SUMMARY

The Impacts of and Response to Drug Use on Transit

Objective

U.S. public transportation agencies have faced numerous challenges since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the rise in drug use on transit systems being one of the most visible, pressing, and complex. The primary goal of this report is to document and synthesize the current practices of transit agencies in addressing the consumption and distribution of illegal drugs on their systems, as well as the resulting effects on customer and staff safety and security. Program and policy responses for the following five participating transit agencies were documented:

1. Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) - Chicago, Illinois.
2. Regional Transportation District (RTD) - Denver, Colorado.
3. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) - Los Angeles, California.
4. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
5. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) - Portland, Oregon.

This synthesis begins with a literature review to present an overview of drug use on transit systems and examine how various transit agencies have responded. The synthesis then presents findings from in-person agency visits and staff interviews, along with a review of information and data provided by the five participating agencies. The synthesis concludes by identifying challenges, areas of opportunity, and knowledge gaps in the agencies’ responses to this issue.

Literature Review

The literature review analyzed transit agencies’ responses to drug use issues as detailed in academic publications and agency materials. These sources revealed three main themes:

1. Legislative and Enforcement-Led Measures: Traditional responses to drug use have typically focused on removing, charging, or arresting individuals. In recent years, multiple states (including Oregon) have attempted to reform enforcement measures.
2. Station Design and Operations: Transit agencies are adopting Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles, modifying station layouts to improve both actual and perceived safety. Enhanced cleaning protocols are also being implemented to address issues like discarded sharp objects.

3. Outreach and Harm Reduction: Outreach and harm reduction teams are now deployed on several transit systems, representing a shift toward treating drug use mainly as a public health issue rather than a criminal one. The goal is to connect vulnerable individuals with housing, mental health, and addiction support services.

Case Example Selection

Five case example agencies were selected to provide the report with a diverse set of programmatic, outreach, and enforcement responses to the issue. Criteria used to select the five case examples included variation in regulatory responses, geographic diversity, varied transit infrastructure and modes, varied climates, evidence of existing program responses, and willingness to participate in this study.

Data

Data related to drug use and safety were requested and received from all five agencies. However, data collection and reporting across the participating agencies are inconsistent—some data sources are specific to each agency and their associated outreach and law enforcement partners. The data are organized into the following five categories:

1. Occupational Health & Safety: Includes data such as the number of operator assaults and employee exposures to drugs.
2. Station & Operations: Covers data such as the number of track falls, vehicle aerations, and maintenance and cleanliness issues.
3. Enforcement: Includes metrics on the number of calls for service, arrests, and citations.
4. Outreach: Tracks data such as the number of engagements, counts of vulnerable individuals, and naloxone deployments.
5. Customer Engagement: Encompasses data such as customer service reports and complaints related to drug use.

Program Highlights

Highlights from each of the five participating agencies’ program responses to drug use on their systems follow:

• CTA (Chicago, IL): CTA relies on various city agencies for support. Law enforcement is handled by the Chicago Police Department, and outreach is provided by external contractors. Emergencies are reported to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, with decentralized data collection across agencies.
• RTD (Denver, CO): RTD has a small but growing outreach program. Its in-house police force handles law enforcement, but staffing numbers remain a challenge. The transit police deal with a complex situation, because RTD serves eight counties with varying law enforcement requirements.
• LA Metro (Los Angeles, CA): An extensive outreach program has responded to persistent challenges of unhoused individuals using transit as a form of shelter and the use of drugs throughout the transit system. Relatedly, to remove barriers to access, LA Metro has funded temporary shelter stays as an alternative for those seeking refuge on transit. The agency relies on law enforcement from the LAPD, Long Beach Police Department, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Departments. An ambassador program has been established to provide additional customer service and visibility and Ambassadors carry and

• administer Narcan when needed. Last, extensive station design interventions have been implemented to promote the safety and security of all users and employees, while reinforcing behavior and appropriate use of transit stations and facilities.
• SEPTA (Philadelphia, PA): SEPTA’s Safety, Cleaning, Ownership, Partnership and Engagement (SCOPE) program addresses safety, cleanliness, and outreach, connecting vulnerable individuals to support and providing temporary shelter beds. SEPTA’s approach follows a clear directive that each interaction with a vulnerable individual involves guiding them off SEPTA property with compassion and respect, while providing access to essential support and services. In addition, the SCOPE program involves critical partnerships with local universities and organizations which connect vulnerable individuals in transit vehicles and facilities with medical care and other social support.
• TriMet (Portland, OR): TriMet employs a multidisciplinary team for outreach, law enforcement, and customer service. Outreach is led by the Safety Response Team, with law enforcement handled by the transit police and supported by Transit Security.

Findings

Findings (from the literature review, data analysis, interviews with transit agency staff, and in-person ridealongs with outreach partners and law enforcement across five transit agencies) are organized into challenges, opportunities, and knowledge gaps.

Challenges

1. Setting Objectives: Before creating a data program to understand the scope of drug use in transit, agencies must first set clear, quantifiable objectives. These objectives should guide data collection, define the issue’s scope, and track progress. With objectives in place, agencies can better assess initiative effectiveness and refine strategies.
2. Communication Gaps: Information sharing between transit agencies, outreach providers, and law enforcement is often insufficient. Improving centralized information systems would enhance coordination and referrals.
3. Low Uptake of Support Services: Support services are often mismatched with individual needs (or are unsuitable to meet an individual’s immediate and long-term needs), and gaps exist in suitable short-term and long-term housing, mental health, and substance use disorder treatment programs.
4. Frontline Staff Impacts: Frontline staff face significant mental and physical health risks, including exposure to assaults, biohazards, and trauma, contributing to burnout and turnover.
5. Enforcement Difficulties: Enforcing drug laws on transit is complicated by decriminalization, non-prosecution trends, jurisdictional challenges, and the need to confirm through lab testing that a drug was smoked or consumed. Focusing enforcement on drug trafficking, rather than possession, and enhancing collaboration with law enforcement can help.

Areas of Opportunity

1. Access to Naloxone: Standardizing naloxone deployment policies across agencies could reduce overdose fatalities.
2. Role Clarity: Clearly communicating the roles of police, security, outreach workers, and customer service agents can improve public understanding of transit safety efforts.

3. Outreach with Peer Specialists: Contracting with outreach organizations employing Certified Peer Specialists, who have lived experience with drug use and/or mental health issues, can create more credible and effective outreach, while improving resource allocation.
4. Codes of Conduct Alignment: Updating transit codes of conduct to reflect evolving drug use laws and increasing public awareness through signage and communication channels can aid enforcement.
5. Station Design: Applying CPTED principles—improved visibility, better lighting, and enhanced access control—can deter drug use in the public transit environment while maintaining customer experience.

Knowledge Gaps

1. Data Challenges: Inconsistent data collection and reporting methods, along with indirect measures (e.g., customer reporting), make it difficult to gauge the scale of drug use on transit systems. Integrating data with public health, law enforcement, and outreach organizations can improve data accuracy and address drug use more effectively.
2. Fare Enforcement: The relationship between fare enforcement (both through physical fare infrastructure and police or security presence) and security is understudied, although staff believe fare enforcement enhances security. Further research is needed to understand this relationship with overall transit security.
3. Psychological Support: Work-related psychosocial hazards (like poor management support and witnessing drug use) affect transit worker safety and well-being, especially for frontline workers. These hazards can cause cognitive, emotional, and physical stress, worsened by personal histories with substance use. Research should explore the extent of the psychological burden on frontline transit staff, including outreach workers and Ambassadors, and how to address this burden to improve worker health and well-being.

Conclusion

On transit systems across the United States, rising rates of drug use along with deteriorating safety conditions for customers and staff have become increasingly pressing and complex issues for transit agencies to solve. Many challenges surround agencies’ responses to drug use on transit, such as inconsistent data collection and the low uptake of support services (which results from various causes, including inadequate available support). Many opportunities exist for agencies to improve how they handle drug use on their systems, such as standardizing naloxone deployment policies and implementing CPTED design principles to improve safety.

Although this synthesis focused on analyzing current practices by transit agencies in responding to drug use on their systems, further research, such as the relationship between fare enforcement and safety, would be useful to better understand and address this deeply complex societal issue.