"We all took the freeway here - except for Janice - right?" remarked incoming Metro Board Chair Fernando Dutra before a crowd of more than 350 people gathered for today's Metro State of the Agency event at Union Station.
Downtown L.A.'s Union Station is arguably the location best served by transit in the lower half of the state of California, if not the entire state. "Janice" is outgoing Board Chair County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who has made a point of riding Metro transit regularly.
Fernando Dutra is a Whittier City Councilmember who joined the Metro board in 2021. He outlined his priorities for the year ahead, "First and foremost, we must deliver our capital projects... on time and on budget."
"Secondly, we need to keep our focus on the Southeast Gateway Line... advancing the right-of-way acquisitions, early works, community engagement, and momentum for full construction." Dutra then touched on several other Metro rail construction projects throughout "the entire region" including the Eastside E Line extension to Whittier, which he has championed.
"But we're not just a train and a bus company. We also manage projects on the freeways," he said. Metro partners with Caltrans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year expanding freeway capacity throughout L.A. County.
"Our projects along the 5, the 605, 91, and 105 Freeway are very, very important to the entire county," Dutra continued. "So I'll be focusing on making sure we keep our freeways moving freely."
Several speakers acknowledged the current federal crackdown on L.A.'s immigrant communities. Hahn spoke of supporting Metro riders in the face of "terrible dehumanizing ICE sweeps." Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins termed it a "difficult time... full of fear, anxiety, and heartache."
Wiggins spoke of Metro's recent accomplishments: sustained ridership growth, rider satisfaction, new bus lanes, the new LAX rail station, and extensions of the A Line and D Line opening "this fiscal year." Wiggins previewed Metro's large scale preparations for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. Numerous athletic metaphors were, let's say, exercised.
Today's event opened with remarks by outgoing Chair Hahn, who has long been an important progressive voice on the Metro board.
Hahn spoke of Metro accomplishments during a difficult year, which saw ICE raids, severe wildfires, and tightening state and local budgets. Hahn spoke of future Metro initiatives she has advanced, including Olympics/Paralympics preparation, the Southeast Gateway Line, and "in just a few weeks we will begin testing new technology to reduce pedestrian collisions and alert bus operators in real time."
One important aspect of Hahn's recent leadership, mentioned above, has been embodying a visible example of riding transit. "When I became Chair, I said I would ride Metro regularly. And I did." Hahn spoke of interacting with diverse and numerous Metro riders - and Metro workers - while commuting from San Pedro to downtown L.A. on the J/Silver Line bus. "Riding the bus gave me ideas for policies that would benefit our riders."
"Even though my Chair is ending," Hahn pledged, "I'm going to keep riding Metro."
