Milestone reached for Metro Transit Ambassadors, who are now officially part of agency’s staff

Metro Transit Ambassadors are officially now Metro employees — a milestone that is a reflection of the program’s success. 

Quick background: the Metro Board of Directors in June approved a collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union to represent Transit Ambassador personnel effective this past July 1. The Ambassadors first day as Metro employees was Sunday. 

The Board also approved 85 additional Ambassador program positions to manage the program in house and expand Ambassadors coverage on more bus lines and new stations as the Metro system expands.

With these actions, Metro has begun the process of building an in-house Metro Ambassador department, which the Metro Board approved in October 2023. Metro is beginning the process of hiring current Ambassadors who are deployed on the system through two contractors.

A 2023 survey of Metro customers found that the visible presence of Metro Ambassadors contributes to the perceptions of safety. Sixty-three percent of survey respondents who reported having seen Ambassadors stated that seeing made them feel safer. That number increases to 66 percent among women and people earning less than $25,000 a year, 68 percent among people Hispanic/Latinos and people under the age of 18 and 70 percent among Asian/Pacific Islanders.

As part of the Board’s approval, Metro’s budget for fiscal year 2026 (which runs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026) was amended to include $11.8 million for the implementation of new wages and benefits. 

This collective bargaining agreement results in the addition of 388 contract positions (Teamsters) comprised of 309 Transit Ambassador program staff who are currently in the field and 79 new Transit Ambassadors to provide coverage on our expanding system.

Metro Ambassadors are an essential part of the Metro public safety ecosystem, along with transit security, law enforcement, homeless outreach and crisis intervention teams. Ambassadors help riders navigate the Metro system, provide assistance, connect them to resources and report issues that need to be addressed. 

This includes summoning emergency help for those customers in distress, as well as providing critical live-saving support. Check out these stats for the past fiscal year, which ended on July 1:

• Metro Ambassadors have helped over 645,00 people!
• They have made over 4,300 safety reports through our Transit Watch app.
• Ambassadors have also saved 76 lives through timely administration of Naloxone.

For more information, please visit metro.net/riding/ambassadors/.