LOS ANGELES — One issue Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addressed in her State of the City speech Monday night was the recent uptick in violent crime and drug use on LA’s Metro system.

“In the first quarter of this year alone, 22 people died on Metro. That’s how many people died on Metro in the entire year last year. Of course, there is a law enforcement component to the problems on Metro — but there must be real and sustained treatment available for substance abuse and mental illness for the unhoused,” Bass said.

Metro says 800,000 people ride their buses and pass through their turnstiles every day. According to a recent survey that Metro conducted, more than 70% of its riders come from low-income families. In light of record-high inflation and the high cost of rent in Los Angeles, more people than ever are turning to Metro as an affordable alternative to driving or taking an Uber.

Some commuters — including Yolanda Segura, a Master of Education student — say they not only rely on the train to get to class on time, but actually prefer them to driving.

“It’s been good. I haven’t had really bad experiences. But I mean I like it, I enjoy being on the train. I like adventures,” she said.

But not all riders agree with Segura.

High school senior Jacob Yu takes the red line from North Hollywood to Koreatown every weekday afternoon. Yu said he’s had many uncomfortable encounters during his commutes, the bulk of them involving homeless people.

“I used to get off at Wilshire/Western, and I stopped going on Wilshire/Western because I would see this guy walking around and staring at me through the window, and honestly I feared for my life,” he said.

Yu recalled another incident, “I remember riding the Metro, and a guy runs in with a hammer and threatens to smash someone’s head in… he has a hammer in his hand and he’s clearly mentally [ill]. And on top of that he said he was like an ex-con, and I don’t judge, but at that point where he has a hammer in his hand and he’s yelling at people, it just, it makes you scared.”

Yu has also seen a lot of open drug use on LA’s transit system.

“People sleeping on the benches, people on drugs, drugs on the floor — you see clearly like plastic paper bags that have crack residue and heroin, and you see people smoking crack and heroin at the stops, you see needles sometimes, you see people who are on drugs on the bus, all the time.”

Metro’s spokesperson, Missy Colman, said they’ve taken concrete steps to increase safety on trains, and crack down on drug use. In a statement provided to Spectrum News, Colman said:

“All our riders should feel safe as they move around Los Angeles County, and we are committed to continuing to do everything in our power to keep improving public safety on our system. Metro has taken concrete steps to help make our system safer and some of the steps we’ve taken to address public safety concerns include:

• Increasing the presence of uniformed Transit Security Officers across our system.
• Hiring 48 additional Transit Security Officers who will specifically ride buses to keep our bus operators and customers safe.
• Launching the Metro Ambassadors pilot program, part of our layered approach to safety, adds nearly 300 ambassadors to our system, providing a more visible presence on the system to disincentivize this type of behavior and report it to law enforcement to address. Metro Ambassadors help riders navigate the transit system, provide extra eyes and ears, and support riders who need assistance. They also welcome riders to Metro, answer their questions, connect them to the resources they need and report issues they see.
• Piloting a program at the Westlake/MacArthur Park Station intended to help reduce drug use, trespassing on station properties and crime while improving cleanliness and increasing the feeling of safety. Initial results (comparing Jan. 23 – Feb. 23) are promising with a 50% reduction in incidents related to graffiti, vandalism, loitering, and trash/clean-up, a 75% reduction in calls for emergency service and nearly 20% reduction in crime."

Colman said Metro is also increasing the cleaning regimen on trains, including power washing and wiping down touch points more frequently.

To help bolster public safety, the Metro Board of Directors, which includes Mayor Karen Bass and City Council President Paul Krekorian, also voted to extend LAPD’s contract with Metro for another three years.

The only member to vote “no” on the motion was LA County Board Supervisor Lindsey Horvath — who has made an effort recently to take the red line to her office nearly every day. Horvath said she saw a lot of improvements during those trips, but even she admits to encountering some issues along her commute.

“We saw, as we see in every community throughout Los Angeles, unfortunately, the mental health crisis that is on our streets, people who are struggling with addiction issues,” Horvath said.

But Horvath said adding more armed officers on trains will only perpetuate the status quo.

“I just don’t think we should be spending hundreds of millions of dollars without knowing what we’re getting for it,” she said. “We know what we’re getting right now isn’t making anyone happy.”

Yu, who said he often encounters police at stations, said he doesn’t feel safe when they’re around.

“The cops, they show up with their guns and their batons and their Tasers, and instead of bringing a sense of comfort, it just brings a sense of fear,” Yu said.

A sense of fear and uncertainty for riders like Jacob, with no clear solution on the horizon.