The Brief

There were around 6% fewer Los Angeles Metro bus and train riders in June compared to the same time last year, a drop that coincides with a more visible uptick in federal immigration enforcement, anti-ICE protests and a weeklong curfew in downtown L.A.

The systemwide analysis

June 2025 saw the fewest number of riders compared to any month since last February, according to an LAist analysis of Metro ridership data. The analysis looked at how many bus and train rides were taken each month since January 2024.

Metro said reduction in riders could also to some extent be attributed to the 70-day closure of the D Line, which is scheduled to end later this month.

Compared to May, before widespread immigration enforcement began, ridership in June fell by more than 13%, or 3.7 million trips.

Reductions between May and June of any year could be attributed to seasonal changes, modifications to people’s daily routines and the end of the school year, according to Metro.

Indeed, there was a decrease in ridership between May and June of last year, as well. That dip in ridership, around 7%, was smaller than the one observed this year.

Popular bus routes saw decline

LAist’s analysis found that the same 11 bus routes consistently had the highest ridership each month between January 2024 and June 2025. Nearly all of those bus routes saw a decline in ridership between June 2024 and June 2025.

Bus routes 16, 18, 51 and 70 had around 10% fewer riders in June 2025 compared to the same time last year. Those buses were re-routed during anti-ICE protests in downtown L.A. last month, among other bus routes.

Among Metro’s trains, the C Line saw the largest relative drop in ridership between June 2024 and June 2025. There were 26% fewer trips, or a difference of nearly 150,000 riders, between the two months.

The C line runs from Norwalk to the newly opened LAX Metro Transit Center.

The K Line

The K Line bucked the trend with ridership more than doubling over the year.

“This is likely due to the opening of the LAX Metro Transit Center, as it provides access to the airport, but also opened up access for K Line riders to more parts of the Metro system,” a Metro spokesperson said in an email.

The LAX Metro Transit Center opened in early June.

The second largest relative hike in ridership on the K Line since January of last year occurred between May and June 2025, when there was a 35% increase in riders.

Immigration enforcement and Metro

There haven’t been any confirmed reports of immigration officers boarding Metro buses and trains.

Immigration officers in June asked patrons about their immigration status at the El Monte train station. They were reportedly present for 15 minutes, and no one was detained.

The official Metro Reddit account confirmed “reports of ICE officers” at the Metro Harbor Gateway Station on July 1.

“Metro can confirm that their presence was the result of a spillover from ICE enforcement activity at a nearby Home Depot,” according to a comment the account made on a post.

The Metro Board directed the agency to update protocols for station closures amid protests after former chair and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said people were caught “stranded.”

In Orange County, there’s been at least one report of an ICE agent boarding a bus. The incident occurred on July 10 in Santa Ana, and no one was arrested, according to local news sources.

Limitations of looking at ridership by route

Ridership numbers don’t tell the whole story. The drops in ridership could have occurred at one stop or across all the stops along a given bus or rail route. To get a more comprehensive look at ridership patterns, LAist requested from Metro data showing boardings by stop, which the countywide transportation agency does not publish online.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Thursday that he will run for Senate Majority Leader in the next Congress, setting up a challenge to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer after the party swept to power in the midterm elections.

Van Hollen said in a statement that “the American people called for change” and that is why he is running.

“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” Van Hollen said. “This is not about any one person — it’s about answering the call of the American people. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”

Van Hollen’s challenge comes after he said he was considering a bid and after Schumer has said he has the necessary support to win. The closed-door, secret-ballot election will be held in early December.

The race will be the first contested election for Democratic leader in decades. The question of whether to reelect Schumer has already divided the caucus and many senators will not say publicly how they will vote. They have privately deliberated about what message to take from the election, and Schumer recruited many of the party’s winning candidates and raised money for them.

Schumer has been talking to Democratic senators since the election about forming an agenda for 2027.

“I’m going to win it,” Schumer told The Associated Press in an interview last week.

The Los Angeles Unified School District may lease spaces in its elementary, middle and high schools to use as childcare spaces for babies. 

The district is putting together a list of qualified providers and looking to identify spaces it could lease.

Ranae Amezquita, executive director of the district’s early childhood education division, said once the district has a list of spaces, it will start a request for proposal process that childcare providers can apply to during the 2027-2028 school year.

Why is LAUSD looking to expand childcare options now?

In April, LAUSD board members passed a resolution in an aim to expand childcare and early education slots in the district.

The district currently runs about 90 preschools, called early education centers, for children 2 to 4 years old, but it has only four centers that serve children under 2. “The problem with infant care — the reason we can't open them ourself at this time, is because of the cost,” said Amezquita at a board meeting Thursday.

The need for local infant and toddler childcare is high. In 2022, L.A. County assessed that the county only had enough licensed spaces to care for 4% of kids under 2. At the same time, the district has been facing declining enrollment amid lower birth rates. The resolution to expand early childhood care aims to, in part, strengthen the enrollment pipeline into the district.

Learn more about affordable childcare in LA

• For many California parents, paying for childcare means racking up credit card debt
• Why childcare in California may get harder to find

In an extraordinary turn of events, the state’s judicial watchdog has removed Judge Robert Draper, 84, from the Los Angeles County Superior Court after 14 years of service. He faced several counts of misconduct prior to losing reelection earlier this year.

The California Commission on Judicial Performance concluded Tuesday in an 87-page decision that Draper engaged in 17 instances of behavior that made him no longer fit for office. He hasn’t heard a case since 2023 because of the issues.

“Judge Draper persistently violated the standards governing judicial behavior and engaged in extensive and severe misconduct,” the commission said in a statement, adding that it was “aggravated by his refusal to accept responsibility for his misconduct, and his lack of insight or remorse for his misconduct and its effect on others.”

Draper previously admitted to some of the claims and denied others in interviews with LAist earlier this year. In a statement this week, he called the decision “deeply disappointing.”

“Any individual put under such intense and meticulous scrutiny likely would find themselves in a similar situation, albeit with slightly different facts,” he said.

Draper said the investigation came at a time when he raised concerns within the judiciary, and that it was used “presumably for purposes of dismissing his dissent by discrediting him.”

He plans to pursue “other avenues” to change the system, according to the statement. Draper's attorney declined to share what those would be.

 “It’s very rare for a judge to be removed from the bench,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. “It’s the ultimate sanction against a judge.”

The commission has only removed 15 judges since it gained the authority to do so in 1995, according to its records, with the last for an L.A. County Superior Court judge happening in 2006.

The misconduct

The decision comes after a yearslong investigation and legal proceedings with independent evaluators. Prior to that, Draper had never been disciplined. According to the commission, his long list of misconduct includes:

• Making “offensive” and “insensitive” comments in court about race and gender.
• Sending “abusive” emails and unnecessary graphic pictures of his naked backside to colleagues.
• Acting with “deliberate defiance of his presiding judge’s orders” by continuing to access court systems and work on cases while on involuntary leave.

Some allegations the commission reviewed were dismissed for lack of evidence, including one that he inappropriately touched an attorney’s hair.

What happens next

While Draper lost reelection, his seat is now empty sooner than usual. Judge-elect Tal Khan Valbuena is on deck to replace him in January.

It’s possible Gov. Gavin Newsom may decide to appoint Khan Valbuena sooner. The court could also move another judge into his department.