Metro Transit Says TRIP Agents Are Improving Safety On Light Rails

Metro Transit Says TRIP Agents Are Improving Safety On Light Rails

In 2023, fare inspections sat at approximately 215,000. In 2024, that jumped to nearly 550,000.

MINNEAPOLIS — Just under a year after TRIP – Transit Rider Investment Program – agents started patrolling the light rails in the Twin Cities, Metro Transit says they are actively improving ride quality.

Karl Obermeyer is a TRIP Agent, recently switching from a job working as an LRT operator.

"I just really thought it was something I could make a difference, help make the trains safer for people to ride," he said. "A more enjoyable experience."

Obermeyer started last year, after 11 years spent operating the light rail.

"I felt like as an operator, I was just moving a train back and forth all day long," Obermeyer said. "I wanted to be doing something more active, more involved."

TRIP agents are the first interactions riders have, check fares, administer first aid and provide transit information. Checked fares under the program doubled last year. In 2023, there were roughly 215,000 ride fares checked. In 2024, that number jumped to nearly 550,000.

"We see the difference we're making," Obermeyer said. "It's real and it's tangible."

Metro Transit currently has 74 TRIP agents and has its sights set on having 100 by the end of the year. Tuesday at their facility off Franklin Avenue, a crew of more than a dozen agents were welcomed as part of a new class.

"We want people to know we're out on the system, we care for the system, and we're there to assist them," Lesley Kandaras, general manager for Metro Transit, said.

Kandaras admits issues are happening on the LRT, which is why the agents are needed – and why they plan to expand their numbers.

"Transit, in many ways, is a window into some of the challenges our communities are facing, and we still have a ways to go to make sure transit is consistently clean, safe and welcoming," she said.

In addition to working on the LRT, TRIP agents recently started working on bus lines. Agents are on the LRT from 5 a.m. to midnight every day.

SOURCE: KARE 11