Crime on buses, trolleys is sharply down, MTS says

Beefed up security on local trolleys and buses has helped reduce crime by nearly a quarter year over year and likely helped annual ridership surpass 80 million for the first time since the pandemic began, Metropolitan Transit System officials said Thursday.

A related crackdown on fare evasion launched in February is credited with helping boost revenue from bus and trolley fares by roughly $500,000 per month — money that is badly needed, with MTS facing annual deficits of roughly $100 million.

The efforts are part of a wider MTS campaign to make buses and trolleys more appealing to casual users as the region becomes more densely populated and roads more congested.

“Taking a comprehensive look at passenger safety over the past several years has been our top priority, and these results show the impact of our ongoing efforts to make MTS a secure and welcoming transit system for all riders,” said county Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, a member of the MTS board.

MTS recorded 81,181,071 boardings during the fiscal year that ended June 30. That’s up 7.1% from the 75,663,343 trips taken during the previous fiscal year.

“It’s a testament to the investments we’ve made in reliability, safety and service quality,” said MTS board chair Stephen Whitburn, a San Diego City Council member.

The new crime analysis shows that 969 incidents were reported from January through August of this year, down 24% from the 1,274 incidents reported during the same eight-month period in 2024.

The drop was much sharper on buses, where reported crimes were down 53%, than on trolleys, where the drop was just under 15%.

In early 2024, MTS launched a $4.2 million security enhancement campaign aimed at boosting ridership after customer surveys found that fear of crime and safety concerns were a major deterrent.

That money paid for a 60% boost in code compliance inspectors — to 102 — and for an increase in security “train teams” on trolleys, from five or six teams per shift to between eight and 10 teams per shift.

MTS also added security outposts at busy transit centers like San Ysidro, 12th & Imperial and El Cajon, so officers spend more time on the system and less time traveling to and from headquarters.

“Our presence really is our greatest ally,” said Dan Brislin, the agency’s deputy director of security and passenger safety. “People who are about to conduct any sort of criminal activity are deterred when they see our folks on the system.”

MTS also consolidated its security hotline into a single number for texting and calling and improved hotline technology. Emergency calls and texts surged from 37,166 in fiscal year 2024 to 61,397 in fiscal 2025.

On buses, where crime dropped the most dramatically, MTS doubled its enforcement security team and expanded its hours. Crimes reported on buses fell from 309 to 145 in the same eight-month period this year compared with last, while crimes on trolleys fell from 965 to 824.

Brislin said another factor in the crime reduction has been using data to determine hot spots so officers can be deployed more strategically. He said MTS officials plan to stay focused on reducing crime even further.

“We want to try to keep this momentum moving,” he said. “We know crime rates can change and increases can happen.”

Reports of some types of crimes were down more sharply than others.

Vandalism dropped from 417 during the first eight months of 2024 to 177 during the first eight months of 2025, while assaults dipped only slightly, from 547 to 542. Thefts dropped from 93 to 58, robberies from 41 to 31 and sexual offenses from 129 to 118.

The fare evasion crackdown came in response to what MTS officials have described as a tenfold increase in evasions that was costing the system about $1 million per month.

The crackdown, which began Feb. 1, ends a 4-year-old policy that had let fare evaders simply pay the $2.50 fare when caught.

The initial goal of that program was to avoid saddling low-income people with large fines and court fees that could make it harder for them to make ends meet and damage their credit.

But trolley officials say they estimate that nearly 60,000 riders had realized they could game the system and ride free again and again, until the rare occasion when a security officer asks for proof of payment.

The crackdown raises the fine for fare-beating from $2.50 — the cost of the fare only — to $25, a change that trolley officials say has encouraged more people to pay each time they ride.

Monthly fare revenue this February was up $685,000 compared to the same month a year prior — $6.2 million versus just over $5.5 million. The trend has continued, with revenue up by $592,000 in March, $461,000 in April, $616,000 in May and $488,000 in June.

While some of the increase is the result of higher ridership numbers, MTS officials said they believe the fare evasion crackdown is generating about $500,000 per month in new revenue.

For its security efforts, MTS was awarded a gold standard award this summer from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. MTS was one of only two transit agencies nationwide to receive this distinction for 2024.

MTS officials also discussed Thursday the possibility of eliminating criminal penalties for when fare evasion cases escalate. Under that proposal, which is slated to return for more discussion next spring, fines would escalate but no criminal action would be taken.