King County Metro pledged to boost bus security. How is it going?

By Mike Lindblom | Seattle Times (TNS)

KING COUNTY, WASH. — Some 1½ years after political leaders pledged to make transit safer, King County Metro reports gradual progress, but some parts of the wide-ranging security plan are behind schedule, including police staffing and driver protection barriers.

New behavioral health teams and a bigger security guard force are fully staffed, while midyear figures show an encouraging dip in rider misconduct reports. But it's too soon to judge whether assaults have declined.

As a reminder of what's at stake, a man shot at a bus July 5 after stepping off in Sodo, hitting a 39-year-old passenger three times. The suspected gunman has been charged with attempted murder, and prosecutors say he had accused people aboard of taking his cellphone before.

Early last year, officials promised an all-out effort after a rider killed bus driver Shawn Yim, 59, during an overnight dispute Dec. 18, 2024, in Seattle's University District. The rider easily pushed aside a lightweight screen and pepper-sprayed Yim. Richard Sitzlack stabbed Yim in a nearby lot, according to court documents that charged Sitzlack with murder and assault.

Yim's death marked the first killing of a Metro driver on the job in 26 years.

Elected officials, law enforcement agencies, transit advocates and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 formed a regional task force. Sound Transit is participating, as is Community Transit of Snohomish County. King County added $89 million to the 2026-27 budget for more people and equipment.

In a midyear update, Metro's chief safety officer, Rebecca Frankhouser, pointed to a decrease in security incident reports, which can range from drug use to harassment to physical assault.

"For the month of June, I am pleased to report we had a postpandemic low of 58 incidents per million boardings, so it shows our approach is working," she told a committee of elected officials in the region.

Greg Woodfill, president of Local 587, said he's never seen such commitment from politicians, which is heartening, but what's needed is more action.

"I'm torn. That's still a work in progress, and I've got 5,000 members who aren't feeling that progress," he said.

Here's a snapshot of where things stand:

Driver protection barriers

More than one-fourth of Metro buses have been outfitted with enclosed driver compartments that lock from the inside and are made of steel and high-strength glass. There have been 345 retrofits to date, plus 89 new battery-electric buses delivered with the partitions standard.

Suppliers have difficulty keeping their shipping schedules, said spokesperson Elaine Porterfield. Metro's target to equip about 1,300 buses is spring 2027. Costs were projected last year at around $20 million.

De-escalation training

More than 80% of transit operators have completed two sessions in preventing conflicts. The third course, tailored to King County's specific conditions, including a large homeless population, was supposed to start in late 2025, but isn't fully designed yet. That training is expected later this year.

Behavioral health teams

Metro says it's fully staffed with three teams of two to three members each, who don't wear uniforms, are meant to be supportive and approachable, and seek to "help link people to resources without judgment," a county description says.

They contacted people 10,000 times last year, referred 1,100 to shelters, and intervened 420 times to defuse a crisis or potential confrontation. They started in Burien during 2023 and now also frequent the Aurora Village, and Eastgate transit centers, along with downtown Seattle light rail stations.

Enforcement

The Metro Transit Police unit stands at 66 commissioned sheriff's deputies including detectives, plus two professional staff. That's still short of the 89-officer goal. Shifts are being filled using overtime. Recruitment is an "ongoing challenge," Metropolitan King County Councilmember Steffanie Fain said at a recent meeting, as is "making sure our sheriff's office is staffed, which it is not"— for transit and the suburban areas that county deputies patrol.

There are also 270 unarmed security guards, including fare inspectors, a full group. They take brief bus rides, and hang out at hubs including Third Avenue, often aiding transit operators with some developing problem, or helping people along the sidewalks.

In recent months 60 to 80 security incident reports per 1 million passengers were filed, a two-thirds improvement since 2022. And if you subtract people sleeping onboard, that leaves only about 40 incidents per million riders, the county says.

Such data is subjective. Numbers vary based on how many people witness misconduct, or how fervent transit workers are about filling out reports.

Frankhouser said the trends support Metro's new "care and presence" philosophy, where legions of customer-service ambassadors, social workers, cleaning teams, fare inspectors and more riders would preserve a comfortable environment — rather than rely only on police and guards, when many problems don't need law enforcement.

Assault counts are inconclusive. Metro reports seven assaults on drivers and eight against passengers in the first half of 2026, compared with four operator assaults, four other assaults on other transit workers, and 16 against passengers all last year. (These are only physical assaults verified by transit police, with victims willing to press charges.)

"We do feel it's too early to draw any conclusions about the data," regarding assaults this year, Porterfield said.

Transit workers, union president Woodfill said, "don't feel it's getting better, it's getting worse. That's their perception.

The prime example, he said, is the corner of 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street, where rampant drug use and occasional violence hinder Routes 7, 36, and 60 among others. Local 587 is on the verge of asking Metro to close bus stops there again, as in late 2024, he said.

Woodfill notices city police surges and sheriff's patrols, but says they aren't coordinated, suspects are soon released back to the streets, and a 24/7 patrol is needed.

Metro's reduced incident-to-passenger ratio reflects the simple math that bus ridership is rebounding, from 201,000 daily boardings four years ago to 290,000 now (compared with peaks near 400,000 in the late 2010s).

Growing bus loads are a sort of progress, and can also make the trips feel more secure.

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