreciate the presence of the Metro Ambassadors. In addition to helping customers navigate the system, the Metro Ambassadors have helped report sexual harassment, criminal activity, and other issues of key importance to our riders. On several occasions, Metro Ambassadors have helped summon emergency medical assistance for riders in distress.
Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects
I did not know what the ambassadors were for. They don’t appear to be doing anything. They are not looking around or walking through the bus.
A lot of people get on at the back doors without paying.
This is a welcoming change. After many months away, I had to ride the Purple “D” Line around 10pm on a Saturday night. It was shocking to see what a wasteland the system had become. The trains were smelly, grimy, and stations were littered with garbage. There were numerous unresponsive people sprawled across the seats. A group of 3 men openly displaying drug paraphernalia boarded and threatened a homeless woman in their way, who ran away in fear. I clenched my fist the entire time thinking I would have to fight. I’ve always been comforted by the fact that there are very few incidents on Metro but this was clearly no longer the case.
I’ve said for years that one really simple way to make the system safer is fare enforcement and it looks like the Chief Safety Officer finally realized this. It was reported on Reddit that a whole train was cleared recently for a fare check. Hopefully this is just the beginning, as the rail system is terrifying during off-peak hours. It will take a lot of work to regain rider confidence.
There was never a legitimate reason for the system to be degraded to the extent that is has become, other than to profit off the misery.
You don’t need 300 additional eyes and ears to “report” stuff! Especially when it will cost over $100 million more dollars!
The Metro criminals already spend half a billion on police, who are told to do nothing but stand around, as customers are being set ablaze!
Two on the city council have been found guilty of corruption, another one is on trial (Ridley, soon will be off to jail), others were forced to resign due to their true (un-inclusive) agenda being exposed. The entire political structure is awash in corruption!
The former mayor can’t find a job, the present mayor loves Fidel and the former head of Metro (who destroyed Metro) wants to destroy the country by heading the FAA.
And you speak of some phony Chief of Safety! You need your head checked!
Steve Hymon said: We also think the Metro Ambassadors will add more staff presence on the system — which riders told us they wanted — and better help us identify issues.
Translation #1: When riders said they wanted “staff presence,” they didn’t mean people that stand around and shoot the breeze with customers. They meant law enforcement/security personnel, and permanently-manned subway stations (from which fares can be monitored and turnstiles can be secured).
Translation #2: “Better help us identify issues – ” what more help does Metro need identifying issues? The OVERWHELMING majority of riders do not pay fares, leading in turn to a significantly reduced budget and an increasingly decrepit and dysfunctional system. There is one issue Metro needs to focus on – make sure every rider pays the fare that is applicable to them. Period. If it’s a “regular” fare, so be it. A senior fare? Same. A student fare? Same. A “LIFE” fare? Etc. Just pay for the service you receive – in other words, exactly what every other business in America requests (and enforces).
Metro is making this far more complicated than it needs to be in an effort to stall for time and get more state and federal dollars, only to continue to squander them.
Hi JCLA;
We do have several items related to public safety and law enforcement/security coming to our Board of Directors this month. We’re aiming to have a blog post about that soon. The Ambassadors are just one part of our public safety work. We understand your frustration but want you to know there are irons in the fire in addition to the Metro Ambassadors — which we think is also a good program.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
The ambassadors ara a “feel good” response to serious problems in our transit system that they cannot address! Ignore metros attemmpt to derail or ignore real world solutions that are politically unattractive!
Metro has failed its ridership in the past,present and apparently into the future!
Ms. Wiggens IMHO you need to step up and lead or resign!
We dont need ambassadors with a friendly face. We need heavy law enforcement presence. Metro doesn’t care about rider’s safety. They are soft on criminals just like the disastrous DA.
I don’t suppose these people have the power to remove or arrest people using drugs on the system, do they?
Hi —
The Metro Ambassadors are not security staff and they don’t make arrests. We have security and law enforcement for that. Our security staff in February launched a new effort to reduce illegal drug possession, usage and sales on our system. It’s absolutely a problem — and we know it. And we are taking steps. We also think the Metro Ambassadors will add more staff presence on the system — which riders told us they wanted — and better help us identify issues.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
Looks like you didn’t bother reading the article. It specifically states that they’re not security officers or replacing law enforcement.
4 suspects are being sought for an alleged hate crime beating at one of your Koreatown stations. Its a great look to have these ambassadors, but I don’t believe metro is taking the most serious steps to ensure riders safety. Trains and buses are for people to commute. They aren’t shelters or places to hideaway. There’s no one checking that people pay at the gates or enforce fares on buses. No one is removing people who loiter, scream and do drugs on a train. These things need to be dealt with more than anything. Nothing will change until they are seriously addressed. How much money will be wasted and people injured during this “reimagining ” process?
Metro doesn’t need “homeless outreach and crisis intervention teams.” Those are admirable things (in theory), but they should be left to government/social experts. Metro is a transportation agency. As such, they need to focus on running a safe, clean, affordable, efficient, and widespread public transportation network. That’s it. And the way they should start doing that is simple – enforce the fares. “Ambassadors” aren’t replacing law enforcement/security personnel? WHAT law enforcement/security personnel? Such things do not exist. Focus on enforcing fares. PLEASE. For the sake of your stakeholders and the community at large.
When are they going to start riding the bus especially at night and rush hour
Hi Robert;
The Ambassadors are out there. As we wrote in the post, we’re deploying them to busiest parts of the system and areas we think need attention. They do work evenings, too.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source