What are Seattle-area transit agencies doing to protect riders?

By Mike Lindblom | Seattle Times

KING COUNTY, WASH. — Even as the suspects in a fatal shooting aboard a Metro bus and a hammer assault in a Sound Transit train station remain on the loose, authorities say they've spent the year adding guards in buses, trains and stations.

Sound Transit has nearly doubled its unarmed guard patrols, which has reduced response times since March from 10 minutes to five minutes, Chief Safety Officer David Wright reported Thursday.

However, King County deputies assigned to patrol Metro and Sound Transit remain far below budgeted levels, a gap officials say reflects a wider regional police recruiting shortfall.

High-profile incidents of violence have reminded thousands of passengers that distress in the streets can sometimes spill onto transit.

The latest tragedy occurred at rush hour, about 5 p.m. Tuesday, when a man was shot to death aboard a Metro RapidRide H Line bus in White Center, in what deputies consider a targeted attack.

In response, Metro says it transferred pairs of security guards from elsewhere to rove the H Line, which connects downtown to Burien, "for the foreseeable future," spokesperson Al Sanders said.

That shooting is the fourth incident of gunfire since 2019 inside a Metro bus or transit station, the agency said.

"Of the millions of rides that we are providing, this is still pretty low. That doesn't make it any less tragic," Sanders said. Metro buses carried 400,000 daily riders pre-pandemic and have recovered about 60% of those in 2023.

This follows an unprovoked attack Sept. 28 at Sound Transit's Beacon Hill Station, when a man swinging a hammer injured a woman and a man in their 60s. Images of the suspected assailant have been published by police and television stations.

Jobs to fill

Wright is paying special attention to the three highest-crime stations, which are Westlake in downtown Seattle, Northgate and Tukwila International Boulevard. To deter crime, the Tukwila station was modified with fences, more lights and a beefed-up patrol of three guards, staff reported.

Sound Transit guards are more visible following contracts with four private security companies worth up to $250 million for 2023-26, to employ as many as 300 guards. There are 223 now, compared with 120 last year, Wright said Thursday.

Metro has 140 guards systemwide after a hiring surge, Sanders said.

As for armed police, Sound Transit has filled 50 of 89 positions as of midyear, while Metro employed 61 out of its authorized 79 officers as of October. The King County Sheriff's Office provides deputies to staff both transit police units.

Ken Price, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587, said the risk of violence is on many bus operators' minds, though incidents are relatively few. Price said his first reaction to the White Center shooting was "I want to be a driver again, so that driver doesn't have to go through that."

When he's out riding buses, Price said that he sometimes sees passengers carrying a weapon. "Nighttime, you've got to always be aware of your surroundings," he said.

"In the bigger picture, our concerns are real enforcement, and it's going to take leadership to come back and support the police, and give them more money. And added tools to solve the mental [health] part," Price said. "We want to get as much mental support, for operators and the public, as we can," he said, "so it doesn't go automatically to violence."

The union has also pleaded with transit managers to crack down on drug smoking. A University of Washington workplace-exposure study this year detected fentanyl and methamphetamine circulating in 1 Line trains and RapidRide buses. Measured amounts were far below the toxic levels a user inhales, but transit operators have experienced dizziness, headaches or respiratory irritation from smoke, an issue beyond the scope of the UW data.

Serious injury attacks in local transit facilities have historically been rare.

From 2013-19, there were nine reported assaults severe enough to require ambulance transport to hospitals, for Metro and Sound Transit combined. Those numbers spiked to 55 during 2020-22, according to the Federal Transit Administration's national database, while both ridership and security declined during the pandemic.

The FTA data shows both agencies reporting zero severe injury assaults in 2023 through May — before major incidents this summer.

On July 21, a man stabbed a stranger aboard light rail 18 times near Othello Station, before fellow riders stepped into harm's way and dragged the wounded victim to safety. The suspect stayed aboard, police arrested him, and he remains in jail pending possible trial.

A week later, a man at Sodo Station struck another man in the head with a large rock, and remains at large. A third report of a stabbing July 30, on a train at Angle Lake Station, was declared unfounded by deputies.

"These assaults are extremely disturbing and distressing, both in terms of the violence itself, but in the message it sends to our riders about safety on Link," Sound Transit CEO Julie Timm told the transit board Aug. 24. Timm has also declared she feels safe in any transit facility at midnight, or anywhere in Seattle.

Timm and transit police agreed in May to deploy deputies in trains and stations more often, and less in patrol cars, according to Marcus Williams, Sound Transit police chief. They designated a plainclothes deputy to work issues such as human trafficking, he said.

In an internal Sound Transit audit last year, auditors saw two uniformed officers in 30 hours of inspecting light rail and other facilities.

"If the average passenger needed help, or something had occurred in the system, law enforcement would be unable to immediately help," auditor Patrick Johnson told a board committee.

Sheriff's deputies provided fewer than the 276 expected weekly patrol hours in five of 18 weeks studied, but in other weeks exceeded that threshold. Ken Cummins, the agency's security chief, said police recruiting is tough everywhere, and predicted he could replenish the force by 2025.

To be sure, there is no guarantee extra police or guards will prevent crime, given the vast territory of regional transit, along with social upswings in crime, public drug use and mental health crises. More enforcement could escalate some situations, a common worry among some politicians and the public. Nor is violence new in 2023.

In a notorious 2010 incident, a group kicked a 15-year-old girl in the head inside Westlake Station while private security stood by, under their then-limited authority to "observe and report." That same year, a teenage boy knocked a Metro driver unconscious on Route 124 in Tukwila. A gunman fired into the front of a bus downtown in 2013 before police fatally shot him, and in 2019 a bus driver and passenger were hit during a rampage in Lake City.

Current rules give Metro's private guards authority to remove someone who poses an immediate threat to passengers, Sanders said.

At some stations, Metro has launched tiny pilot projects connecting people to housing or social services.

Buses for years have provided emergency buttons that reach the dispatch center so supervisors and law enforcers can respond fast.

They've also been equipped since 2020 with plastic shields between the operator's seat and the aisle. Price said screens helped to reduce verbal abuse and spitting.

Community Transit, in Snohomish County, has said it's adding security guards this year, and a social worker is onboard.

Fresh data

Sound Transit on Thursday released the first of regular security data reports, as promised by Timm after the July attacks.

In August there were 23 mostly minor assault reports, consistent with other months, but guards led to more biohazard and misconduct events reported, said Wright. Also, there were more riders and eyes on the system, including a record 87,500 average daily riders in July.

Sound Transit is hiring for its yellow-and-blue uniformed fare ambassador corps, but only has enough to check payment for 2% of riders, short of the 10% goal. Citations aren't issued for nonpayment, and riders may refuse to cooperate with ambassadors, who spend most of their time helping and educating travelers. Fare evasion might be as high as 45%, the agency said.

The union's Price said the agencies appear to have given up on fare enforcement, but he's hoping to see rules of conduct enforced.

CEO Timm reminded board members Thursday the Northwest "Big Dark" is near.

"As the weather gets colder and it gets wetter, we will expect more people to be riding to take shelter from the elements. And people who are unsheltered have a right to ride, so long as they are compliant with the code of transit conduct. "

She said more personnel will be aboard to provide wellness checks, do fare inspections and prevent disruptions.

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