The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority may review one of its longstanding policies — which requires passengers to deboard from the A Line (formerly the Blue Line) when the last train arrives at the Downtown Long Beach station — after that city submitted a request for the agency to do so, citing concerns that it contributes to the city’s homeless population.
Metro’s Executive Management Committee approved a motion last week to conduct a thorough review of the end-of-line policy, including looking at whether the policy adds to the unhoused population in end-of-the-line cities such as Long Beach.
The Board of Directors will vote whether to give the motion final approval during its regular meeting on Thursday, Oct. 27.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn — who also serves on the Metro board — brought the issue to the agency’s attention in response to a lengthy Long Beach City Council discussion on Oct. 4.
Councilwoman Suzie Price, during the council’s session, posited that the policy disproportionately contributes to the homeless population in Long Beach.
The A Line, which travels from Downtown LA to downtown Long Beach, operates from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. The last train arrives at Long Beach’s downtown station at 1:03 a.m. Metro’s standard policy — regardless of a passenger’s housing status — requires all passengers disembark at the time so the trains can be returned to the rail yard for maintenance and cleaning.
The policy applies to all end-of-the-line stations. Those include the E Line, which ends in downtown Santa Monica, and the L Line, which ends at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles.
“We want to find solutions that are proactive, compassionate, service-based, and outreach based,” Price said on Oct. 4, “but the city of Long Beach should not have to take a larger portion of the regional share than we’re currently having to take. That’s just not OK.”
Though Long Beach’s homeless population spiked 62% over the past two years, according to the results of its 2022 point-in-time survey of those without permanent shelter, there is no currently available data that provides specific information regarding how the Metro policy impacts Long Beach’s unhoused population as whole.
Hahn’s motion, which received unanimous approval, asks Metro staff to coordinate with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to determine the exact number of unhoused riders on Metro’s bus and rail systems. It also asks for an evaluation of the people exiting trains at the last stop to better understand the issue and to better to inform future resource deployment, the motion said.
Gina Osborn, Metro’s chief safety officer, who attended the Oct. 4 Long Beach council meeting, said that the agency already employs homeless outreach teams to stations with higher populations of unhoused individuals to offer resources. Those teams operate at Long Beach stations at least three times daily, from 3 to 6 a.m.
“Our teams don’t work late in the into the evening hours, because there aren’t referral services available for our unhoused population during those hours,” Osborn said. “Unfortunately, there is no interim housing shelter in the county that accepts referrals 24 hours a day.”
LA County Supervisor and Metro board member Hilda Solis, on Thursday, Oct. 20, said that the transportation agency should consider how the county and Metro can better assist local municipalities looking to expand their homeless services and outreach operations.
“They (cities) also have to be a part of the solution,” Solis said. “If there’s assistance and coordination and a funding stream that exists that we could tap into for those cities, I think it’s worthwhile.”
Metro’s Thursday board meeting will begin at 10 a.m. If given final approval, Metro will receive a report back on recommendations about the end-of-the-line policy no later than January.