- In Los Angeles, “Homelessness Declining On Metro’s Transit System” With Transit Ambassador Team’s “Outreach Model Driving The Results.” Mass Transit Magazine reports on the “the number of people experiencing homelessness throughout the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s system dropping significantly year-to-year… a decrease between 37 and 39 percent… [as Metro] deploys multidisciplinary teams across the bus and rail system, offering resources in real time to individuals in need.”
The Transit Ambassador team focuses “on connecting unhoused riders to supportive services and housing, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and a network of homeless service providers.” Just last year, the team “connected 2,709 people to interim or permanent housing, exceeding the agency’s goal… by more than 150 percent.”
- Related: County leaders just expanded the Transit Ambassadors program this month, as Pasadena Now reports, “creating an in-house Transit Ambassador department… [and] adding 85 positions to enhance safety coverage on buses and trains.” This move makes the Transit Ambassador team “officially now Metro employees — a milestone that is a reflection of the program’s success,” county leaders said in an announcement of the shift. Transit Ambassadors “help riders navigate the Metro system, provide assistance, connect them to resources and report issues that need to be addressed… including summoning emergency help for those customers in distress, as well as providing critical live-saving support.” Since the program first launched in 2023, the team has “helped over 645,000 people… [and] saved 76 lives…”
- Albuquerque Launches Transit Ambassador Team. The new team, launched this month, “can be seen in highly visible uniforms and are equipped” with various resources and training to help keep the public transportation system running safely and orderly, from “helping riders navigate the system … [to providing care and services to people experiencing] homelessness and mental health and addiction” issues, Mass Transit magazine reports. Michael Kitchen, who oversees the Transit Ambassador team, explained that “there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to public safety… the more eyes the better. Each piece of the puzzle helps reduce reliance on armed police response” for mental health and addiction calls for service on public transit.
