Los Angeles Metro

Last night, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins joined Metro Board First Vice Chair Fernando Dutra for the 9th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony holiday tradition at the Union Station Ticket Concourse. The packed house was able to enjoy live performances from the Kingston Ska Orchestra and Los Rebeldes Romanticos presented by Metro Art.   For the first time, the Ticket Concourse will be open during the holiday season for the public to enjoy the 30-foot Christmas tree. The North Patio was also transformed into the North Pole for the event so families could enjoy arts and crafts, milk and cookies, holiday characters and more, courtesy of McDonald’s of Southern California. 🎄 🎇

Do you think Metro should add more smart restrooms across the system? Do you want to see more custodians and police officers?  Maybe you’d like to see the station fare gates modernized? Now, you can design your own Metro budget with the award-winning My Metro Budget activity -- an easy-to-use, interactive tool that allows you to customize how our dollars are spent. Explore budget revenues, various expenditures, and the tradeoffs involved in allocating funds. It’s a unique way to take a deep dive into our 95-page upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 budget book -– which runs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026 –– and tackle these decisions head-on. Better yet, your insights will help our staff build the budget, which will be considered by the Metro Board of Directors at their meeting next May. Your participation is important in shaping a more equitable and efficient transportation system for LA County. Even better, when you provide your contact information, you'll be automatically entered for a chance to win a $100 TAP card or $50 gift card! https://lnkd.in/didV4Jnm

Metro Rail service to East LA is celebrating its 15th birthday this month — so we had a Quinceañera today with roving mariachi bands on the E Line between Atlantic and Little Tokyo/Arts District stations! We extend a huge thank you to the bands that joined us this morning -- Mariachi Cielito Lindo and Mariachi Las Catrinas. The six-mile Eastside Extension opened as part of the former Gold Line in November 2009 with eight new stations between Union Station, Boyle Heights and East LA. At the time, rail transit had been absent from the Eastside for 46 years. When the Regional Connector opened in downtown L.A. in 2023, the Eastside Extension became part of the E Line. That gave Eastside riders a direct rail trip to/from the heart of DTLA along with three new underground stations. There’s more rail coming. The Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 project will extend the E Line for nine miles to Commerce, Montebello, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, Whittier and the communities of East LA and West Whittier-Los Nietos. Construction of the first phase of the project to Montebello is scheduled to begin in 2029. To learn more, please see https://lnkd.in/gEkycWnN

Meet Joe Barbosa, a bus operator whose outstanding dedication and service to the community speaks for itself -- Joe celebrated his 50th anniversary operating a bus with RTD and Metro earlier this month! Drop a “🙌” for Joe in the comments and get to know him better in the video below or read more at: https://wp.me/pfeql1-Bln

What a momentous day for BRIDGE Housing in East Los Angeles, as we celebrated the Grand Opening of a brand-new affordable housing community in Boyle Heights! Los Lirios will provide 64 affordable apartments on a formerly vacant parcel immediately next to the Metro E Line Soto Station.   Los Lirios marks our first partnership with Los Angeles Metro and East LA Community Corporation(ELACC), providing a beautiful transit-oriented community in the heart of one of LA’s most vibrant neighborhoods. Twenty units are dedicated to those who previously experienced homelessness, and comprehensive resident services will be provided by ELACC and PATH.   We were honored to celebrate this milestone with Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, along with Ray Sosa of LA Metro, Monica Mejia of ELACC, Justine D. Gonzalez of Wells Fargo Bank, and many others.   David Silva, a Los Lirios resident and a single father, said his new apartment has made a world of difference after experiencing homelessness for five years. “To feel hopeful after feeling hopeless is a feeling that’s hard to describe.”   Special thanks to our partners: Los Angeles Metro, East LA Community Corporation (ELACC), National Association, California Community Reinvestment Corporation (CCRC), California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD), Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco – Affordable Housing Program (AHP), HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES, Practice Los Angeles (formerly GGA+), Walton Construction, Inc. and The John Stewart Company. 

Since 2018, Carlos B. Rico has been Metro’s Senior Manager of Transit Security, but his public service career began with the United States Marine Corps. With Veteran’s Day approaching — a time to honor and thank veterans for their service— we’re honored to share Carlos’ story. He’s one of 541 military veterans currently working at Metro. To learn more about his journey, keep reading here: https://lnkd.in/gv7TtzPP

Welcome to the Metro team Cecily Way, PE, AICP, PMP! 🎉

On behalf of the Los Angeles Metro Family, we extend a heartfelt congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers for bringing home another World Series win! Tomorrow, the Dodger Nation and Angelenos will celebrate with a parade right through the heart of LA. I want to encourage everyone to use Metro Rail to get to the festivities. Thanks to the opening of the Regional Connector last year, Dodger fans now can access the parade from one of our six stations along the A, B, D, and E Lines - so leave the car at home, or at one of our park and rides, hop on the train, and come celebrate with us!   Now, with that said, we encourage everyone celebrating tomorrow to respect our local businesses, respect our Operators, and respect one another. In this shared moment of triumph, we remind us to embrace our identity as both the City of Champions and the City of Angels. #GoDodgers, and #GoMetro!    

Just wait till you hear Stephen Tu, Deputy Executive Officer of Station Experience at Los Angeles Metro, talking about their Station Experience program, including interventions such as the:   🚪TAP-to-exit program 🛗 open elevator doors 🚻smart restrooms, 🎻ambient noise/the use of classical music in stations 🚉 to help reduce loitering, vandalism, and other illicit activities. 😀All these are aimed at improving the transit journey for everyone. Improving safety, cleanliness, the perception of safety, and discouraging inappropriate activities. Only on next week's Transit Unplugged podcast.