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What Calls Does This Handle?

The Los Angeles Times editorial board documented the scope: “the vast majority of safety concerns cited by riders are about comfort and cleanliness,” specifically “homeless people sleeping on the trains and buses” and “people experiencing mental health crises.” [1] LA Metro’s mission defines the program’s scope: ambassadors handle “the lion’s share of incidents in transit” while reserving “law enforcement and armed responses to those incidents that truly warrant it.” [10]

Medical Emergencies and Overdose Response

Ambassadors carry naloxone and are trained in its administration. David Moreland, an LA Metro ambassador, reported personally administering Narcan to resuscitate three people. He reported resuscitating two additional people through CPR. [2] Across the LA Metro program, ambassadors saved 334 lives through Narcan and CPR as of July 2025, according to Metro’s official board records. [2]

Cleveland and programs that specify suicide intervention as within scope train ambassadors in crisis de-escalation for people expressing suicidal ideation or in acute psychiatric distress. [3]

The medical emergency category is where the evidence for transit ambassador programs is most directly documented: the 334 lives saved figure represents a counted outcome, per Metro’s official board records. [2]

Mental Health Crisis Response

Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) Crisis Intervention Specialists are trained specifically in “conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for people suffering from mental health, homelessness and substance-abuse issues.” [4] Cleveland’s “highly visible, uniformed civilian force” includes “crisis intervention specialists who are trained and have expertise in using conflict resolution skills to help people experiencing mental health crises.” [3] The training for LA Metro ambassadors covers “everything from mental health to de-escalation tactics before officially hitting the platform.” [5]

BART Deputy Chief of Police Ja’Son Scott described the model: “It may be that on the first contact with a crisis intervention specialist somebody is ready to seek help. But sometimes it might be the 20th contact.” [4]

When a situation involves acute psychiatric distress with immediate danger, programs escalate to law enforcement. Thurston County documents the boundary explicitly: ambassadors focus on “de-escalating situations, CPR, first aid, and Narcan deployment,” with the understanding that “when situations exceed this scope, law enforcement is called.” [7]

Homelessness and People Using Transit for Shelter

BART specialists connect people experiencing homelessness to “social services and mental health nonprofits sprinkled throughout BART’s five-county service area.” [4] They escort individuals to resources that are “30, 40 minutes away” when that’s what connection requires. [4]

BART Deputy Chief Scott described the persistence required: “sometimes it might be the 20th contact” before someone accepts help. [4]

Quality-of-Life Situations

Quality-of-life situations include: smoking and prohibited substance use; loud music and disruptive behavior that has not escalated to assault; seat blocking, door blocking, and space violations; aggressive panhandling short of criminal threatening.

LA Metro’s mission documents that ambassadors address these situations as “the front line,” without requiring police response. [10]

Thurston County documents ambassadors handling “de-escalating situations with passengers” as a core function on bus routes. [7] Ambassador Lois Thomas stated that riders report “seeing an ambassador onboard the buses makes them ‘feel better,’ ‘safer.'” [7]

Rider Service and Assistance

Ambassador programs document the following service functions:

Directions and wayfinding. Helping lost riders, tourists, and first-time users navigate systems. [7]

Wheelchair and mobility assistance. Helping riders who use wheelchairs or have mobility challenges board, exit, and navigate stations. [1]

Walking escorts. A Safer Cities national poll found 81% of voters consider the walking escort function important. [Safer Cities national poll]

Welfare checks. Checking on riders who appear to be in distress or unresponsive. [7]

Bus operator support. Thurston County, Washington deploys ambassadors directly on bus vehicles to support operators. The program documents ambassadors enabling drivers to “focus on driving safely while the ambassador assists passengers.” When operators are “having problems on a route consistently, they can ride the bus with that operator and help calm situations.” [7]

What Transit Safety Ambassadors Are Not Equipped to Handle

The Thurston County program articulates the scope boundary: ambassadors focus on “de-escalating situations, CPR, first aid, and Narcan deployment,” direct service to passengers, and operator support, with the explicit understanding that when situations exceed this scope, law enforcement is called. [7]

Programs are designed with escalation protocols for active violence, credible threats, and situations where someone presents imminent danger to themselves or others. Ambassadors are not trained or equipped to physically restrain individuals. [7, 4]

The Scope Within the Broader Transit Safety System

The 2025 Illinois legislation creating transit ambassador programs under the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority makes the layered design explicit: ambassadors will “increase safety for passengers and personnel, provide passenger education and assistance,” connect people to “social, medical, and other services and community resources,” “liaise with law enforcement” for serious crimes, and “help passengers navigate all transit systems.” [9]

  1. Sources ↩

  2. Los Angeles Times editorial board (May 6, 2024) — scope framing, comfort and cleanliness as primary rider concerns: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-05-06/editorial-la-metro-is-doomed-if-it-cant-keep-bus-and-train-riders-safe ↩

  3. LA Metro board press release (metro.net, July 2025) — 334 lives saved (LA Metro board records): https://www.metro.net/about/metro-board-approves-collective-bargaining-agreement-to-create-in-house-transit-ambassador-department-expand-it-to-more-bus-and-train-lines/; LA Daily News (Steve Scauzillo, June 7, 2024) — David Moreland Narcan and CPR resuscitations: https://www.dailynews.com/2024/06/07/saving-riders-from-ods-or-aiding-tourists-la-metro-ambassadors-take-good-with-bad/ ↩

  4. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, crisis intervention specialist scope, mental health focus: https://www.masstransitmag.com/safety-security/article/55243079/greater-cleveland-regional-transit-authority-rta-gcrta-transit-ambassador-program-update ↩

  5. KQED (Matthew Green, May 14, 2024) — BART specialist training, de-escalation, homelessness/mental health/substance use scope, 20th contact model: https://www.kqed.org/news/11985965/we-approach-in-peace-are-barts-outreach-efforts-to-help-people-in-crisis-working ↩

  6. NBC News Los Angeles (Anthony Bautista, March 6, 2023) — LA Metro training "from mental health to de-escalation tactics": https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/la-metro-introduces-ambassador-program-aiming-to-improve-rider-safety/3108333/ ↩

  7. Safer Cities national poll — 81% voter support for walking escort function [Safer Cities proprietary research, no external URL] ↩

  8. ThurstonTalk (Kristina Lotz, November 7, 2025) — Thurston County scope: de-escalation, CPR/first aid/Narcan, operator support, passenger assistance: https://www.thurstontalk.com/2025/11/07/transit-ambassador-program-at-intercity-transit-ensures-you-have-a-great-ride/ ↩

  9. Safer Cities national poll — 81% voter support for walking escort function [Safer Cities proprietary research, no external URL] ↩

  10. Illinois Governor's Office / Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago — Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act (NITA), Chicago-region transit ambassador mandate, 2027 implementation target: https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-northern-illinois-transit-authority-act ↩

  11. Los Angeles Metro — "front line, managing the lion's share of incidents" mission framing: https://www.metro.net/about/metro-board-approves-collective-bargaining-agreement-to-create-in-house-transit-ambassador-department-expand-it-to-more-bus-and-train-lines/

    #5. Does it Work?

    The evidence base for transit safety ambassadors is uneven. Some outcomes — lives saved through naloxone administration and CPR — are directly countable. Others — crimes deterred through visible presence, escalations prevented through de-escalation — are harder to measure. Most documented data is program-reported rather than independently evaluated. And the evidence comes almost entirely from large urban transit systems in cities with established transit infrastructure. ↩

  12. The life-saving outcomes are directly documented and specific. The crime reduction and ridership recovery outcomes are promising but based on limited, self-reported data from programs operating in specific contexts. ↩

  13. Life-Saving Outcomes ↩

  14. Los Angeles Metro’s official board records show that ambassadors saved 334 lives through Narcan administration and CPR as of July 2025. This figure comes from Metro’s internal tracking and has not been audited case-by-case by an independent party. [1] ↩

  15. A December 2025 evaluation by UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies reviewed the ambassador pilot, identifying the program as a potential national model. Researchers found that “safety perceptions increased over the period ambassadors were deployed” and that the program achieved “many of its initial goals.” [2] ↩

  16. Ambassador David Moreland, a Vietnam War veteran who served as a military medic before joining LA Metro, reported personally resuscitating five people — three through Narcan, two through CPR. [1] ↩

  17. Rider Perception of Safety ↩

  18. A Safer Cities rider survey found 63% of LA Metro riders who had seen ambassadors reported feeling safer when they see them on the system. This is a program-commissioned survey result and measures rider experience rather than underlying crime rates. [5] ↩

  19. The LA Metro board drew this connection explicitly, voting to make the program permanent after finding that ambassadors had “improved public safety and helped increase ridership on its transit system.” [3] ↩

  20. Rider perception findings should not be treated as evidence of crime reduction. The evidence on whether ambassador programs reduce crime is addressed below. ↩

  21. Crime Reduction: Promising but Limited Evidence ↩

  22. The most specific transit crime reduction data comes from Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) Embarcadero and Montgomery stations in San Francisco, where a pilot running from late July through December 2025 was associated with a 53% drop in safety-related 911 calls and a 67% drop in calls tied to violent incidents including fights, assaults, and robberies. Additional data from the pilot: 82% of surveyed riders felt safer with ambassadors present, San Francisco Police Department response minutes dropped 58%, and San Francisco Fire Department response minutes dropped 23%. A critical caveat applies: the pilot period coincided with a citywide 25.8% overall crime decrease, which means the reductions at these two stations cannot be attributed exclusively to ambassador presence. These figures are program-reported from a single pilot at two stations. The attribution question is genuinely unsettled. [4] ↩

  23. Carnegie Mellon criminologist Dan Nagin, in “Deterrence: A Review of the Evidence by a Criminologist for Economists,” Annual Review of Economics, Vol. 5, 2013, pp. 83–105, found that visibility of authority figures “makes crime less attractive” and may be “more important than even the power of apprehension.” Nagin’s research applies to visible authority presence generally, not specifically to transit ambassadors. [7] ↩

  24. A randomized controlled trial of unarmed uniformed security presence in a transit system was published in PLOS ONE in 2017 by Ariel, Bland, and Sutherland (University of Cambridge and RAND Europe). Conducted in South West England’s rail stations, not in the United States: stations were randomly assigned to treatment (directed patrol by uniformed, unarmed private security agents) and control conditions over six months. The treatment produced 41% more patrol visits and 29% more patrol minutes at treated stations, associated with a 16% reduction in victim-generated crimes across station complexes and a 49% increase in police-generated detections. [Ariel, Bland & Sutherland, PLOS ONE 12(12): e0187392, 2017: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187392] ↩

  25. A rigorous independent evaluation of U.S. ambassador programs and crime rates, controlling for confounding factors, has not been published for any major program. [2] ↩

  26. Evidence on 911 Call Reduction and Police Resource Impact ↩

  27. Washington D.C. Metro’s deployment of ambassadors was specifically positioned to “tamp down on crime spikes and boost security without hiring or deploying more police officers.” [WMATA Metro Ambassadors program page] LA Metro’s mission explicitly states the goal to “reserve law enforcement and armed responses to those incidents that truly warrant it.” [3] ↩

  28. The field does not yet have published studies measuring what percentage of transit calls are resolved by ambassadors versus requiring police escalation across multiple programs. [2] ↩

  29. What the UCLA Evaluation Found: Fuller Findings ↩

  30. StreetsBlog LA (Joe Linton) reported on UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies evaluation of the LA Metro ambassador pilot. Researchers found that ambassadors “advance a community safety approach towards meeting riders’ needs,” “make a positive contribution to the system,” and “support riders and operator safety and connecting vulnerable riders to resources.” [StreetsBlog LA, December 2025; UCLA ITS December 2025: https://www.its.ucla.edu/publication/la-metro-transit-ambassador-shows-promise/] ↩

  31. Specifically on life-saving: researchers documented that the team “assists with the first level of homelessness response, with crisis de-escalation, and by administering Narcan to prevent overdoses” and has “saved hundreds of lives on the system through Narcan use, CPR, and first aid.” [UCLA ITS, December 2025] ↩

  32. On visibility: researchers noted the team provides “more eyes on the system and offer a highly visible presence to riders.” [UCLA ITS, December 2025] ↩

  33. On program policy: the board’s decision to make the program permanent reflects “evidence that the pilot program was able to achieve many of its initial goals.” [UCLA ITS, December 2025] ↩

  34. Service Connection Outcomes: What Programs Document ↩

  35. BART’s program documents service connections to “social services and mental health nonprofits sprinkled throughout BART’s five-county service area” as a core outcome, but does not report specific service connection numbers. [9] Minneapolis’s Transit Rider Investment Program was designed in part to “connect people experiencing homelessness and addiction with social services agencies.” [Governing, Jared Brey, December 14, 2023] ↩

  36. The service connection evidence across transit ambassador programs consists primarily of program descriptions of activities, without documented outcome data on how many people were connected to services, how many accepted them, or what happened downstream. [2, 9] ↩

  37. An exception is LA Metro’s housing connection data reported by Mass Transit Magazine: the Metro team “connected 2,709 people to interim or permanent housing, exceeding the agency’s goal… by more than 150 percent” in one year. Since the program launched in 2023, the team has “helped over 645,000 people.” [Mass Transit Magazine, 2024] Mass Transit Magazine characterized the “outreach model” as “driving the results” in a “37 to 39 percent” year-to-year decrease in homelessness across the Metro system. [Mass Transit Magazine, 2024] ↩

  38. These figures are program-reported via Mass Transit Magazine and have not been independently verified. They represent the most specific service connection outcome data in the public record for any transit ambassador program. ↩

  39. What Independent Evaluations Have Found ↩

  40. UCLA evaluation of LA Metro (December 2025). UCLA’s Institute of Transportation Studies published an evaluation of the LA Metro ambassador pilot in December 2025. Researchers found that rider safety perceptions increased over the period ambassadors were deployed, that the program achieved many of its initial goals, and that the transition to in-house employment under the July 2025 Teamsters agreement addressed documented contractor-era problems including below-living-wage pay, high turnover, lack of break facilities, and arbitrary assignments. The evaluation also identified gaps: the need for stronger data collection systems, more comprehensive outcome tracking, and expanded bus coverage. It does not constitute a controlled study of crime reduction, and its findings are specific to LA Metro’s context. [2] ↩

  41. BART system-wide crime data (2025). BART reported that the full-year 2025 data shows overall crime down 41%, violent crime down 31%, property crime down 43%, robberies down 60%, auto thefts down 50%; aggravated assaults up 12%. This is a system-wide figure, not a controlled study of the ambassador program’s contribution specifically. Chief Kevin Franklin credited the combination of Crisis Intervention Specialists and other non-sworn personnel alongside sworn officers as part of the safety strategy. BART spokesperson Alicia Trost confirmed the agency has no analytical reports specifically evaluating the ambassador program — “given that it is now one of the oldest in the country.” Crime drops are attributed to multiple factors including doubled officer presence, 715 new fare gates at all 50 stations, 4,000+ surveillance cameras, and LED lighting. [8, Antioch Herald, January 2026: https://antiochherald.com/2026/01/crime-on-bart-drops-41-in-2025/; Oaklandside, February 3, 2026] ↩

  42. BART diversion data (Q3 2025). BART’s quarterly performance report (December 4, 2025) documents that police dispatch deployed a Crisis Intervention Specialist 206 times in the third quarter of 2025; 2,591 calls were diverted — handled by specialists instead of police. [BART Quarterly Performance Report, December 4, 2025, cited in Oaklandside, February 3, 2026] ↩

  43. MBTA — Massachusetts Inspector General audit (July 2023). The Massachusetts OIG found MBTA overpaid its ambassador contractor Block by Block by more than $5.3 million. The MBTA “did not set clear goals or performance metrics” to track ambassador performance and exercised insufficient contract oversight. Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro found MBTA did not verify how ambassadors conducted elevator checks. This is the only published government audit of a U.S. transit ambassador program. [Boston Herald, July 27, 2023: https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/27/mbta-overpaid-for-transit-ambassadors-did-not-set-performance-metrics-report-finds/; Mass.gov: https://www.mass.gov/news/the-oigs-internal-special-audit-unit-isau-review-of-the-mbtas-in-station-customer-service-contract-with-block-by-block] ↩

  44. What the Evidence Does Not Show ↩

  45. There is no published randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental study comparing transit crime rates before and after ambassador deployment while controlling for confounding factors. The San Francisco 911 call reduction comes from a single pilot without a control condition. The LA Metro life-saving data is program-reported without independent verification of individual cases. [2, 4] ↩

  46. Most programs have been operating for too short a period to generate the longitudinal data needed to assess longer-term impacts on ridership, crime, and social service utilization. The programs documenting outcomes at all — primarily LA Metro and BART — are among the largest and most resourced. Programs in smaller systems or earlier stages have little or no published outcome data. [2] ↩

  47. The evidence is concentrated in large urban transit systems. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. are not representative of American transit systems broadly. [2] ↩

  48. The evidence base is sufficient to justify continued investment and to inform implementation decisions; it is not sufficient to make claims that go beyond what the data supports. [2] ↩

  49. Footnotes (12) ↩

  50. Sources ↩

  51. LA Metro board press release (metro.net, July 2025) — 334 lives saved as of July 2025 (program-reported internal tracking): https://www.metro.net/about/metro-board-approves-collective-bargaining-agreement-to-create-in-house-transit-ambassador-department-expand-it-to-more-bus-and-train-lines/; LA Daily News (Steve Scauzillo, June 7, 2024) — David Moreland resuscitations: https://www.dailynews.com/2024/06/07/saving-riders-from-ods-or-aiding-tourists-la-metro-ambassadors-take-good-with-bad/ ↩

  52. UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies (December 16-19, 2025) — evaluation identifying LA Metro program as a potential national model; findings on rider safety perceptions, contractor-era problems, expansion recommendations: https://www.its.ucla.edu/publication/la-metro-transit-ambassador-shows-promise/ ↩

  53. LA Metro board action (July 2025) — permanent status, improved safety and ridership finding: https://www.metro.net/about/metro-board-approves-collective-bargaining-agreement-to-create-in-house-transit-ambassador-department-expand-it-to-more-bus-and-train-lines/ ↩

  54. The San Francisco Standard (Jillian D'Onfro, November 13, 2025) — Embarcadero/Montgomery pilot: 53% drop in 911 calls, 67% drop in violent incident calls, 82% rider safer feeling, 58% SFPD response time reduction, 23% SFFD reduction; caveat: coincided with citywide 25.8% crime decrease: https://sfstandard.com/2025/11/13/downtown-sf-bart-station-ambassadors-pilot-extension/ ↩

  55. Safer Cities rider survey (2023) — 63% of LA Metro riders who had seen ambassadors feel safer [Safer Cities proprietary research, no external URL] ↩

  56. Safer Cities national poll — 75% voter support for transit ambassador units (public opinion polling, not outcome evidence) [Safer Cities proprietary research, no external URL] ↩

  57. Daniel S. Nagin, "Deterrence: A Review of the Evidence by a Criminologist for Economists," Annual Review of Economics, Vol. 5, 2013, pp. 83–105: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-072412-131310 ↩

  58. BART news release (January 29, 2026) — overall crime data 2025; Chief Kevin Franklin credited multi-pronged strategy including Crisis Intervention Specialists: https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2026/news20260129; Antioch Herald (January 2026) — full-year 2025 crime figures: https://antiochherald.com/2026/01/crime-on-bart-drops-41-in-2025/; Oaklandside (February 3, 2026) — BART spokesperson Trost on absence of analytical ambassador reports, Q3 2025 diversion data ↩

  59. KQED (Matthew Green, May 14, 2024) — BART service connection documentation, specialist time availability: https://www.kqed.org/news/11985965/we-approach-in-peace-are-barts-outreach-efforts-to-help-people-in-crisis-working ↩

  60. Governing (Jared Brey, December 14, 2023) — Minneapolis TRIP service connection design: https://www.governing.com/transportation/minnesotas-top-transit-agency-tries-new-approaches-to-public-safety ↩

  61. Ariel, Bland & Sutherland, "'Lowering the threshold of effective deterrence' — Testing the effect of private security agents in public spaces on crime: A randomized controlled trial in a mass transit system," PLOS ONE, 12(12): e0187392, 2017 [South West England rail stations, not a U.S. program]: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187392 ↩

  62. Massachusetts Inspector General / MBTA audit (July 26, 2023) — OIG review of MBTA in-station customer service contract with Block by Block; $5.37M overpayment, no performance metrics: https://www.mass.gov/news/the-oigs-internal-special-audit-unit-isau-review-of-the-mbtas-in-station-customer-service-contract-with-block-by-block; Boston Herald (July 27, 2023): https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/07/27/mbta-overpaid-for-transit-ambassadors-did-not-set-performance-metrics-report-finds/

    #6. Where is this Happening?

    Transit safety ambassador programs are operating in transit systems across the United States. In 2025, Illinois passed state legislation creating ambassador programs for the Chicago metropolitan region under a new transit authority — the first time this program model has been written into state law. ↩

  63. Major Established Programs ↩

  64. Los Angeles, California — Metro Transit Ambassador Program. In July 2025, LA Metro transitioned from contractor-operated to fully in-house management under a Teamsters collective bargaining agreement. The authorized workforce expanded to 439 positions — 388 Teamsters-covered ambassadors, 49 supervisors, and 2 in management — with a daily deployment target of 322 ambassadors. The FY2026 budget added $11.8 million for the transition. Bus deployment doubled from 10% to 20% of coverage. Ambassadors wear distinctive lime green jackets. [1] As of July 2025, Metro’s official board records document 334 lives saved through Narcan administration and CPR, a figure that grew from 72 at program launch to 334 over the program’s history. [1] A Safer Cities rider survey found 63% of passengers reported feeling safer when they see ambassadors. [Safer Cities rider survey, 2023] Community groups have called for a four-to-five-fold increase to expand to buses. [1] Metro’s board has positioned the program as safety infrastructure for the system hosting the 2028 Olympic Games, according to Metro board materials. [1] ↩

  65. Bay Area, California — BART Crisis Intervention Specialists. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system operates Crisis Intervention Specialist (CIS) teams across its five-county service area. Specialists are trained in “conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for people suffering from mental health, homelessness and substance-abuse issues” and carry naloxone. [2] A frontline specialist stated: “there needs to be 100 of us, not just 20” — a documented five-fold gap between current deployment and assessed need. [2] BART reported a 45% year-over-year drop in overall crime as of October 2025, with Chief Kevin Franklin crediting the combination of Crisis Intervention Specialists alongside other safety measures. [BART news release, January 29, 2026] A pilot at BART’s Embarcadero and Montgomery stations, running from late July through December 2025, was associated with a 53% drop in safety-related 911 calls and a 67% drop in calls tied to violent incidents; the pilot period coincided with a citywide 25.8% overall crime decrease, meaning those reductions cannot be attributed exclusively to ambassadors. [3] BART Deputy Chief of Police Ja’Son Scott told KQED: “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 respond. [2] ↩

  66. Sacramento, California — Regional Transit Ambassador Program. Sacramento Regional Transit’s board voted unanimously in 2024 to expand its ambassador program with a $1 million budget increase, growing the team from 40 to 50 employees, adding camera monitoring and incident response staffing, and extending coverage across light rail trains, stations, and parking lots. [4] Board member Roger Dickinson (who subsequently won election to the Sacramento City Council in November 2024) described the expansion as “calibrated to have the right level of response for the particular incident.” [4] In June 2025, a Sacramento Regional Transit ambassador fatally stabbed a 16-year-old boy at Mills Station in Rancho Cordova following a reported altercation. SacRT stated the ambassador acted in self-defense but confirmed that ambassadors are not authorized to carry knives. The matter was referred to the district attorney. [4] ↩

  67. Washington, D.C. — Metro Ambassadors. D.C. Metro deployed ambassadors as part of a strategy to “tamp down on crime spikes and boost security without hiring or deploying more police officers.” [9] General Manager Randy Clarke stated: 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.” [9] ↩

  68. Cleveland, Ohio — Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Cleveland’s RTA created what it describes as a “highly visible, uniformed civilian force created with the goal of preventing violence and disruptive behavior, providing assistance during medical emergencies and maintaining a vigilant watch over rail stations, transit centers and bus lines.” [6] The program includes “crisis intervention specialists who are trained and have expertise in using conflict resolution skills to help people experiencing mental health crises.” [6] As of November 2024, the program operated at 16 ambassadors plus 4 crisis intervention specialists. [6] ↩

  69. Minneapolis, Minnesota — Transit Rider Investment Program (TRIP). Minneapolis launched TRIP to address community concerns about transit safety and cleanliness. The program grew to approximately 92 agents (67 internal and 25 contracted) as of late 2025, targeting 100. Functions include fare checking, codes of conduct enforcement, and connecting “people experiencing homelessness and addiction with social services agencies.” [5] Only 41% of riders reported feeling safe on light rail trains as of 2025. Light rail ridership declined 14% in 2025, and Metro Transit acknowledged that stepped-up fare enforcement through TRIP “may have contributed” to that drop. [5] ↩

  70. Expanding Programs and New Adoptions ↩

  71. Olympia (Thurston County), Washington. Thurston County launched transit ambassadors on bus routes in July 2025, outfitting them in bright blue uniforms. The scope includes de-escalating situations with passengers in mental health crisis, administering CPR/first aid and Narcan, supporting bus operators, walking passengers between buses for transfers, and face-to-face customer service. [7] Ambassador Lois Thomas reported that riders tell the team “seeing an ambassador onboard the buses makes them ‘feel better,’ ‘safer.'” [7] ↩

  72. Boston, Massachusetts — MBTA Transit Ambassadors. Active since August 2, 2017, operated by contractor Block by Block. Ambassadors stationed at stations 6 AM–midnight Monday–Saturday, 7 AM–midnight Sundays, across the system. Equipped with tablets (Google Translate, trip planning, real-time alerts) and “I Speak” flashcards. The Massachusetts Inspector General published an audit in July 2023 finding MBTA overpaid Block by Block by more than $5.3 million and failed to set performance metrics to track ambassador performance. [Massachusetts Inspector General, July 2023: https://www.mass.gov/news/the-oigs-internal-special-audit-unit-isau-review-of-the-mbtas-in-station-customer-service-contract-with-block-by-block; MBTA.com: https://www.mbta.com/customer-support/transit-ambassadors] ↩

  73. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — SEPTA SCOPE Ambassadors. Up to 88 ambassadors deployed on the Broad Street Line, Market-Frankford Line, and Center City concourses since February 2022, under the SCOPE initiative (Safety, Cleaning, Ownership, Partnerships and Engagement). Operated through three vendors: Extrity LLC, Scotlandyard Security Services Inc., and The Philadelphia Protection Connection. A separate cohort of 50+ social workers patrols alongside SEPTA Transit Police. [Railway Age; SEPTA.org] ↩

  74. Seattle, Washington — Sound Transit Fare Ambassador Program. Piloted September 2021; made permanent by the Sound Transit Board in 2022. Approximately 75 Fare Ambassadors work in pairs, checking fares on Link light rail, Sounder commuter rail, and T Line. Starting June 2025, platform-based fare checking added. Fare compliance rose from an estimated 55% in 2023 to 84% in May 2024 under the program. Prior enforcement was discontinued after a King County Equity and Social Justice analysis documented racial disparities: Black passengers received 46.7% of citations and 56.9% of theft charges despite comprising approximately 9% of riders. [Sound Transit: https://www.soundtransit.org/ride-with-us/how-to-pay/fare-ambassadors; The Urbanist, March 21, 2023] ↩

  75. Kansas City, Missouri — KCATA Transit Ambassadors. The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority is planning to grow its program from 12 ambassadors to 50–60 ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, using part of $8.63 million from $100.3 million in FTA World Cup host-city funding. [KCTV5, March 4, 2026: https://www.kctv5.com/2026/03/04/kcata-eyes-50-60-transit-ambassadors-ahead-2026-fifa-world-cup/] ↩

  76. Spokane, Washington — Spokane Transit Authority. Active pilot under the Connect 2035 strategic plan. Ambassadors ride buses for customer service and safety. [Spokane Transit Authority: https://www.spokanetransit.com/ambassadors/] ↩

  77. Systems Without Dedicated Transit Safety Ambassador Programs ↩

  78. The following major U.S. transit systems do not currently operate dedicated transit safety ambassador programs as of early 2026, per documented public sources: ↩

  79. Denver RTD — Operates an “Impact Team” of employee volunteers deployed during peak times and events, focused on customer service. RTD has expanded transit police, fare checks, and surveillance cameras since 2024 but has not launched a standalone transit safety ambassador program. [RTD-Denver; CPR News, November 2020] ↩

  80. Dallas DART — Operates a Mobility Ambassador Program providing travel training and orientation, primarily for riders with disabilities. Safety handled by Transit Security Officers and DART Police. [DART: https://www.dart.org/guide/supporting-services/mobility-ambassador-program] ↩

  81. Atlanta MARTA — Deploys ambassadors at rail station bus loops and high-traffic stops for specific events including the NextGen Bus Network launch and 2026 FIFA World Cup. Does not operate a permanent dedicated transit safety ambassador program. Safety relies on MARTA police officers and a Real-Time Crime Center. [The Atlanta Voice; Rough Draft Atlanta, March 17, 2026] ↩

  82. Houston METRO — In February 2025, METRO announced METRONow, a $7 million safety initiative that includes a Community Ambassador Program pairing officers with community residents. Not a standalone unarmed civilian transit safety ambassador program. [Houston Public Media, February 25, 2025] ↩

  83. Phoenix Valley Metro — Uses Field Security Officers, partnerships with Phoenix Transit Police, and other law enforcement contracts. A 2025 rider survey of 1,100+ riders found 81% feel very secure or secure. Rail security incidents dropped more than 50% year-over-year. No formal unarmed transit ambassador program documented. [City of Phoenix, October 2025] ↩

  84. San Francisco Downtown Station Pilot ↩

  85. A pilot at BART’s Embarcadero and Montgomery stations, operated by the Downtown San Francisco Partnership using contractor Block by Block and funded in part by private sponsors including Google, Visa, and Amazon, ran from late July through December 2025. [3] Plans for 2026 expansion to Powell and Civic Center stations with evening hours are underway, estimated at $2.8 million. [3] ↩

  86. The Northern Illinois Transit Authority Mandate ↩

  87. Illinois lawmakers passed legislation creating a new Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) to replace the Regional Transportation Authority. The legislation, signed by Governor Pritzker on December 16, 2025, includes a transit ambassador mandate for the Chicago metropolitan region’s transit system, deploying “unarmed staff at transit stations and on vehicles across the system” with functions including passenger safety, education and assistance, connections to “social, medical, and other services and community resources,” liaison with law enforcement for serious crimes, and system navigation. The ambassador program component is targeted for 2027 implementation. The broader NITA package includes $1.5 billion in annual transit funding and $150 million for downstate transit systems. [8] ↩

  88. The Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago described the legislation as “historic.” [8] The ambassador mandate covers the six-county Chicago metropolitan region; downstate transit systems receive funding but are not covered under the same mandate. [8] ↩

  89. Where Coverage Gaps Are Documented ↩

  90. Coverage gaps appear across the documented programs. ↩

  91. Bus coverage. LA Metro ambassadors are concentrated on the six rail lines, but 80% of Metro riders travel by bus. Community groups have called for major expansion to close this gap. [1] ↩

  92. Off-peak hours. Most documented ambassador programs concentrate deployment during peak transit hours. Off-peak coverage is inconsistent across programs. [7] ↩

  93. Smaller systems. The programs with documented outcome data are in major metropolitan transit systems. Smaller regional transit systems, suburban transit agencies, and rural transit operations have largely not implemented ambassador programs. [2, 6] ↩

  94. BART understaffing. BART frontline workers stated: “there needs to be 100 of us, not just 20.” [2] ↩

  95. Polling on Potential Expansion ↩

  96. A Safer Cities national poll found 75% of voters support “the creation of an unarmed transit security ambassador unit where they live,” a figure that exceeded 70% across party, race, gender, age, and educational attainment. [10] ↩

  97. In Harris County, Texas (home to Houston’s METRO system), a Safer Cities poll of Harris County residents found 81% say transit ambassador units would be “effective” at “making Harris County safer.” [10] ↩

  98. Federal Legislation ↩

  99. In January 2026, Representative Lateefah Simon, who represents a district covering much of BART’s service area in the East Bay, introduced the Rider Investment and Development for Enhanced Rider Safety (RIDER Safety) Act. The bill would provide federal grant funding for transit ambassador programs nationally. The legislation was introduced as a bill, not enacted into law as of early 2026. [11] ↩

  100. Footnotes (11) ↩

  101. Sources ↩

  102. LA Metro board press release (metro.net, July 2025) — 334 lives saved, 439 authorized positions, Teamsters in-house transition, bus deployment doubled, 2028 Olympics positioning: https://www.metro.net/about/metro-board-approves-collective-bargaining-agreement-to-create-in-house-transit-ambassador-department-expand-it-to-more-bus-and-train-lines/ ↩

  103. KQED (Matthew Green, May 14, 2024) — BART Crisis Intervention Specialists, Ja'Son Scott: https://www.kqed.org/news/11985965/we-approach-in-peace-are-barts-outreach-efforts-to-help-people-in-crisis-working; BART news release (January 29, 2026) — 45% overall crime decrease: https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2026/news20260129 ↩

  104. The San Francisco Standard (Jillian D'Onfro, November 13, 2025) — Downtown SF Partnership pilot, Block by Block operator, private sponsors, 53%/67% 911 call reduction with citywide crime caveat, 2026 expansion plans: https://sfstandard.com/2025/11/13/downtown-sf-bart-station-ambassadors-pilot-extension/ ↩

  105. Fox40 (Noah Anderson, October 29, 2025): https://fox40.com/news/sacrt-approves-1m-funding-increase-to-enhance-passenger-safety/; CBS Sacramento (June 2025) — June 2025 fatal stabbing incident, DA referral: https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/rancho-cordova-alleged-sacrt-employee-stabbing/ ↩

  106. Axios Twin Cities (March 11, 2026): https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2026/03/11/metro-transit-ridership-decline-2025; Star Tribune: https://www.startribune.com/metro-transit-light-rail-safety/601444850 — Minneapolis TRIP: 92 agents, 41% riders feel safe on trains, 14% ridership decline, fare enforcement controversy ↩

  107. Mass Transit Magazine (Eman Abu-Khaled, November 19, 2024) — Greater Cleveland RTA program update, 16 ambassadors + 4 CIS, 73% customer satisfaction: https://www.masstransitmag.com/safety-security/article/55243079/greater-cleveland-regional-transit-authority-rta-gcrta-transit-ambassador-program-update ↩

  108. ThurstonTalk (Kristina Lotz, November 7, 2025) — Thurston County/Intercity Transit bus route deployment, Lois Thomas quote: https://www.thurstontalk.com/2025/11/07/transit-ambassador-program-at-intercity-transit-ensures-you-have-a-great-ride/ ↩

  109. Illinois Governor's Office (December 16, 2025) / Regional Transportation Authority of Chicago — NITA Act (SB 2111), Chicago-region ambassador mandate, 2027 implementation, $1.5B funding package: https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-northern-illinois-transit-authority-act; RTA blog: https://www.rtachicago.org/blog/2025/11/10/illinois-legislators-pass-landmark-transit-funding-and-reform-bill-averting-fiscal-cliff-what-does-it-mean-for-riders ↩

  110. WMATA Metro Ambassadors program page — Randy Clarke positioning: https://www.wmata.com/service/Metro-Ambassadors.cfm ↩

  111. Safer Cities national poll (75% national support); Safer Cities Harris County poll (81% effectiveness rating) ↩

  112. The Oaklandside (Jose Fermoso, February 3, 2026) — Rep. Lateefah Simon, RIDER Safety Act: https://oaklandside.org/2026/02/03/lateefah-simon-congress-rider-act-bart-crisis-ambassador-oakland-transit/ ↩

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