Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
MARCH 20, 2025
Subject
SUBJECT: COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCIL (CAC) QUARTERLY UPDATE
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE quarterly status report on the Community Advisory Council (CAC).
Issue
ISSUE
This receive and file report is a Board-directed quarterly update on Community Advisory Council (CAC) activities from November 2024 through February 2025.
Background
BACKGROUND
Per state statute, Metro must appoint a citizens advisory committee, whose membership “shall reflect a broad spectrum of interests and all geographic areas of the county.” The CAC prefers to be referred to as the Community Advisory Council because it better reflects its constituency.
Per the CAC's bylaws, the group consults, obtains, and collects public input on matters of interest and concern to the community, as well as those assigned by the Board of Directors or Metro staff. The CAC communicates their recommendations concerning key issues to the Board.
The CAC is currently comprised of 23 voting members. CAC members are directly appointed by the Metro Board of Directors and serve at the pleasure of their appointing Director. The CAC General Assembly has historically met monthly on the Wednesday evening before the Metro Board of Directors meeting but recently updated its bylaws to allow for flexibility within the fourth week of the month. The CAC’s elected officers have historically met as an Executive Committee on the first Friday of each month but also updated the bylaws to allow for flexibility to meet within the first week of each month to lead agenda planning for the General Assembly meeting.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Since the November 2024, update to the Board, the CAC General Assembly convened three times - twice to discuss matters related to Metro business directly with agency staff working on critical programs, projects, operations, and agency initiatives, and once for a holiday celebration.
November 2024
At the November 20, 2024, meeting, SSLE presented an overview of Metro’s Transit Community Public Safety Department (TCPSD) Implementation Plan and multilayered approach to the department design and asked for input on the characteristics they wanted to see in the future Chief of Police. CAC members asked about coordination with other agencies and candidate selection considerations and suggested that the Chief of Police and Emergency Management have a strong engagement and community policing/relations background, as well as experience working with communities of color.
The CAC has set an intention to be able to align with and influence Metro board policy through the formation of subcommittees to delve more deeply on topics before the board. To that end, the CAC also voted to finalize subcommittees that mirror Metro Board committees, Planning and Programming and Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience.
December 2024
At its December 2024 meeting, the CAC had a holiday/end of the year meeting and celebration with the CEO. No business was conducted, rather the CAC informally shared input on various Metro projects and programs with the CEO.
At its December meeting, the Board approved the CAC’s updated bylaws, which allow for some General Assembly meeting time flexibility to further the goals of aligning with and influencing Metro board priorities.
January 2025
At its January 2025 General Assembly meeting, the CAC received an overview from Service Planning regarding considerations for planning a new bus route and identifying route frequency and bus size. Staff shared emergency management resources and CAC members expressed support for Metro’s emergency wildfire response, including temporarily waiving fares for affected riders. The CAC also discussed subcommittee formation and updating the list of interested CAC members based on a budget for a range of three to seven members per subcommittee.
February 2025
At its February 2025 meeting, the CAC received an update from SSLE on the Chief of Police hiring timeline, as well as presentations from Operations on Emergency service planning and OMB on the Budget Development Process and community input opportunities. They also formalized their subcommittee membership.
Membership Update
In December 2024, one CAC Member, Tony Banash, appointed by Director Najarian passed away. Tony Banash was one of the longest standing CAC Members and a past Chair Emeritus. He demonstrated an unwavering commitment and dedication to the CAC and was passionate about Metro being a pleasant experience for riders and employees, through investing in safety and cleanliness initiatives. He also was a champion for fiscal responsibility and sustainability projects at Metro and beyond.
In February, the CAC Chair and Metro staff reached out to all Board Members’ Deputy staff to identify new appointees, including any vacancies on the CAC. The 13 voting
Metro Board of Directors, under AB 152, can appoint up to four CAC members each.
Determination_of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
This Board action will not have an impact on safety standards for Metro.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
CAC Members intentionally represent diverse ethnic, socio-economic, and geographic backgrounds and distinct perspectives to be reflective of Metro’s ridership. Of the 23 members who self-disclosed their ethnic background, 61% identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color. Over recent years, the CAC has increasingly become more diverse in terms of race/ethnicity and gender and is comprised of several members that ride transit and Access services. Additionally, some CAC Members have disabilities - further increasing equitable representation and diverse perspectives. At present, there are seven women out of 23 total members (30%) and one transgender person serving on the CAC.
The CAC’s increasing diversity is due to Metro staff and the CAC Chair collaborating to communicate with each Board of Directors’ deputy and reminding them of current vacancies and which demographic/geographic needs can be filled by their appointments.
CAC members’ concerns and feedback on various topics have helped inform the Metro’s Board of Directors to make more equitably designed projects, programs, and initiatives by uplifting underserved voices, such as the Transit Community Public Safety Department (TCPSD) and Chief of Police job description, including a compassionate and sensitive approach to community policing.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Goal 1 - Provide high-quality mobility options that enable people to spend less time traveling
Goal 2 - Deliver outstanding trip experiences for all users of the transportation system
Goal 3 - Enhance community and lives through mobility and access to opportunity
Goal 4 - Transform LA County through regional collaboration and national leadership
Goal 5 - Provide responsive, accountable, and trustworthy governance within the Metro organization
The CAC’s advisory input to Metro supports Metro’s Strategic Vision Goals, as outlined above, per the State statute that created the CAC. Per the CAC’s bylaws, its purview may be broad and needn’t be specific to one agency issue area or concern.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled _Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED (VMT) 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. While this item does not directly encourage taking transit, sharing a ride, or using active transportation, it is a vital part of Metro operations, as it is a formal advisory body which provides community input on key agency priorities, projects and programs which can lead to an enhanced customer experience. Because the Metro Board has adopted an agency-wide VMT Reduction Target, and this item supports the overall function of the agency, this item is consistent with the goals of reducing VMT. 
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
The CAC General Assembly will meet March 26 to discuss creating a strategic workplan for 2025, hear a requested presentation from Government Relations on Federal/State legislative and funding updates, and receive a Brown Act/Robert’s Rules of Order training. Metro staff will continue to support the CAC.
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Allison Mannos, Senior Manager, Community Relations, (213) 522-9952
Patricia Soto, Director, Community Relations, (213) 922-1249
Lilian De Loza-Gutierrez, Executive Officer, Communications, Community Relations, (213) 922-7479
Yvette Rapose, Deputy Chief Customer Experience Officer, (213) 418-3154
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Jennifer Vides, Chief Customer Experience Office, (213) 922-4060
