Metro remains committed to effective transit security
December 13, 1998
Rick Walsh, General Manager, King County Metro Transit
This community suffered an enormous loss Nov. 27 when one man's actions caused Metro Transit's Route 359 bus to plunge off the Aurora Bridge. We will never be the same.
To say the least, this has been a difficult time for us at Metro. We have had to face the loss of longtime employee. We have had to deal with the fact that the lives of 32 valued customers have changed forever, and that the life of one of them has ended. We have had to contend with an overwhelming news media, as reporters and editors probe for answers and try to make sense out of a senseless act. And we have had to face the fact that many of our bus drivers, the backbone of our system, are frightened, angry and tired of the abuse they can experience as they simply try to do their jobs.
In the wake of last month's tragedy, three distinct questions about Metro's transit security program have emerged. Is Metro indifferent to the safety and security of its drivers and customers? Is the transit system is unusually dangerous and growing worse? Is transit security different or separate from broader public safety issues?
Security a priority
One thing needs to be made clear: Nobody in this community should think for one second that the safety of our drivers and passengers is unimportant to Metro, or that we lacked a strong security program before Nov. 27. Here are the basic elements of our transit security program:
- $5 million transit security budget in 1998, a 50 percent increase since 1995.
- Special transit police unit created this year, with a King County Sheriff's Office captain and five sergeants managing and supervising a force of off-duty Seattle Police officers and King County Sheriff's deputies.
- Eight more full-time deputies included in 1999 budget have already been added to special transit police unit.
- About 45 officers and deputies deployed each day to police the transit system in cars, on bicycles, at transit facilities and riding buses.
- Direct phone lines from Metro radio personnel to local police jurisdictions throughout King County to summon police response to bus incidents.
- Automatic vehicle location and an emergency alarm system for drivers.
- Public Safety Partnership Program, with volunteer bus drivers attending community meetings, visiting schools and staffing community events to talk to people about what they can do to report or stem unruly behavior on Metro buses.
- Customer Code of Conduct posted in buses, providing the legal framework to eject unruly customers from buses, or arrest them, or in some cases ban them from the system entirely.
Long-term improvement
These enforcement measures and community programs are making a difference. We have a substantially safer system now than we did 10 to 12 years ago. As measured by statistics kept by the Federal Transit Administration, our system compares favorably with many cities of similar size or with comparable transit systems. Even one assault is too many. But consider the fact that our buses travel 40 million miles, are in service for 4 million hours and record about 100 million passenger boardings a year.
Day in and day out, no one has more contact with and exposure to the public than bus drivers.
Reflection of the community
Transit security should not be viewed in isolation. What happens on our buses is a reflection of the communities in which they operate. Buses in the Aurora Avenue North corridor, for example, are vulnerable to the same public safety problems common to that area. And our exposure is great in that area. We're not there just once in a while. We operate more than 745 trips every week up and down Aurora Avenue North between downtown Seattle and Shoreline, providing service almost around the clock, from 5 a.m. until 2 a.m. Policing that service is a challenge not only for us, but also for the Seattle and Shoreline police departments.
The Seattle area has grown and changed over the past 20 years. That growth has brought with it the problems and issues that face any large metropolitan area. The great majority of people who live here value the comfortable environment that has been called "Northwest nice." Unfortunately, some either can't or won't live up to that standard of behavior.
Is our system dangerous? By most measures, no. But there is no doubt that disruptive passengers can create an uncomfortable and intimidating environment on a bus. Nobody with any sense of decency wants that kind of climate to prevail on our transit system.
The best way, the only way, to deal with transit security issues is to confront them head on. We repeat now what we have already made clear to our employees: This organization is committed to working with our employees, our riders and local police departments to improve the safety and security of our system.
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