In an effort to strengthen security and efficiency for both veteran and prospective riders of L.A.'s public trains and buses, L.A. Metro added 300 "transit ambassadors" to its ranks yesterday to lend a helpful presence around its stations and stops yesterday.
According to the Long Beach Press Telegram, said ambassadors skew young and come decked out in green Polos that bear the creed" Support. Connect. Report." in ALL CAPS. Essentially, they'll be friendly faces who'll help you figure out where you're going by bus or train, answer Metro-related questions, and teach you how to use your TAP Card.
They're also charged with reporting that guy who just sparked a blunt and is now fist-fighting with that other dude with the bike who told him to put it out. In addition, they'll alert the powers that be whenever there's a splattered plate of ketchup-saturated fried rice leaking from a diaper (assuming that's what that all is) all over the bench you weren't going to sit on anyway. They will even "connect the unhoused to Metro’s homeless crisis teams."
They sound like brave members of the new generation to begin with. Then comes the fact that they'll be unarmed unless you count cell phones and iPads and a youthfully enduring belief in the speed and efficacy of whoever is supposed to respond to your distress call.
The institution of such ambassadors, two contracts signed last week totaling $122 million according to L.A. Daily News, was inspired by one currently employed by San Francisco's BART and was a deliberate attempt to not involve the police like the one who killed Oscar Grant on San Francisco's BART. Or the ones the Metro board found are disproportionately citing Black and Latino riders.