Do People Support This?

National Polling

A Safer Cities national poll found 75% of voters support “the creation of an unarmed transit security ambassador unit where they live.” That number holds above 70% across party affiliation, race, gender, age, and educational attainment. [1]

This is a public opinion finding and should not be treated as evidence that programs work. What it establishes is that, as a policy proposition, transit safety ambassadors command majority support before most voters have had any experience with an actual program.

The function-specific findings, by net importance (percentage rating “important” or “very important” minus percentage rating “not important”):

Responding to medical emergencies: +74 net (59% called it “very important”)
Helping people experiencing mental health crises: +70 net (53% “very important”)
Preventing drug use on transit: +69 net (53% “very important”)
Deterring harassment: +67 net (50% “very important”)
Assisting elderly and disabled riders: +63 net (48% “very important”)
Walking people to their cars: +62 net (45% “very important”)
Helping with directions: +51 net (37% “very important”)

[1]

Medical emergency response ranked highest, with 59% of voters calling it “very important” — not just “important.” [1] The full importance breakout for each function, per the Safer Cities / Data For Progress poll:

Medical emergency response: 87% important vs. 13% not important
Helping people experiencing mental health crises: 85% vs. 15%
Preventing drug use on transit: 84% vs. 15%
Deterring harassment: 83% vs. 16%
Assisting elderly and disabled riders: 81% vs. 18%
Walking people to their cars: 81% vs. 19%
Helping with directions: 75% vs. 24%

[1] The 334 lives saved by LA Metro ambassadors as of July 2025, per Metro’s official board records, represents the documented outcome that corresponds to this top-ranked function. [LA Metro board press release, July 2025]

A separate finding: 77% of voters agreed that “trained safety ambassadors consistently and competently perform the same role for less cost which allows the city to have more safety ambassadors, and therefore more eyes on the street, for the same budget.” [1]

Regional Polling

A Safer Cities poll of Harris County, Texas residents found 81% say transit ambassador units would be “effective” at “making Harris County safer.” [2]

Rider Experience

A Safer Cities rider survey found 63% of LA Metro riders who had encountered ambassadors on the system reported feeling safer when they see them. A December 2025 UCLA evaluation found “safety perceptions increased over the period ambassadors were deployed.” [UCLA ITS, December 2025: https://www.its.ucla.edu/publication/la-metro-transit-ambassador-shows-promise/]

LA Metro’s 2023 customer survey found demographic breakouts among riders who had seen ambassadors: 66% of women felt safer; 66% of those earning under $25,000 per year; 68% of Hispanic/Latino riders; 68% of those under 18; 70% of Asian/Pacific Islander riders. 61% said they want more ambassadors; 54% said ambassador presence makes them want to ride Metro more often. [LA Metro 2023 Customer Survey, cited in RTA Chicago blog, March 27, 2025: https://www.rtachicago.org/blog/2025/03/27/what-chicago-can-learn-from-transit-ambassador-programs-around-the-country]

Community groups in Los Angeles have called for a four-to-five-fold increase in the program budget to expand to bus routes. [4]

Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) frontline crisis intervention specialists stated: “we are definitely needed — it’s just that there needs to be 100 of us, not just 20.” [5]

A pilot at BART’s Embarcadero and Montgomery stations in San Francisco found 82% of surveyed riders felt safer with ambassadors present, per the San Francisco Standard’s reporting on the program-reported results. A critical caveat applies: the pilot period coincided with a citywide 25.8% overall crime decrease, meaning the finding cannot be attributed exclusively to ambassador presence. [The San Francisco Standard, Jillian D’Onfro, November 13, 2025]

A Bay Area Council / EMC Research poll (May 2023) of 1,000 residents in the BART service area found 79% feel more comfortable riding BART with uniformed police or security present, and 73% say BART should prioritize adding uniformed police — a finding that reflects simultaneous demand for increased police presence alongside documented support for ambassador programs. Only 17% of frequent BART riders reported feeling safe at the time of that poll. [Bay Area Council, May 2023: https://www.bayareacouncil.org/press-releases/new-poll-overwhelming-support-for-more-police-on-bart-greater-focus-on-cleanliness-and-stronger-enforcement-of-rules/]

Named Constituencies the Polling Identifies

The Safer Cities / Data For Progress poll identifies specific rider groups as primary beneficiaries:

Night-shift workers. Night-shift workers travel during off-peak hours when platforms are least populated. The walking escort function ranks +62 net importance, with 81% rating it “important” or “very important.” [1]

Elderly and disabled riders. Helping elderly and disabled riders ranks +63 net importance, with 81% rating it “important” or “very important” and 48% calling it “very important.” [1]

Women traveling alone. The ability to request a walking escort creates an environment where riders traveling alone feel safer during off-peak hours. 81% of voters support the walking escort function. [1]

People experiencing homelessness, mental health crises, and substance use issues. BART’s program specifically targets “people suffering from mental health, homelessness and substance-abuse issues.” [KQED, May 14, 2024] Rather than arrest or removal, ambassadors connect individuals to “social services and mental health nonprofits sprinkled throughout BART’s five-county service area.” [KQED, May 14, 2024]

Regular commuters. The 63% of LA Metro riders who reported feeling safer when they see ambassadors represents the commuter base as a measured constituency. [Safer Cities rider survey, 2023]

Transit Agency Leadership

LA Metro Supervisor Holly Mitchell: “Every one of my constituents has a different perception of what it takes for them to feel safe in a public space. We thought that by having an extra set of eyes in the system, unarmed and well trained, we can improve people’s perceptions of public safety without the unnecessary risks of over policing or enabling situations to escalate to violence.” [6]

Minneapolis Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras described ambassadors as “an opportunity to increase official presence on our system, to add more eyes and ears.” [9]

BART Deputy Chief of Police Ja’Son Scott publicly championed the crisis intervention specialist program, explaining: “We didn’t have all the tools as police officers to deal with all the issues that you see in BART, and it’s not always necessary for a police officer” to handle these situations. [7]

D.C. Metro General Manager Randy Clarke: ambassadors “provide great service and are another additive layer to make sure we have more visibility for safety, security and more thinking about the customer in everything we do.” [8]

Sacramento Regional Transit’s board voted unanimously to expand its ambassador program with a $1 million budget increase. Board member Roger Dickinson described the expansion as “calibrated to have the right level of response for the particular incident.” [Fox40, Noah Anderson, October 29, 2025: https://fox40.com/news/sacrt-approves-1m-funding-increase-to-enhance-passenger-safety/]

LA Metro’s board voted the program permanent after finding it “improved public safety and helped increase ridership.” [LA Metro board press release, July 2025]

Editorial and Media

The Los Angeles Times editorial board endorsed the transit ambassador model and called for expansion, writing that “riders deserve safer bus and rail service” and warning that “Metro is doomed without it.” The board called specifically for expanding “unarmed staff who can patrol the buses and trains every day and develop relationships with operators and commuters.” [10]

Fox News Los Angeles, KQED, NBC News Los Angeles, and The San Francisco Standard have all covered transit ambassador programs with reporting documenting specific outcomes. [6, 7, NBC News Los Angeles; The San Francisco Standard]

What the UCLA Evaluation Found on Perception

UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies evaluation (December 2025) found that riders reported “safety perceptions increased over the period ambassadors were deployed” and characterized the program as providing “more eyes on the system and offer a highly visible presence to riders.” [UCLA ITS, December 2025: https://www.its.ucla.edu/publication/la-metro-transit-ambassador-shows-promise/]

Additional Rider Surveys

A Minneapolis Metro Transit rider survey (June–July 2023, 2,000 respondents) found 61% prefer TRIP agents to address safety and fare enforcement, compared to 39% preferring navigation help. [MinnPost, September 2023, Peter Callaghan: https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2023/09/survey-of-metro-transit-riders-shows-they-want-ambassadors-to-focus-on-safety-fare-enforcement/]

A YouGov national poll (January 2023, n=6,776 U.S. adults) found 48% of U.S. adults see public transportation as “very safe” or “somewhat safe.” Among monthly-or-more transit users, that figure rises to 78%. [YouGov: https://today.yougov.com/travel/articles/45079-how-safe-do-us-adults-believe-public-transportatio]

Gender and Safety Research

Research on transit safety and gender provides context for the walking escort function, which ranks +62 net importance in the Safer Cities / Data For Progress national poll with 81% finding it important.

An NYU Rudin Center analysis (2018) found 75% of women (versus 47% of men) reported being subject to harassment or theft on NYC public transportation (n=547 respondents). [Vital City: https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/riding-while-female-a-safer-subway-for-women-too]

A 2025 study of San Francisco Muni riders (n=1,613) published in Transportation Research Record found 67% reported experiencing harassment in the last six months; 68% feel safe during daytime but only 32% feel safe at nighttime. Statistically significant safety gaps appeared between women and men, gender minorities and cisgender riders, transit-dependent and private-vehicle-access riders, and white and non-white riders. [Cowan & Liu, “Rethinking Transit Safety,” Transportation Research Record, 2025: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03611981241255603]

A Transit App / Mobilizing Justice multi-city survey of 26,000+ transit riders found males 8–10% more likely to feel safe than females; non-binary and non-conforming respondents reported just over 54% feeling safe — the lowest group surveyed. [Mobilizing Justice, mobilizingjustice.ca]

Cleveland GCRTA’s Wave 10 rider survey (June 2024, approximately 1,341 cumulative responses across 10 waves) showed 73% customer satisfaction and a Net Promoter Score of 70 — a 19-point increase over earlier measurements — during the period the ambassador program has been operational. [Mass Transit Magazine, November 2024: https://www.masstransitmag.com/safety-security/article/55243079/greater-cleveland-regional-transit-authority-rta-gcrta-transit-ambassador-program-update]

Where Support Has Limits

Minneapolis’s Transit Rider Investment Program faced friction over including fare checking as an ambassador duty. Metro Transit acknowledged that stepped-up fare enforcement through TRIP “may have contributed” to a 14% light rail ridership decline in 2025. [Axios Twin Cities, March 11, 2026: https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2026/03/11/metro-transit-ridership-decline-2025]

The Sacramento fatal stabbing in June 2025 — where a transit ambassador killed a 16-year-old following an altercation — gave critics a concrete incident to point to when arguing that unarmed civilian roles require clearer scope limits and stronger screening. [CBS Sacramento, June 2025: https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/rancho-cordova-alleged-sacrt-employee-stabbing/]

Ambassador programs also compete with other transit budget priorities. The LA Metro board, despite making the program permanent, has not yet committed the four-to-five-fold budget increase that community groups have called for to extend coverage to buses. [LA Metro board materials; LA Times editorial, May 2024]

The Minneapolis data shows the limits of polling support: despite deploying approximately 92 agents, only 41% of light rail riders reported feeling safe on trains as of 2025. [Axios Twin Cities, March 11, 2026]