LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, also at the press event in support of the legislation, said the agency has seen a 38% drop in homelessness, according to the most recent homeless point-in-time count.
“Safety is the most important thing we are working on at Metro,” she said. “If people don’t feel safe riding the bus or train, they won’t. It is that simple.” Violent crime on the system is at the lowest levels since May 2019, the agency reported in July.
In June 2023, the Metro board voted to create its own police and safety department, which will take the place of the officers and deputies from the contracting agencies, patrolling buses, depots, trains and transit hubs. Scott was hired to build the new transit police force.
He said LA Metro hopes to have hired 400 sworn officers by 2028, in time for the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. Eventually, Scott said the transit agency will need 600 sworn officers to fill out the new department.
Both Scott and Wiggins are hoping Friedman’s bill becomes law, allowing grant dollars to be used for the hiring of new police safety officers and adding crime prevention equipment.
“So this legislation will be immensely helpful as we continue to build our department,” Wiggins said.
Support also comes from Metrolink, the heavy-rail passenger service that runs seven train lines across six Southern California counties, and from bus and train operator unions.
“Every day, at least 42 transit workers are assaulted on U.S. transit systems. In 2024, there were more than 11,000 incidents of bus operators or other transit workers being attacked. By investing in transit security measures, including increased law enforcement, we are better protecting our riders, communities, and transit workers,” said Amalgamated Transit Union International President John Costa in a prepared statement.
Friedman is aware that getting any Democrat-authored bill through the Republican-majority House of Representatives will be an uphill battle.
That’s why Friedman brought on co-author Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York. Malliotakis serves in the right-leaning 11th Congressional District, which covers suburban Staten Island and a portion of southern Brooklyn.
“I join Rep. Laura Friedman in introducing the Safe and Affordable Transit Act of 2025,” Malliotakis said in a prepared statement. “In a city of nearly 9 million people, having safe and reliable public transportation keeps our city moving, and our bipartisan bill would establish a new federal grant program dedicated to transit safety and infrastructure upgrades that promote passenger and operator safety.”
Friedman hopes to gain more Republican support for what is essentially a law-and-order bill, something she said House members from both sides of the aisle can support. “I am hoping there is interest across the aisle,” she said.
Assemblyman Nick Schultz, a Democrat who represents the 44th Assembly District that includes the cities of Burbank and Glendale, and the communities of La Crescenta, Sunland, Tujunga, North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Toluca Lake and Valley Village, was at Friedman’s side supporting the legislation.
The former Burbank city councilmember said Friedman is “very savvy” to gain Republican support. “She’s doing all the right things to get it passed.” As for his part, he’s encouraging his colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to talk up the bill with their overlapping Congressional representatives.
Friedman said the bill asks for $50 million in grants each year from 2026 to 2030. But she hopes the amounts will increase.
“I see this as the initial shot in the arm,” she said.
If passed, the bill sets up a brand new grant program specifically to pay for safety measures for transit agencies. Overall, public transit gets much less support from the federal government as compared to highway and roadway dollars, Friedman said.
