This is part 5 of the My Neighborhood News Network series on light rail arriving in Snohomish County. You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here and part 4 here.

As the long-awaited 1 Line rail extension from Seattle opens new stations in Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace Aug. 30, transit officials are grappling with how to ensure better passenger safety on trains and platforms. The $3.1 billion project will connect Snohomish County to the region’s light rail network for the first time. But the expansion also brings concerns over crime, disruptive behavior and security that have impacted other transit systems.

In 2020-2022, there were 55 reported assaults on Metro and Sound Transit services combined that were severe enough to require ambulance transport. This was a significant spike from nine such incidents in 2013-2019. A 2023 Sound Transit report stated that there were 18 injuries from assault in 2022.

In 2023, three injuries were caused by weapon assaults — two people were attacked with a hammer, and one person was sprayed with a chemical irritant.

There were no severe-injury assaults in the first five months of 2023 before high-profile incidents like a stabbing on a light rail train near the Othello Station in July 2023 and another stabbing at the Capitol Hill station in May 2024.

From June 2023 to February 2024, there were 256 violent incidents involving passengers – out of an average of 2 million boardings a month. The Lynnwood Police Department addressed the issue in July when it presented to the Lynnwood City Council its latest Lynnwood Transit Center crime statistics. Aggregate data in the last six years from the Lynnwood police and Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department showed that the number of crimes has decreased from its peak at 238 incidents in 2019 to 211 in 2023.

However, when both departments’ data are separated, the number of county sheriff’s incidents have increased slightly from 2019 to 2023. In both groups, from 2022 to 2023, the Lynnwood Police Department showed transit center crime increasing by nearly 35% while the county sheriff’s office numbers remained the same. 

According to Lynnwood Police Cmdr. Curtis Zatylny, the top five crime categories in the six-year trend – in no particular order – are: disturbance, suspicious, traffic, assist and nuisance. The number of 911 calls also increased by 12% in 2023, surpassing pre-COVID numbers.

In response to safety concerns, Sound Transit has doubled the number of transit security officers to more than 480 – in addition to 65 King County Sheriff’s Department officers who serve as the agency’s transit police. 

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Director of Communications Courtney O’Keefe said that Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department is always coordinating with agencies that overlap their work.

“The Lynnwood Transit Center is predominantly the property of Sound Transit,” O’Keefe said. “We have a contract with Community Transit (CT) and have a small footprint there and address issues on CT buses. We do work cooperatively with Sound Transit and Lynnwood PD, but we do not have a formal agreement for law enforcement services with Sound Transit.”

O’Keefe added that there is no contract between the sheriff’s department and Sound Transit nor is there one planned in the near future.

In 2022, Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine stated in a letter to Sound Transit Community Oversight Panel (COP) Chair James Peyton that “changes to the presence of security and lower visibility of law enforcement” and open drug use on trains can negatively impact riders’ perception. (Sound Transit’s COP is an independent body that monitors the agency to ensure it fulfills its commitments to voters.)

Constantine pointed out that the Washington State Legislature passed two bills in 2020 that limited law enforcement officers’ ability to respond to minor infractions and drug possession on public transit.

To address the issue, Sound Transit increased security personnel by more than 200 since last year, for a total of 550. The transit agency also formed the Public Safety and Security Field Activity Specialists (FAST), who respond to safety and security incidents on Sound Transit buses, trains and light rail; help passengers navigate the light rail system and stations; and conduct day-to-day inspections of public safety and security operations. However, the FAST team does not have law-enforcement authority and does not carry weapons.

“We are using a data-driven approach to determine how best to deploy our security teams,” Sound Transit spokesperson John Gallagher said. “We have also instituted a bike unit, which is able to respond quickly to incidents.”

In addition, Sound Transit shifted from a single security vendor to a team of four vendors in May 2023. Their services include mobile patrols and security at the stations and on the Sounder train and light rail. The team also operates a Public Security Operation Center (PSOC) that provides 24/7 dispatch and coordination for all security services. 

A year later, in 2023, Constantine reported to Peyton that Sound Transit has also enhanced its “see something, say something” initiative by increasing signage and adding QR codes for faster reporting to the agency’s operation center.

Meanwhile, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood police said they are working with Sound Transit and its security teams. Lynnwood Police Department Cmdr. Brian Jorgensen said that several Lynnwood police officers attended a two-day training in early June at the Lynnwood light rail station. 

“The training provided a basic familiarization with the layout and operation of the facility,” Jorgensen said. “Sound Transit also had a train at the station so officers could learn how the train works and how to gain emergency access. The training was done with the intent of being able to provide an enhanced response to any emergencies that arise at the station.”

Cmdr. Zatylny said that Lynnwood police will be implementing the Police Operation Plan — a data collection system that tracks and records crime at the light rail and transit stations. “We will start to collect calls generated as a result of light rail opening and then implement strategies accordingly,” Zatylny said.

Lynnwood Police Chief Cole Langdon said that the Lynnwood Police Department has been a part of Sound Transit’s Safety and Security Committee for years, pre-dating the groundbreaking of the Lynnwood light rail station.

“We are working with Sound Transit to identify potential financial support for additional staff hours as we work to offset and assess potential impacts related to the opening of Lynnwood’s station,” Langdon said. “This is likely to take the form of uniformed staff having an increased [or] constant presence in the area of the Lynnwood station during certain hours of the day. However, we are still in discussions and nothing has been signed with Sound Transit yet.”

Mountlake Terrace police have also been coordinating their safety and security efforts with Sound Transit in preparation for the Mountlake Terrace light rail station opening. 

“[Sound Transit has] been very helpful in facilitating training for us in this regard,” Mountlake Terrace Police Cmdr. Mike Haynes said. “We have and will continue to work with Sound Transit public safety personnel in responding to issues on the train, train line or at the station in Mountlake Terrace. I expect a team approach is how we will best ensure the continued safety of light rail users. This includes the community notifying us when potential problems exist, enabling us to respond in a timely manner.”

Haynes recommended that people should call 911 for urgent concerns and the non-emergency number at 425-407-3999 for other less- pressing matters.

“The Mountlake Terrace Police Department will be the primary agency responding to requests for public safety assistance within Mountlake Terrace and complemented by Sound Transit security,” Haynes said. 

Gallagher said that measuring the light rail station crime differences between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic levels is a difficult question to answer. “The agency doesn’t measure the crime rate,” he said. “We record incidents on our property. That number was 45 in 2018, so it was lower. However, we also had fewer riders and the crime rate in Seattle was also lower at the time, so an exact apples-to-apples comparison is difficult to come by.”

Gallagher also reminded that the term “assault” for transit workers is a bit misleading when violent crimes are reported in the media because it includes verbal harassment, according to the Federal Transit Administration. The Seattle Times reported there were 105 assaults in the first two months of 2024, and 47 of them were physical assaults.

“To put the figures in context, during this same period cited by the Times, we had more than 5 million riders,” Gallagher said. “We don’t want to diminish the concern that riders have — any assault is one too many. Rider concerns are legitimate, which is why our board approved four new security contracts last year, an investment of $250 million over six years. But assaults are rare compared to the thousands of riders on the trains each day. Many of the episodes occur at periods of light ridership – during the late night and early morning hours. That said, we want to stress that the safety of our riders is our top priority.”

Fare evasion

Sound Transit reported that the fare compliance rate on the light rail was about 87%, a drop from 97.5% in 2018. In 2018, Sound Transit wanted to maintain a fare evasion rate of less than 3%.

During the pandemic, fare evasion increased to as high as 55%, which is well below the 75% target rate for 2029. However, this number does not account for the free rides for youths program that was introduced in 2022, which may exaggerate the percentage.

In early 2023, Sound Transit employed 17 fare ambassadors on the 1 Line. By the summer of 2024, it planned to have at least 75 ambassadors and has the capacity to grow to 140 by 2026. 

 

Property value and light rail safety and crime

Some people are concerned that new light rail stations will likely increase the crime rate, which could reduce property values. For example, a 2023 study found that school shootings decreased property value by an average of 2.4% over a four-year period in 11 mass shootings between 1998 and 2014. And a 2012 report of eight major U.S. cities, including Seattle, found that violent crimes collectively incur $3.7 billion in direct annual costs, averaging $320 per person each year (in 2012 dollars). Neighborhoods that have a 10% decrease in homicides would see a 0.83% rise in housing values the next year.

However, most research finds no strong scientific evidence that new light rail stations would increase crime. Instead, there is some evidence that the value of residential and commercial properties tend to increase the closer they are to a light rail station.

For example, a 2007 study conducted in Buffalo, New York, found that every foot closer to a light rail station increases a property’s average value by $2.31 when measured in a straight line and by $0.99 when using the network distance. As a result, homes within a quarter-mile radius of a light rail station can command a premium of $1,300 to $3,000, which is approximately 2% to 5% of the median home value in the city. 

A 2018 study found that light rail stations “did not provide value to the neighborhoods in the Rainier Valley of Seattle.” With the exception of Columbia City, the author wrote that houses that are most convenient to the light rail stations “sell at a discount compared to what they would have sold for in the absence of light rail.”

“There are so many factors that affect property values that it’s impossible to sort out how any single factor may have influenced values one way or another,” Gallagher said. “We do know that property values close to transit stations do tend to rise because of the value people place on mobility. We recognize people’s safety concerns around transit, but overall light rail is very safe relative to how many people ride it.”

Gallagher added that security issues would not be confined only to transit locations, such as bus stops and train stations. 

“Any crime happening near transit is emblematic of the larger crime issues that every community is grappling with,” he said. “For the longer term of 10 to 15 years, we’d really be talking about the central Link corridor. For a variety of reasons, property values in neighborhoods like Columbia City and Capitol Hill have risen dramatically since light rail opened, so it’s hard to say that security has harmed property values in those areas.”

Accidents and safety issues

In the 2024 Sound Transit REO metrics report of the 1 Line (Northgate to Angle Lake), the rate of safety incidents in 2023 has more than doubled since 2022 (1.28 per 100,000 vehicle revenue miles (VRM) in 2023, 0.51 per 100k VRM in 2022) and the rate of injuries has nearly doubled (0.44 in 2023, 0.28 in 2022). 

Vehicle revenue miles is the total number of miles that transit vehicles travel while in revenue service, such as when a light rail train is carrying passengers. The “rate per 100k VRM” in safety performance refers to a standardized way of measuring and reporting safety incidents for transit systems, such as collisions, injuries and deaths. This involves algorithms and real-time data to determine the most efficient routes for a fleet of vehicles. 

The rate is calculated by dividing the number of safety incidents by the total VRM, then multiplying by 100,000. This standardization to “per 100,000 VRM” allows for easier comparison between transit systems of different sizes or with varying levels of service. It also allows for a more accurate assessment of safety performance as it accounts for the amount of service provided rather than just raw numbers of incidents.

For example, Gallagher reported that the VRM for 2023 is 8,252,515 miles. With an injury rate of 1.28 per 100,000 VRM presented in the chart, that would mean there were 105 safety events. 

This standardized rate helps transit agencies, regulators and the public compare safety performance across different transit modes (such as bus vs. light rail) and track safety trends over time within a single agency.

In a November 2023 report, Sound Transit reported 26 collisions involving the light rail, with 17 of them occurring at grade crossings. Thirteen of them happened along the Martin Luther King (MLK) corridor. The collisions were dispersed along the alignment without any significant clusters. Of these incidents, 14 involved pedestrian-operated vehicles, nine involved pedestrians and the remaining collisions occurred with rolling stock at the Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF).

In September 2023, there were seven injuries reported. Two injuries were from pedestrian collisions: one at Pioneer Square Station and one at Orcas Street. Another was from a collision with a vehicle at Norfolk Street due to an illegal left turn, and another injury happened when a pedestrian fell and broke an arm after tripping on a curb at the UW Station.

Am I safe?

Edmonds resident Kim Gunning said that she currently takes the light rail at the Northgate Station once or twice a week to attend events in Seattle, to travel to and from Sea-Tac Airport, and occasionally as part of her evening commute. She lives east of Highway 99 and near Lake Ballinger.

“In my experience, many people who believe light rail (and mass transit generally) is unsafe do not have much rider/user experience,” says Gunning. “Similar to those who believe the Highway 99 area is dangerous or trashy but do not live there.”

Gallagher said that Sound Transit continues to hold community meetings to educate the public about at-grade safety, particularly in the Rainier Valley and on the Eastside where the 2 Line operates. One such public event is the annual Rail Safety Week campaign, a collaboration with Operation Lifesaver where the goal is to promote safety awareness around trains and tracks. 

“We will be holding another Rail Safety Week this year, as part of the national awareness effort,” he said. 

Gallagher also reminded that passengers can always text the FAST team to report incidents and safety issues on the light rail at 206-398-5268 or email the security desk at security@soundtransit.org.

“The text line is very effective. We have established a FAST team that can respond to incidents in half the time that we were previously able to,” Gallagher said. “That is why we encourage riders to text if they see something that they feel is unsafe. The same line can be used to report something not working or that needs to be cleaned.”

To report safety issues at the stations:

For emergencies, call 911. 

For non-emergencies in Lynnwood, call the Lynnwood Police Department at 425-670-5600.

For non-emergencies in Mountlake Terrace, call 425-407-3999.

— By Nick Ng

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