Nearly two months since the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) began requiring subway riders to tap their cards in and out of the North Hollywood station, the number of crime and other incidents dropped over 40%, officials said.
The “Tap to Exit” pilot, which started on May 28 with the goal of ensuring that everyone pays for each subway ride, is now being considered to be a permanent program at the station before expanding across the transit system, according to Stephen Tu, Deputy Executive Officer of Station Experience with the LA Metro.
“Through the “Transit Watch” app, which is our “See Something, Say Something” app, we've actually seen reported crime and incidents down over 40% for things like fights and disturbances, graffiti vandalism and drug use,” Tu said.
The transit agency has also increased station staff, including ambassadors, law enforcement officers and transit security guards.
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“Nothing is more important that we're working on here than the safety of our customers and our employees here in the Metro system,” Tu explained.
Many Metro commuters at the North Hollywood station agreed that they have begun to notice changes in their daily rides since the program launched.
“There haven't been a lot of aggressive people and not so much trash as well,” Veronica Avalos, who uses the B line subway, said.
Benjamin Tomimatsu was also relieved to witness fewer violent incidents while using the Metro.
“Since the pandemic up until now is kind of like 50-50 with whether or not you're going to get something crazy going on. Ever since they've changed it, it's gotten a lot better,” he observed.
But still some fare evaders get through the train, with some transit users urging more enforcement.
“They need more guards to ride the train with us,” Dominique Balard, a Metro rider, said.
Metro officials continued to encourage riders to report any instance of people not paying their fare or any suspicious activity to transit authorities.
