Los Angeles Metro riders don’t see much need for changes to the transit system’s 2025 budget, according to results from an interactive survey launched late last year.
The My Metro Budget interactive budget tool was launched last December, allowing users to fine-tune the transit agency’s 2025 budget to each user’s specifications.
Areas of concern included operations, public safety, cleanup and countywide planning, and users were asked to help set priorities for LA Metro’s future.
Officials say the initiative is aimed at increasing education and transparency about Metro’s revenues and expenses, as well as gathering important information about people who use or are considering using the transit system.
The survey results, released Monday, found that a majority of participants believe the 2025 subway budget should remain largely unchanged.
A Metro bus stop on Main Street in Santa Monica on March 12, 2024. (KTLA)
In terms of operations, 22% of respondents would like to see more funding for bus and rail services each, while 6% of passengers would like to see less funding for bus services and 8% for rail services, but the vast majority, 72%, say current funding should remain the same.
A quarter of respondents favored cutting the budget for purchasing zero-emission buses and reducing funding for the Metro Micro program, which uses multi-passenger vans to provide on-demand transportation service in areas with few transportation options.
Metro is working to improve the passenger experience through 2025, with a budget increase of about 32% for bus improvement projects from 2024. It is also working to reduce train wait times, which it says will reduce headwinds by about two minutes on the B, C, D and K lines.
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The survey found that public safety had the widest gap between current spending and public desires, with most citizens again leaving the budget largely unchanged, but there was disagreement over how the system should be overseen in the future.
Nearly a quarter of users (24%) favor reducing funding allocated to law enforcement, and 22% favor similar cuts to private security.
Instead, a slightly larger share of riders said they would like the money to be directed toward Metro’s internal transit security or used for homelessness and mental health assistance programs.
Metro officials have already approved the deployment of “extra” law enforcement across the system this year in response to several high-profile violent crime incidents targeting passengers and vehicle operators.
Many of the responses from Metro’s budget tool were likely made before the decision was announced last month. The survey was open to the public from December 2023 until the end of May.
Police officers patrol a Metro station in Los Angeles County on May 23, 2024. (KTLA)
Officials said the 2025 Metro budget allocates $351 million in public safety funding, an 11% increase over 2024, including the hiring of 53 new traffic safety officers to help with weekend and late-night policing. Currently, roughly $58 million is allocated for homelessness and mental health outreach, transportation ambassadors and “community intervention specialists.”
Metro said its current plan for private security and law enforcement services is to maintain 2024 funding levels in 2025, following negotiations with contract law enforcement agencies.
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Funding for cleaning services will remain largely unchanged, with Metro saying the 2025 budget includes a 14% increase in cleaning spending to $255.4 million, with 165 new cleaning staff expected to be deployed seven days a week.
FILE – Interior of Los Angeles Union Station, photographed on Nov. 21, 2023. (KTLA)
One portion of the cleaning budget, “station amenities,” is set to increase dramatically from about $355,000 in 2024 to nearly $10 million in 2025, an increase of more than 2,695 percent. Metro said the money will be used to improve lighting, ventilation, ticket barriers, cameras, elevators, escalators and restrooms in several Metro stations.
The countywide plan, which includes improvements to Los Angeles Union Station, bike-share programs, sustainability and other transit-focused projects, received the least user coordination. Metro said this portion of the budget will increase by $10 million next fiscal year, a 21% increase from 2024.
To see the full results of the My Metro Budget survey, including the demographic breakdown and locations of those who tried the interactive budgeting tool, click here.