Transit Briefs: MBTA, NYMTA, TriMet, LA Metro, LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency
MBTA
A request from the town of Arlington, Mass., to repeal a 1976 state law that prohibits an MBTA facility near Arlington Catholic High School has passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives, according to an NBC Boston report.
According to the report, Arlington is hoping to expand the town’s transit options by extending the MBTA Red Line. But before any Red Line changes can be discussed, NBC Boston reports, the law itself needs to be repealed. The Senate has yet to take it up.
NYMTA
The New York MTA on Sept. 30 announced its commitment to award a historic amount to historically underutilized businesses as part of its recently announced 2025-2029 Capital Plan, with $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion in contracts to be awarded to New York State Certified Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB), and/or Disadvantaged Businesses Enterprises (DBE).
Additionally, MTA is committing to add 350 new businesses to its Small Business Mentoring Program over the next five years, which provides mentoring and financial support to grow the capacity of small businesses. The MTA says it is committed to providing contracts to these small businesses—including up to $400 million as part of its next capital plan. The MTA is also committing to certify another 300 firms as registered DBEs over the next five years.
Moreover, the MTA is committing to add local hiring goals to $5 billion of contracts in the 2025-2029 Capital Plan, “translating to thousands of union-wage jobs directly in the communities where projects are based,” the agency noted. The MTA’s current local hiring pilot—started in 2022 enabled by federal guidance in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—has already led to hiring of hundreds of people on projects based in Brooklyn and Queens, according to the agency.
To jump start these efforts, the MTA on Sept. 30 hosted an event attended by more than 250 businesses at the CUNY Graduate Center to make connections between MTA prime contractors with potential MWBE subcontractors, as well as graduates of the MTA Small Business Development Program.
The MTA’s utilization of MWBE firms, the agency says, has led the State every year, with a record 37% in contract spend last year—the fourth consecutive year the MTA has exceeded the New York State MWBE goal. The MTA requires that all contracts have appropriate MWBE/SDVOB and/or DBE participation and with the MTA’s proposed $68.4 billion 2025-2029 Capital Plan expected to exceed the $62 billion statewide economic output generated by the 2020-2024 Capital Plan, the MTA says it will “continue its record of creating jobs and opportunities, supporting thousands of vendors and manufacturers across the state.”
Earlier this year, the MTA signed an ‘Equity in Infrastructure Project’ pledge to support historically underutilized businesses, affirming its commitment to “ensure participation on at least $1 billion of work by MWBE/DBE firms every year, expand the pool of MW/DBE firms the MTA works with and increase discretionary contracts for design and engineering MWBE firms by 20% over the next five years.”
In 2023, the MTA awarded more than $813.5 million in contracts across more than 500 MWBE firms accounting for approximately 37% of overall contracts, in addition to the $392.3 million paid to DBE firms, and $16.7 million to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. The MTA also awarded nearly $70 million to small businesses through its Small Business Development Program.
The agency says it has been a “consistent state leader in working with MWDBE firms, surpassing the New York State MWBE goal of 30% participation every year, and ranks number one of all New York State agencies and public authorities in dollars paid to MWBE firms.”
TriMet
The results of TriMet’s 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey show that overall approval of the agency has increased five percentage points over last year.
The purpose of TriMet’s annual Attitude & Awareness Survey, the agency says, is to “help measure community perceptions among both those who ride and those who do not and gain insight into the opinions of our agency and the area we serve.” More than 4,000 people participated in this year’s survey, which was done online and via phone from April 27 to May 31, 2024. Some 68% of those surveyed said transit is one of the primary ways they get around.
The 2024 report found opinions around TriMet service, safety and reliability holding steady or improving in most categories and perceptions of how things are going in the Portland metro area improving as well. Yet half of those surveyed said Portland is still on the wrong track, according to the agency.
The 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey showed TriMet’s ongoing focus on safety, security and cleanliness is making a difference. The survey found that 73%, or nearly three out of four people, either strongly or somewhat approve of the job that TriMet is doing. That’s five percentage points higher than in 2023.
“TriMet’s surveys consistently show that our riders’ perception of our transit system is much higher than those whose opinions are based on what they have heard about it, and that was again reflected in the 2024 survey,” the agency said. Nearly eight out of 10 riders (77%) approved of the job that TriMet is doing; only 44% of non-riders shared that positive view. “While the gap between the sentiment of those who use our transit service versus the opinions of what people have heard about it remains large, the approval of non-riders increased by 6% over last year,” TriMet said.
In general, the 2024 survey found consensus around the idea that things are getting better—not only on TriMet but also in the City of Portland. For the first time in more than a decade, perceptions around Portland’s direction showed a positive trend. For 2024, about half of all respondents said the Portland area was on the wrong track, but that’s a marked drop from 64% just one year ago, TriMet noted. Similarly, about a quarter of all respondents said the Portland area is headed in the right direction, an increase from 18%, in 2023.
The survey also provided a look at how and where people throughout the region are working. About 40% of people who responded have no option to work from home; they must report to a work site. Of those who said they could work from home, about 70% had a hybrid work schedule that allowed them to work from home at least several times per week.
Opinions of the MAX system in 2024 remained unchanged but mostly positive at 76%. This comes amid the three-year-long A Better Red project. TriMet’s biggest light rail project in nearly a decade, it required sections of the MAX Blue, Green and Red lines to be disrupted for weeks at a time. The project was completed in late August 2024, with the opening of the 10-station extension of the Red Line into Hillsboro. This, TriMet says, gives more people a one-seat ride to and from Portland International Airport and reduces wait times for trains to just 7-8 minutes during most of the day in a growing section of Washington County. The project also made track improvements between PDX and Gateway Transit Center that are keeping trains moving MAX systemwide.
The 2024 Attitude & Awareness Survey found that most people who ride TriMet buses and trains—about 68%—are satisfied with their overall experience, with about 23% saying they are “very satisfied.” Overall rider satisfaction increased slightly from 2023. Regular and frequent riders appear to have the most favorable opinions, with nearly 40% saying they would “enthusiastically recommend” TriMet to friends and family.
TriMet says it continues to focus on safety and security investments and the perception of safety on its transit system improved slightly in 2024, to 68% from 67% the previous year. “Serious incidents are rare on our transit system, which provides more than 1.3 million rides per week—resulting in one call to police for every 13,580 trips taken on TriMet in 2023,” according to the agency.
One of the starkest contrasts of the 2024 survey was around opinions of safety and security. The survey asked, “From what you know or may have heard, how safe would you feel riding TriMet buses or MAX trains?” While nearly 60% of bus riders said they would feel safe riding, only 20%, or one in five, non-riders perceived they would be safe. For MAX, 45% of riders said they would feel safe, with only 19% of non-riders feeling the same way, based on what they’ve heard.
About 46% of those surveyed said personal safety concerns have kept them from riding MAX at times, with about 37% saying they had opted out of a bus trip due to concerns.
The primary reason people felt unsafe while riding was “other riders’ behavior.” The second reason was “lack of Transit Police” and the third was “time of day.”
While riders are seeing and experiencing what non-riders are not, TriMet says it will continue adding personnel and efforts to advance safety on its system. “We currently have more personnel dedicated to safety and security than ever before, with more than 460 field staff and contractors discouraging unwanted behavior, responding to incidents and educating people about our rules for riding,” the agency noted.
Riders also have a valuable resource that the agency added in the past year: TriMet’s 24-hour security hotline: 503-238-7433 (RIDE). “We strongly encourage riders to text or call the number to report non-urgent concerns. Dispatchers in our Security Operations Center then alert TriMet safety or security team members who are nearby to the issue. Emergencies will always be handled by the police, so for urgent matters, we urge riders to contact 911 and alert the operator,” TriMet said.
Cleanliness is another area of emphasis. The latest survey results come on the heels of the introduction of TriMet’s enhanced cleaning efforts, spearheaded in late 2023, with a focus on sprucing up and deep cleaning MAX stations, transit centers and park and rides, along with more cleaning of our buses and trains.
Communications, marketing and research firm PRR conducted the survey, receiving more than 4,200 valid responses—the agency’s highest-ever level of participation. The survey was offered in six languages; however, the vast majority of responses—more than 98%—were in English. Participation was incentivized with an entry into a drawing for a $100 gift card. All three Portland metro counties were represented in the responses, with 63% coming from Multnomah County. The survey had a margin of error of +/- 1.27%. PRR is a certified DBE and WBE, based out of Seattle.
LA Metro
August saw LA Metro achieve its 21st consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth with 27,066,446 boardings, reaching 84% of its August 2019 pre-COVID ridership level. Total weekday boardings were 21,187,496 reaching 82.3% of its pre-pandemic August 2019 level. Total August weekends saw 5,878,950 boardings, reaching 94.9% of pre-pandemic weekend ridership compared to August 2019.
In August, rail boardings were 5,918,588 reflecting a gain of 2.5% over August 2023 ridership and an 81.3% recovery of August 2019 rail ridership. Weekday rail boardings were 4,517,656 trips taken, reflecting 76.6 % of weekday rail boardings in August 2019. August marked the second full month of year-over-year ridership comparison for the A and E lines. Ridership grew 13.2% year-over-year compared to August 2023. Individually, the A Line grew 15.6% when compared to ridership in August 2023 and the E Line grew 10.1% year-over-year. In August, the A Line surpassed the B Line as the busiest rail line in the system with 1,930,786 trips taken.
In August, LA Metro provided special event support to nearly 50 transit-accessible events at large venues and entertainment parks in the L.A. region. The agency also provided special event parking at several of its stations for event goers to park and ride. In August, parking at Metro’s C Line Crenshaw Station saw a 10% increase in weekend parking utilization as patrons parked, rode transit and used LA Metro’s shuttle to Sofi Stadium and Kia Forum.
“As more leisure riders choose Metro for transportation to their events, they continue to be a driver of overall ridership growth, especially on the weekends,” the agency noted. In August, weekend rail ridership in August surpassed its August 2019 pre-pandemic ridership by 1.27% and weekend bus ridership was at 93% its pre-pandemic level.
LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency
Gov. Gavin Newsom this past weekend signed legislation that gives California more agency in managing the LOSSAN rail corridor, a 351-mile stretch of train tracks from San Luis Obispo to San Diego that is currently managed locally by the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, a joint-powers authority staffed by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), according to a report by The Orange County Register.
According to the report, the bill grants power to the state’s transportation secretary to lead “all necessary coordination, collaboration and intervention when necessary” among the nearly one dozen organizations that have a stake in the LOSSAN rail corridor, including railroad owners, transit agencies, planning agencies and freight operators.
“The goal of increased state involvement in managing the rail is to help retain and attract riders while minimizing lengthy closures,” said Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat who authored the legislation and represents southern Orange County communities.
“SB 1098 sets the foundation for optimizing rail operations and boosting ridership so we can meet our region’s mobility, air quality and climate goals,” she said.
In Orange County, landslides have repeatedly shuttered the track in San Clemente, where the train runs along the coastline, according to the report. In January, another landslide sent debris onto the railroad tracks, shutting down the rail line for about a 34-mile stretch for two months.
Earlier this year, The Orange County Register reports, several state lawmakers, including Blakespear, “implored the state for increased state leadership in managing the LOSSAN Corridor to help prevent situations like that.”
Once the legislation takes effect next year, the state secretary of transportation, in tandem with the California Department of Transportation, has to compile specific plans that “could improve rail services for passengers and freight as well as ensure safe and continued train service,” according to the report.
Those plans, The Orange County Register reports, “must be reported regularly to the state legislature.”
According to the report, the bill also requires the four metropolitan planning organizations in the corridor—San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, Southern California Association of Governments and San Diego Association of Governments—and other stakeholders, including railroad owners, operators, local county transportation commissions and the California Coastal Commission to “come up with recommendations to improve rail service and reduce disruptions and present that to the legislature by Feb. 1, 2026.”
“While the LOSSAN rail corridor once completed more than 8.3 million passenger trips at its peak in 2019, it is now making fewer than four million trips annually,” according to Blakespear’s office.
The legislation saw bipartisan support in the Assembly and Senate, according to the report.
