Metro Transit said Tuesday crime aboard buses and light-rail trains declined 17.5% last spring, two years after the agency implemented a safety and security plan throughout the Twin Cities' public transportation system.

Overall crime on Metro Transit is down 14% for the first half of the year, as ridership has increased 9% totaling nearly 25 million riders, the agency said in a news release. Serious crimes, including homicides, sex offenses, robberies and assaults, declined 18.4% to 326 incidents during the second quarter, which ended June 30.

"There has been a sustained and deliberate effort to make our system safer and more welcoming to riders and frontline transit workers," Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras said ina statement. "We hear clearly that there is more work to be done but are encouraged by the progress we're making."

After serious crime soared throughout the system, the Metropolitan Council, which oversees Metro Transit, adopted a Safety and Security Action Plan in June 2022.

The plan details crime-fighting tactics, as well as increasing an official presence of police officers and others to help make passengers feel safe on trains and buses and at stations and bus stops.

In February, Metro Transit rolled out a phalanx of Transit Rider Investment Program (TRIP) agents on the Green and Blue light rail lines to help customers and make sure people are paying fares. While some 28 TRIP agents are deployed on light rail now, Metro Transit says it plans to add 22 additional agents to the system by the end of September.

Private security guards have been posted at problematic stations, including Franklin Avenue, Lake Street/Midtown, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on the Blue Line; Central station on the Green Line; Lake Street station on the Orange Line, and the Chicago-Lake, Brooklyn Center and Uptown transit centers.

"This has definitely helped us improve our overall success," Kandaras said.

Metro Transit has tried to boost the ranks of community service officers (CSOs) — uniformed police officers in training who ride transit — but attracting new officers has been difficult. Although there are 70 CSOs budgeted, only 15 are on staff.

The same is true of police officers — there are 112, but there's money for 171.

The agency has also contracted with 10 community organizations to help passengers experiencing addiction, homelessness and mental illness. Over the past year, the agencies have connected with about 6,700 people and made 3,800 referrals.

The safety plan also includes hiring more staff to clean buses, trains and stations, and training bus drivers and light-rail operators on de-escalation and crisis intervention tactics.

Police say they are addressing illegal behavior aboard public transit, including drug and alcohol use. Between April and June, police documented 397 instances of smoking-, drug- and alcohol-related offenses, a 50% increase compared with the same time last year.

Kandaras, who rode all 60 of Metro Transit's bus and train routes in the past year, said smoking was one of the top complaints she heard from transit users.

"Let me be clear: Illegal acts and behaviors that violate our code of conduct will not be tolerated, and we will do everything in our power to hold people accountable for their actions," Metro Transit Police Chief Ernest Morales III said Tuesday.