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Southern California Transit Advocates is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, development and improvement of public transportation in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Dana Gabbard letter to Metro on proposed Code of Conduct

Text of Executive Secretary Dana Gabbard's December 14, 2007 letter to Metro CEO Roger Snoble regarding his concerns about the draft Metro Customer Code of Conduct, along with the response by Metro Chief Ethics Officer Karen Gorman.


Dear Mr. Snoble:

I have so far only had time to make a cursory examination of the draft Metro Customer Code of Conduct which per board action (agenda item #44, November 29 Metro Board meeting) is to be published for public comment. So I reserve the right to submit subsequent more in-depth comments. But these are a few questions and concerns I have initially:

I find it contradictory that while the staff report states "the Customer Code will be made available for public comment", the only action contemplated is to have a notice published in a newspaper of general circulation (i.e. a legal notice buried in the classifieds). And has that notice in fact been published? Evidently there are no plans that I am aware of to hold public meetings, provide an e-mail address to submit comments to, etc. Yet meanwhile Metro will soon have a public hearing on tiles? That such an important matter should be handled in such a bureaucratic manner seems unconscionable. At the very least a notice to patrons requesting comment should be made available on transit vehicles, along with a notice on the front page of the Metro website. Anything less is unacceptable.

As a stop-gap I have posted on the website of Southern California Transit Advocates (socata.net) information on this matter, with links to the proposed text and how to submit comments via mail or fax to the CEO's office. Any additional information you can provide (such as an e-mail address for comments to be submitted to) would be appreciated so I can update the notice.

One issue I am aware that has raised concerns among some local transit advocates is whether section 6-05-180 on photography is overly broad. This matter has been raised in a public meeting attended by Metro Ethics Officer Karen Gorman, who has been involved with the drafting of this document. She seemed to dismiss out of hand these concerns. I should note similar codes put in place at other transit properties around the country have resulted in embarrassing media coverage of incidents of harassment in which bus and rail aficionados taking pictures of transit vehicles while on public streets or while standing at platforms have been accosted, detained and even arrested by transit employees. As you can imagine, the agencies had to apologize publicly and rescind the offending regulations.

A hint of how the current language could result in troubling incidents that result in bad publicity is the experience in 2005 of Valley College student Bay'an Hedayaty taking pictures in a Red Line station [as described on the website L.A. Observed, http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2005/11/take_pictures_see_fbi_1.php]. Just this past week one of SO.CA.TA's members was the object of verbal abuse by a DASH driver who claimed permission is needed to take a picture of their vehicles (and sadly LADOT does indeed have as part of its Code of Conduct "Videotaping or taking photographs on any LADOT vehicle is prohibited without the prior consent of LADOT", which I am sure would not stand up to scrutiny in a court of law). Because he has encountered this kind of abuse repeatedly the bus aficionado in question has even coined a phrase for it: Tarmacked

I urge section 6-05-180 be deleted on the basis that it is unnecessary, likely unconstitutional, and without a doubt opening the door to incidents that will reflect poorly on Metro (or even result in lawsuits).


A response was received January 9, 2008 from Karen Gorman, Metro's Chief Ethics Officer and Acting Inspector General:

Dear Mr. Gabbard:

The agency received your letter dated December 14, 2007, concerning the Customer Code of Conduct.

Metro has made the public aware of the project to update of our rider related policies since we began this process through many avenues including governance council meetings in every sector (some several times), other local agencies or city personnel such as City of Los Angeles Transportation Committee and BART staff, the Citizens Advisory Council (where you were present), meetings with interested persons including a member of the CAC following the presentation, and at the November 2007 Board meeting where the Code was published. We have received many comments and made revisions based on that input.

The Code has been submitted to the Metro Communications Department to post on the Internet as I promised at the Citizens Advisory Council meeting. You should be able to view the Code on the Ethics web page for the next several weeks. Written comments may be submitted to me at ethics@metro.net or by writing to me Metro, One Gateway Plaza, MS 99-11-12, Los Angeles, CA 90012, Attention: K. Gorman.

After receiving comments at the CAC concerning photography restrictions, we did review that provision, conduct additional research, and make changes in the language. Those changes were provided to the Board Secretary, but did not make the printing deadline, for the November Board meeting, so the draft to which you refer in your letter is outdated. If you check our web page, I think you will find the revised draft highly responsive to your concerns. I understand your interest in transportation photography as a hobbyist. We feel just as passionately about the safety of our passengers.

Thank you for your interest.