#2,271 - LA Metro declares Public Emergency in wake of slashing death on bus

Following the death of woman on the Metro B (Red) Line and a series of violent attacks on bus drivers, the transit agency's Board of Directors declared a public safety emergency Thursday while agreeing to procure safety barriers for bus drivers and taking other steps to enhance safety on the system.

Metro's Board of Directors unanimously adopted a recommendation to acquire barriers for hundreds of buses, in response to a "sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators." According to Metro, assaults on bus operators increased from 92 attacks in 2019 to 160 in 2023, and they continue to escalate this year.

Metro board member and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger also introduced a motion, co-authored by several of her colleagues, to quickly explore solutions to bolster public safety, prompted by the death of 66-year- old Mirna Soza Arauz, who was stabbed in an apparently unprovoked attack earlier this week.

"Metro riders deserve to be safe on the system, and we will continue to do all that," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who chairs the Board of Directors, said during Thursday's meeting. "We can keep not only our riders, but also our operators, safe, and I know that as a board, we will step up to this challenge because that's what frankly the people of Los Angeles deserve."