Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 18, 2025
Subject
SUBJECT: REVIEW OF METRO BUS PASS-UPS
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Final Report on the Review of Metro Bus Pass-Ups (Report No. 25-AUD-07) (Attachment A).
Issue
ISSUE
As part of its ongoing effort to ensure that Metro provides first-class transportation services to its customers in the most effective and efficient manner, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted a Review of Metro Bus Pass-Ups. The goals of this review are to provide the Metro Board and Metro Management with an independent analysis of bus pass-ups, determine to what extent bus pass-ups negatively impact Metro operations, and recommend how Metro can improve overall operations and bus operators' performance by reducing instances of bus pass-ups. The Lopez Group LLP was hired as the consultant to conduct this review on behalf of the OIG.
Background
BACKGROUND
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) serves as the planner, coordinator, designer, builder, and operator of the public transportation system for the Los Angeles region. More than 10 million people - nearly one-fourth of California's residents - live, work and play within Metro's 1,479-square-mile service area. Metro provides an extensive network of over 165 bus routes and an in-service fleet of 2,044 buses.
According to Metro Operations, the available in-service bus fleet includes the bus fleet currently assigned and operating and buses at the division shops for inspections, maintenance/service, or awaiting repair.
Metro Customer Relations Department is responsible for the intake of customer complaints and operating the Customer Comment Analysis & Tracking System (CCATS). Complaints are received by telephone, email and the Metro website through Passenger Relations Representatives and Customer Relations Officers. They are responsible for the initial receipt of customer comments, entering the data into CCATS, and assigning them to a cost center for review and response. For fiscal year 2024, there were 20,643 comments recorded in CCATS. General bus pass-ups totaled 5,186, which accounted for 25% of all comments received during fiscal year 2024. General bus pass-ups do not include pass-ups related to ADA compliance requirements.
REVIEW OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this review were as follows:
1. Determine whether (a) Metro has policies and procedures to guide the bus pass-up process, and (b) the policies and procedures are in line with industry best practices.
2. Determine whether the bus operators who bypassed a customer were acting in accordance with Metro's policies and procedures. Identify root causes for bus pass-ups and make recommendations to correct, mitigate, and limit bus pass-ups.
3. Identify any correlation between the number of bus pass-ups and ridership statistics and if there are any trends between bus pass ups and bus operations, e.g. bus routes, operators, divisions, service areas etc.
Most importantly, identify anything Metro might do to eliminate or mitigate the root causes of pass ups for operators and passengers.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
FINDINGS
The consultant organized their findings and conclusions in accordance with the three objectives identified by the OIG.
* The review found that there are no industry best practices for measuring bus pass ups. Most comparable agencies do not cover pass-ups in their manuals and only one agency was found that actively tracks pass-ups. Metro does have a policy addressing pass-ups in general and standard operating procedures which address pass-ups involving wheelchairs or other mobility devices. However, changes to the policies and procedures are recommended to make them more specific and effective.
* Data from pass-up complaints received by Metro during fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, as well as information gathered from operators, was reviewed to see if Metro's policies were being followed. The consultant found that generally, Metro procedures for wheelchair pass-ups are more specific and more closely followed and enforced than those for general pass-ups. The policies and procedures for general pass-ups are more informal and rely heavily on the operator judgement in the field. Because of this, it is likely that general pass-ups are being underreported. This is an area where policies, procedures, and training can be established and provided to operators to provide more specificity and guidance that can assist operators and reduce bus pass-ups.
* The results of the review and analysis found various correlations related to bus pass-ups. For example, rates of pass-up complaints (pass-up complaints/100,000 riders) are higher among lines with longer headways, which tend to be lines with lower ridership. Lines with higher ridership and shorter headways have lower rates of pass-up complaints. There was a positive correlation between the number of pass-ups and cancelled trips. The top ten routes that had higher cancellations had an average wheelchair pass-ups rate of 3.94% compared to an average of 2.38% across all routes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
This report contains four major categories of recommendations, with sub recommendations under each category to address the findings and conclusions reached, and to help improve and enhance Metro's overall operations and customer service.
The four major categories are as follows:
1. Policies and Procedures: We recommend the updating and/or creation of additional policies and procedures to enable Metro to monitor pass-ups with consistent information.
2. Performance Metrics to be tracked: We recommend Metro consider utilizing proposed metrics to assist in the identification of causes of pass-ups and potential changes in in operations to manage/reduce pass-ups.
3. Training: We recommend Metro consider updating its training regimen for operators and supervisors on pass-ups with regular updates on training as needed.
4. Physical Characteristics of Bus Stops: We recommend that Metro adopt a procedure to review the physical characteristics of bus stops where pass-ups occur due to passenger visibility or the passenger not being at the stop.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
It is the OIG's opinion that there are no equity considerations or impacts resulting from this audit.
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.
This item supports Metro's systemwide strategy to reduce VMT through reducing bus pass-ups which will improve customer experience throughout the system. 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 strategic plan goal no. 2.0: Deliver outstanding trip experiences for all users of the transportation system.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Metro Operations Comments to Recommendations
On July 8, 2025, we provided Metro Operations with a draft report. On August 12, 2025, Operations submitted their response stating that while they agreed with many of the report's findings and recommendations, they will need more time to conduct a thoughtful and detailed review. Operations advised that a more thorough response, outlining their approach to addressing the report's recommendations will be provided within 60 to 90 days.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - 25-AUD-07 Final Report on Review of Metro Bus Pass-Ups 2025.08.22
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Dawn Williams-Woodson, Audit Manager (213) 244-7302
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
Digitally approved by Karen Gorman, Inspector General