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Transit Safety Task Force Preview Letter

Regional Transit Safety and Security Task Force Needs to Implement Leading Practices to Ensure Successful Regional Coordination and Performance Management

September 29, 2026

King County Metro Transit and its partners started a multi-year, multi-jurisdictional effort in 2025 to improve transit safety under the Regional Transit Safety and Security Task Force. This is a complex effort that will require robust management and coordination to implement successfully. After the murder of transit operator Shawn Yim, the King County Council worked with Metro Transit and the Amalgamated Transit Union 587 to convene the Regional Transit Safety and Security Task Force (Task Force), as set forth in Council Motion 16783. Participants from across the region provided input, including representatives from labor groups, transit operators, agency leadership, law enforcement, city officials, behavioral health providers, care responders, transit riders, and community organizations.

We are writing this letter because we identified several potential challenges and risks associated with an effort of this size and complexity, and we are sharing leading practices that help mitigate these challenges and risks. We will continue to monitor the progress Metro Transit and its partners make on the Task Force plan and will use the information in this letter as a starting point for a future audit of the program.