Just weeks after the Los Angeles Metro rail lines paused their Tap-to-Exit system, the city has seen a rise in crime and safety concerns on the public transit system.
The city launched the Tap-to-Exit program in May 2024 with the intention of making sure only people who paid the fare are able to board the line, according to CBS News. The decision was made as a direct response to comments from Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, in which he claimed that most people arrested on the line did not pay the proper fare.
However, the program was placed on hold at the Union and North Hollywood stations due to a warning over potential safety issues from the Los Angeles Fire Department, per CBS News. One of the potential issues was the likelihood of possible bottlenecks at exit gates in the event of an emergency.
Since pausing the program, the Metro has seen crime numbers skyrocket by 116 percent at Union Station and 67 percent in North Hollywood, according to CBS News.
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Additionally, the Metro lost nearly $35,000 in fare revenue from both stations.
Los Angeles police also said they have seen a rise in drug activity along the B Line since the program was halted.
Metro officials are working to have the program reinstated, while they included engineering and architectural drawings of the gates to address possible safety concerns.
“Metro has continued to make significant progress in creating a safer system. This year, violent crimes are down nine percent per one million boardings for the first seven months of 2025,” a Metro spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News. “Violent crimes are also down for the three months (May, June and July) following the TAP-to-Exit suspension within Los Angeles compared to the same months in 2024.”
The program requires passengers to use their TAP cards to pay before boarding a bus or a train, as well as tapping their fare card when leaving the Metro B Line train at the North Hollywood station.
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When launching the system, Metro officials said that the Tap-to-Exit model was in an effort to lower crime and to boost rider compliance with fare requirements, per CBS News.
The system seemed to work, as data showed a significant decrease of 40 percent in security concerns since the program was launched, per CBS News.
The program is still being implemented at other LA County stations that don’t have the same safety concerns.
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