Eyes on the Station: New Metal Barriers Funnel Riders at MacArthur Park Station

Metro has been piloting interventions to make riders "safer" at its MacArthur Park B/D Lines subway station. Earlier this year, Metro added uncomfortably loud music, more policing, ambassadors, brighter lighting, and closed off a station entrance. There's another feature recently added: metal barricades, reminiscent of a cattle chute.

The new barriers were alluded to in the May Monthly Public Safety Update staff report, where they were termed a "30-Day Faregate Pilot operation." SBLA visited the station today to see what has changed since this site's April coverage of the MacArthur Park pilot.

Metro recently installed new temporary metal barriers channel riders into three separate streams: one entering toward the platform, two exiting toward the street.

Metro's torturously loud classical music has resumed its earlier headache-inducing volumes. Compare SBLA recordings from today, April 12, and March 9.

Metro had turned the music volume down in early April, but, in an email to SBLA, Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero noted that Metro "continues to closely monitor and calibrate volume levels." Which apparently meant "turning down the volume until the public and media outcry died down, then ratcheting it back up."

In addition to the loud music, Metro has turned the fare door alarm back on (these alarms used to sound more than a decade ago, but have been turned off at all other Metro stations). At MacArthur Park, the alarm now sounds loudly and continues long after the gate has been shut.

Metro's MacArthur Park pilot interventions are also supposed to include station attendants, expanded street vending, and bathrooms. These positive aspects of pilot - part of "saturating the area with services" as City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez has called for - were nowhere in sight today.