Throughout June and July, my colleagues Dr. Emily Grise, Dr Willem Klumpenhouwer, PhD and I conducted site visits and interviews of the five participating transit agencies in the Transit Cooperative Research Program study on the impact of Substance Use on Transit. With each agency, we interviewed the agency's data, communications, occupational health and safety, operations and facilities divisions, and outreach and law enforcement partners, as this complex topic involves a multidisciplinary approach within each transit agency.
For this study, we also conducted ride-alongs on the transit system with front-line outreach specialists and law enforcement in Portland, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Spending 10 nights with front-line staff provided extensive insights into the program approaches, opportunities, and challenges on this complex subject. The ride-alongs included shifts that ended at 3 a.m. and, at one point, started at 3 a.m. on another night.
Amongst the five cities, we met approximately 120 individuals from a significant cross-section (transit agency technical staff, front-line operations staff, outreach partners, ambassadors, public health staff, Police officers and community advocates). The study team is very grateful for the support we have received from the contributing transit agencies, especially our primary contacts including Marissa Clarke (she/her) at TriMet, Steve Martingano at Denver RTD Transit Police, Stephen Tu at Los Angeles Metro, Kenneth A. Divers at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and Nancy-Ellen Zusman at Chicago Transit Authority.
The final report will be available in the spring of 2025.