A new survey finds people riding the San Diego trolley and local buses feel safer a year after security got beefed up and enforcement officers got more power to issue citations for crimes such as battery and indecent exposure.
Metropolitan Transit System officials say making people feel safe can boost ridership, which could be crucial as new high-rise housing development makes transit a more practical transportation option.
When asked whether they feel safer than they did a year ago, nearly four times as many riders who were surveyed said yes as said no.
And trolley riders — who typically express more concerns about safety than bus riders — expressed greater confidence in their safety than bus riders did.
Officials said that could be because the new MTS security initiatives have focused more on trolleys. Bus riders may typically feel safer because of the presence of the driver.
Still, only about one-third of the 81% percent of riders who said they feel safe chose “extremely safe,” while about two-thirds chose “somewhat safe.”
In addition, 69% of riders said they had witnessed harassment in the last year, 26% said they don’t ride at night because of security concerns and 9% said they don’t ride alone based on such concerns.
Survey respondents also requested more surveillance, more security officers in trolley stations, aggressive enforcement of fare jumping and better promotion of a security hotline.
Special focus groups conducted as part of the survey found that women, Black riders and LGBTQ+ commuters reported feeling less safe than other groups did.
San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, a member of the MTS board, said she was particularly troubled that 33% of men surveyed felt extremely safe compared with only 19% of women.
“We certainly do not want a large percentage of our population — of our riders — to be feeling unsafe,” said Moreno, suggesting MTS should study efforts in Japan and Mexico City to make women feel safer on transit.
San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, another MTS board member, urged officials to study how MTS compares to other transit systems.
Similar surveys conducted recently found that only 60% of transit riders in Los Angeles and 76% of transit riders in Orange County feel safe — less than the 81% in San Diego. But 91% of riders in Long Beach said they feel safe.
The surveys were conducted because a new state law, Senate Bill 434, requires the 10 largest transit agencies in the state to survey riders on safety perceptions.
The survey in San Diego, which was conducted by ETC Institute, cost $130,000. MTS officials said they expect to get reimbursed by the state.
It was conducted in English and Spanish and included 507 people. The margin of error is 4.35%.
El Cajon City Councilmember Steve Goble, another MTS board member, said he’s eager to see data on crimes and other incidents within the transit system since security got boosted.
The $4.2 million MTS security campaign aims to increase the number of officers by 61%, from 56 to 90.
Tim Curran, MTS director of transit security and passenger safety, said nearly all the new jobs have been filled, including 10 more enforcement officers scheduled to start Jan. 6.
MTS is also close to achieving the goal of increasing officer teams on trolley lines from five to six teams per shift to eight to 10 teams per shift. He said they are averaging nearly eight per shift now.
And last spring, the MTS board gave its officers the ability to issue citations for many crimes without requesting assistance from local law enforcement.
“There is a significant presence increase on the system,” Curran said.
In addition, the MTS homeless outreach team has doubled from one officer to two, and new lighting projects are planned for the Orange Line and many bus stops across the system.
