Mayor Bass Delivers State of the Agency Address as New LA Metro Board Chair

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LOS ANGELES - Mayor Karen Bass today delivered her State of the Agency Address as she takes over as LA Metro Board Chair. In the speech, Mayor Bass laid out her priorities focused on safety, affordability, reliability, and readiness for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Below is the speech as delivered:

Good morning, everyone!

Let me just say, and I was just sharing this with our fabulous CEO, she is just amazing. Oh there you are, you already made it back to your seat. It's not just her knowledge, but it's her inspiration in which she speaks and she leads us. And I have to say, and I know my Board members wouldn't mind me saying this, but on behalf of the Board - the current and past Board members - what we say behind closed doors when she's not there is just really praise, and admiration, and confidence. Can we give her another round of applause? Thank you.

And to our youth leaders, boy, I would love to see where you're going to be in four or five years! Because clearly you're rocking it. … You're who we want to pass that baton on to. So, thank you so much for your leadership.

And Chair Dutra, it's just been a pleasure working with you over these last four years that I have served on the Board. Your knowledge - your knowledge that's not even connected to Metro, because you're in the construction business - but you have just been a delight, you've been a fabulous chair, and we're going to have to figure out how we keep you around. I said the same thing to Ara: your years, your institutional knowledge and experience is too valuable for you to just go off into the sunset. So, I know that there will be ways that we will look for your continued involvement.

And I just want to welcome our new Board members, especially my colleague from Long Beach, the Mayor of Long Beach will be coming on board, Rex Richardson. I know we'll have another couple of members, and our current Board members.

It is an honor, obviously, to serve as the Mayor of Los Angeles, but it is a particular honor to serve as a member of the Board and now as Chair. And this is the second time that I take the gavel. So, when I think about where we are today, we are in a building… that opened in May of 1939, if you can imagine it. .... I was born and raised here, and growing up, and coming to Union Station, I think this is such a perfect venue for this right here, but just also symbolizing our entire system, and the system that I know I was waiting for all my life. For it to really get us out of cars. For there to be other ways for transportation.

So, I'm excited to talk about the enormous opportunities that are in front of us for what will be a defining year in public transit before the Olympic and Paralympic Games arrive.

And when we think about that, in two short years, we will be the first city, well one of three cities, in world history to host the Olympics for the third time. And we want Los Angeles to be ready to welcome the world. The Games impact the entire region, and we want to look for ways for everyone to get involved.

And, I think that over the last few years we have dispelled the notion that we are a car-only city. L.A. is a public transit region. We do have to say it over and over again, because people don't believe it, but we run the second-largest transit system in the United States behind only New York City. In the last year alone, as has been stated, more than 300 million boardings happened across buses and trains. That's nearly a million people a day riding with us.

Now, the majority of Metro riders, historically, have been bus riders. So, every day, nearly 700,000 people ride our bus lanes. And many of those riders depend on buses as the only way to get to school, to work, or to a medical appointment - or to each other. So, for us, we know that the bus line is still essential.

But that's why we're making landmark improvements of our bus system, building out our Vermont, North Hollywood, Pasadena, and North San Fernando Valley Bus Rapid Transit systems. Sometimes we focus on the train, but there are other ways that people travel on Metro, but buses are always the foundation.

On the A Line, for example, that Chair Dutra talked about, our extension into the San Gabriel Valley reconnected Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Pomona to rail service for the first time since 1951.

It took seventy-four years to bring rail back. But we did it, and we did it together.

We are making significant progress on the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, finally delivering what generations of Angelenos have long been promised. Those that have to deal with the 405 - relief is coming! I know that Councilmember Yaroslavsky is very excited about that, as is anybody that has to deal with the 405 day in and day out. But a direct rail connection linking the San Fernando Valley to the Westside.

We also just celebrated, as we talked about, the launch of the first D Line extension, fulfilling a 50-year effort to bring the D Line to the heart of the Westside.

But you know what, that opening weekend will always be in my memory, because that was such a great festival. To get off the D Line and to be right at the Petersen Museum, across the street from the Academy Award Museum, and down the street from LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits. The activation that happened around, and again, thank you Councilmember, for that idea, but that's continued.

I think one thing that hasn't been mentioned that is so incredible about the Metro line, is the art. You can ride Metro just to see the art. I know when I've traveled to other cities, I've gone on public transit to see the art in the station, but I know what we have done here surpasses anything that I've ever seen, that's for sure.

So we have watched strangers and neighbors pack platforms the way they do when they're going to the Coliseum or Dodger Stadium. And we know all of that was for a good reason. You know, all of us have to deal with this - or maybe we won't so much anymore! - that crawling down Wilshire Boulevard in rush hour.

Now arrive, just imagine that, from Union Station to Beverly Hills in 20 minutes. I mean sometimes you know that can take you an hour. Especially when people come from out of town and they realize they've only gone like 10 miles. Now, 20 minutes, no traffic, no parking, no stress, for $1.75.

But, just think, before we know it, the D Line is going to go all the way to UCLA. And just in time: UCLA will be the Olympic Village!

Now, as a lifelong bike rider, biking we know is just as much a part of L.A. as anything else - and we are pushing to expand bike infrastructure across the region. Including new stretches along the LA River bike path and Metro Bike Share. That is a whole other component. Every Angeleno should have the option of experiencing L.A. on two wheels.

And that's not all.

We are here just days after the World Cup, and the fabulous videos that showed how everybody was involved in the World Cup. And Los Angeles City, we were doing our own activations, in addition to the official FIFA activations, under the leadership of former Councilmember Paul Krekorian, now head of our Office of Major Events.

We had Kick it in the Park, we had over 100 activations in our City parks, and Metro was key to people being able to go to the parks. It was a wonderful experience to see people just having picnics, coming out with family. And Stephanie Wiggins, she mentioned the activation here. Well, I was here that day. You mentioned this room, but the activation took place everywhere. Because I remember being out where passengers wait for trains and everybody was there. They arrived that way, but everybody was there because the screens were everywhere. So it filled up the entire station. And it's just that feeling and energy that you get from people in community. And I think that's part of us coming out of COVID, even though it's been a few years now, but the sense of community.
And we experienced that, those of us who were fortunate to go to Paris, experienced that… maybe 5% of the city went to the actual Games, but you felt the Olympics everywhere. And I certainly viewed the World Cup as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics, and it was certainly a dress rehearsal of our system. And as Vice Chair Barger said, we proved that we are ready - everybody is always asking, "well are you ready for the Olympics?": We're ready for the Olympics! 45,000 fans safely going throughout the Metro system.

And, for weeks, we know that many of those fans had never been on a bus or a train before. This was their experience and what we hope, of course, is that that experience will encourage them to use public transit much, much more.

So, despite a tough fiscal year, we not only kept every Metro service fully funded, but we've invested more than $300 million dollars to keep Metro clean, including new, unionized staff to thoroughly clean buses, rail cars, and stations, seven days a week.

So, we have so much to be proud of.

But the year ahead is not just another busy season. Really, it's the most consequential year in a generation to put to rest that notion that we are dependent on cars.

So, as Board Chair this year, I intend to help us rise to that occasion. So, let me tell you what I hope the next year will be about.

My vision as Board Chair includes four priorities: Metro Safe. Metro Affordable. Metro Reliable. And Metro Ready.

We've talked about the safety on Metro, and Vice Chair Barger, you did a beautiful job in talking about that. I want to add something to that, because the Metro police department, public safety department, that we are creating, is new and unique, and I want to lift that up, because I think that this will be the first time in the nation that you have traditional law enforcement combined with social service support and other types of professionals. Because we know on the Metro line, one of the main problems is quality of life problems associated with homelessness, with substance abuse, with mental illness - and those kinds of problems don't always require an armed officer. Many times, a person who has other skills is perfectly able - and better - to address those problems. Under the leadership of our Board and our CEO, we're not just ignoring that, but we are actually moving to provide the services and the support. Even housing, which is something that has not been mentioned, that Metro has even moved to provide housing to get people off the trains that were riding the trains, especially during COVID.

So, it really gives us a chance to create a new vision of public safety and a new model that will serve as a model for the nation.

The second is Metro Affordable.Every student, every worker, and every family should be able to afford the ride.

In my first year as Chair, I authored the motion to make the GoPass permanent - the GoPass lets K-12 and community college students across this county ride Metro for free. I'm sure our young leaders over there have GoPass. Families save hundreds of dollars a year, school attendance and student well-being improve, but we're not stopping there.

The LIFE program, along with our fare program for seniors and people with disabilities, provides free or reduced fares for those who need it the most.

Our MOBILITY Wallet, now countywide, gives 2,000 participants $1,800 for transit, rideshare, or bikeshare.

This year, as Chair, I want to grow the LIFE program and develop a long-term financial strategy and plan for Metro to finally be fare-free. This is the Metro that I've fought for since my first term and as Mayor in this city: a world-class system that creates opportunity for all, including our veterans, those with disabilities, and those who deserve a second chance.

Third, is Metro Reliable. This is our basic promise to every rider: buses and trains will show up when they're supposed to, and this system will work.

It sounds simple, but it really matters getting to work on time.

This is why, this past June, Metro adjusted timetables on over a hundred bus routes. Today, there are 80 miles of peak-hour bus lanes improving speed and reliability for hundreds of thousands of riders. By 2028, I want to grow that to more than 100 miles.

That is the standard Metro Reliable will guarantee.

The final is Metro Ready. At its core, this is about proving what we just proved during the World Cup - that we can move a crowd, that we can run a world-class system under pressure, that that wasn't a fluke of the World Cup. As our CEO said, this is going to become our regular practice.

This is a rare moment, and I intend for us to meet it and to build something that lasts long after the world stops watching.

So, Metro Safe. Metro Affordable. Metro Reliable. And Metro Ready. That is our north star.

Because a region where transit is safe, affordable, reliable, and ready means every Angeleno can get around without a car, and to every community.

It means expanded opportunities and a stronger local economy.

It means cleaner air and a real answer to the climate crisis.

Public transit, quite literally, is one of the most powerful tools to change and improve the quality of life - and that's what we are building.

I am deeply honored, and eager, to pick up this gavel again and to work with my Vice Chair, who is a wonderful partner on so many issues, Kathryn Barger, and Board members, and leaders, to deliver a system that every person can use and count on.

So, I'll close with this: just think about this beautiful building that we're in. Union Station - the way so many people, millions of people have done for so many years - soldiers coming home, families arriving with everything they own, Dreamers who believed Los Angeles could be theirs too.

This station was built on a belief that our region is a place worth arriving at, and worth calling home. Let's continue building a Metro that is worthy of that same belief - for every rider, and for every neighborhood. Because I believe that this is our moment.

So, let me join others in saying: Go Metro! Thank you!