Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026
Subject
SUBJECT: REVIEW OF METRO RAIL STATION REPAIRS
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Final Report on Review of Metro Rail Station Repairs.
Issue
ISSUE
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted a Review of Metro Rail Station Repairs. The goal of this review was to determine the adequacy of Metro efforts to identify, respond, schedule, and communicate Metro rail station repairs, including rail station graffiti removal. Talson Solutions, LLC was hired as the consultant to conduct this review on behalf of the OIG.
Background
BACKGROUND
Talson Solutions, LLC (Talson) completed a review of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro) rail station repair procedures across six rail lines - A, B, C, D, E, and K - for the Office of the Inspector General. The review included a benchmarking analysis of industry best practices using three peer transit agencies: (1) New York City Transit (NYCT), (2) Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), and (3) Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
The review period for Metro documentation was calendar year 2024, with site visits to 36 rail stations conducted in July 2025. The review covered Metro’s policies and procedures for rail station maintenance, third-party contractors under the Facilities Contracted Maintenance (FCM) department, and in-house activities performed under the direction of Facilities Maintenance (FM) and Wayside departments. Talson presents findings and recommendations across several areas designed to improve communication and reporting of rail station maintenance activities.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
FINDINGS
The review concluded that Metro’s incident reporting system, while serving as the primary system for recording and responding to station incidents, was voluminous, lacked standardization of data entered, and was frequently incomplete.
Key findings are summarized below:
1. Graffiti Incidents: 15 of 28 (54%) of sampled incidents were not recorded in the Graffiti Incidents: 15 of 28 (54%) of sampled incidents were not recorded in the Tracking and Automated Graffiti Removal System (TAGRS) software, and several were miscoded as other incident types. Several incidents in TAGRS lacked complete information, including photographs. General graffiti incidents are generally addressed within 1-2 days, while offensive graffiti incidents are addressed immediately.
2. Facilities Contracted Maintenance (FCM): Issues primarily related to miscoding of incident types. Talson did not identify any issues with responses for repair to broken glass and elevator/escalator incident types.
3. Facilities Maintenance (FM): 43 of 251 (17%) of the incidents tested did not generate in-house work orders; several work orders were completed 12 - 18 months after the incident date; and 75% of communication-related (i.e., CCTV) incidents were closed 6 - 9 months after the incident date. Several of the incidents tested were for Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs), Fare Gates, CCTV, routine custodial cleaning cycles, and interactive digital map cases. These incidents are typically sent to individual departments for disposition and resolution, e.g., Revenue Collection, Revenue Generation and Marketing, and do not receive an M3 incident number or work order.
4. Benchmarking: Benchmarking indicates that Metro’s hybrid model of in-house and contracted resources is consistent with practices observed across peer agencies. Opportunities remain to further optimize this model to address ongoing challenges such as graffiti removal and to improve consistency in incident reporting. While Metro currently does not maintain in-house vertical transportation maintenance capabilities, peer agencies such as NYCT and WMATA utilize in-house personnel for these functions and WMATA reported no significant graffiti issues. Additionally, SEPTA and WMATA utilize manual or hardcopy systems for incident reporting.
5. 2024 Incidents Follow-up: During the review of incidents reported as closed in 2024 across Metro’s six rail lines and 36 stations, a total of 136 incidents were examined. Of these, approximately 12% remained open at the time of the review, and another 20% could not be verified due to limited access to certain station locations. These findings indicate that while the majority of incidents are recorded as closed, a notable portion either remains unresolved or lacks verifiable documentation, highlighting opportunities to strengthen incident tracking and follow-up procedures.
6. New Incidents (2025): During site inspections in July 2025, Talson identified 100 new incidents across Metro rail stations. Of these, 28% were not reflected in the M3 Incident List, indicating a gap in incident reporting. Observed issues included limited visibility of fire extinguishers at outdoor stations and repeated damage to elevator cab films, such as etching, burning, and other forms of vandalism.
7. Communication: Metro has established several mechanisms to monitor station conditions and communicate issues externally related to maintenance and repairs; however, opportunities exist to enhance consistency, coordination, and public feedback integration across the rail lines. Communication to the public on station-level repair activities is generally reactive and focused on service or access disruptions - rather than providing scheduled or periodic maintenance updates. There is no dedicated channel summarizing ongoing, scheduled, completed, or pending repairs for public awareness. Concerns relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are prioritized to ensure that accessibility features, such as elevators and escalators, are addressed and resolved promptly. Metro has recently increased its social media presence, including Instagram and Facebook, as part of its communication efforts. Metro's communication approach, similar to its peers, remains largely reactive, focusing on major service disruptions rather than routine maintenance updates.
Before initiating the rail station inspections, Talson assessed whether Metro’s policies and procedures, and operating model align with industry best practices and concluded that they are generally aligned, though certain areas require improvement. Based on interviews and benchmarking discussions with peer agencies (including NYCT, SEPTA, and WMATA), best practice is to assign clear accountability - through a dedicated role and/or centralized unit - for conducting routine, recurring station inspections on a defined schedule. e.g., NYCT performs station inspections as frequently as every 72 hours). In contrast, Metro’s current approach is more reactive than proactive and relies heavily on ad hoc observations (e.g., ambassadors or staff who “happen to be there”), rather than a consistent, frequent, standardized inspection program.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Key recommendations to enhance Metro’s Incident Reporting system and related processes, and for consideration in the design refinement and phased implementation of Metro’s Enterprise Asset Management Solution (EAMS), include:
1. Standardize Incident Reports: Implement consistent nomenclature and clearly define completion requirements to ensure accuracy and uniformity.
2. Enhance Customer Communication: Use KPIs to update customers on repair status such as tracking the number of graffiti removals completed within a set timeframe or specifying types of repairs (e.g., CCTV maintenance) across the system during a certain period.
3. Ensure Supervisor Accountability: Require all supervisors to fully complete individual incident reports for their respective areas.
4. Improve Graffiti Incident Traceability: Identify and implement a method to track graffiti incidents originating from Metro’s Transit Watch application and TAGRS into any incident tracking system Metro uses.
5. Implement Heightened Cleanliness Protocols: Establish stricter cleanliness standards for rail stations to improve customer experience.
6. Standardize Supervisors’ Reporting Templates: Integrate reporting templates into a unified system to effectively monitor third-party contractors’ performance.
7. Enhance Elevator Maintenance Practices: Require the elevator maintenance contractor to routinely replace protective film on elevator floors and walls to maintain condition and safety.
8. Develop In-House Vertical Transportation Maintenance: Build internal capabilities to maintain elevators and escalators, reducing reliance on external contractors. Determine if any aspects of vertical maintenance can be performed by Metro staff without invalidating any equipment warranties or service contracts. Determine if performing these additional maintenance repairs, Metro might reduce the cost of vendor contracts.
9. Prioritize Aging Open Incidents: Track incidents by days open and prioritize resolution for long-standing cases (e.g., 60 days or more), in addition to incidents affecting rail system operations, safety, or ADA compliance.
Supplemental recommendations are provided in each review area of the consultant report.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
The effect of this review may result in positive equity outcomes should Metro make efforts to measure and reduce rail system incident response times, enhance customer communication, implement heightened cleanliness protocols, and enhance elevator maintenance practices. Additionally, the proposed enhancements could lead to a more efficient and reliable public transportation system, benefiting all users. By addressing these key areas, Metro can ensure a safer and more satisfying experience for its customers.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled _Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit.* Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
As part of these ongoing efforts, this item is expected to contribute to further reductions in VMT. This item supports Metro’s systemwide strategy to reduce VMT through maintenance of rail stations, increasing operational efficiency and safety that will improve and further encourage transit ridership, ridesharing, and active transportation. Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets were designed to build on the success of existing investments, and this item aligns with those objectives.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Recommendations support Metro’s strategic plan goal no. 2: Deliver outstanding trip experiences for all users of the transportation system.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Metro management responded and agreed to implement most of the report recommendations. Some have been completed with others to be completed this calendar year.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Final Report on Review of Rail Station Repairs (Report No. 26-AUD-05)
Attachment B - Operations Response to Recommendations
Attachment C - Customer Experience Response to Recommendations
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Asuncion Dimaculangan, Senior Auditor, (213) 244-7311
Yvonne Zheng, Senior Manager, Audit, (213) 244-7301
George Maycott, Senior Director, Special Projects, (213) 244-7310
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Karen Gorman, Inspector General, (213) 922-2975
