Valley Metro riders are being greeted with ambassadors at light rail stations. The staffers are part of the transit agency’s “Respect the Ride” program designed to boost rider experience.

The employees are called “Customer Experience Coordinators,” or CECs, and is a response to rider safety complaints on light rail. Susan Tierney with Valley Metro said complaints have decreased by 40% since rolling out the “Respect the Ride” program.

“It's someone that can help you out if you need help with fare are getting directions, or if there's things on the platform that maybe we need to be cleaned up or pointed out to us. They're there to help make the ride more pleasant for all of our passengers," Tierney said. 

CECs will also help assessing and addressing security concerns. 

“They will be supporting the stations where there's a lot of activity and we feel like there needs to be an increased presence of our staffing at that station," Tierney said. 

Tierney said coordinators will help support riders at Diamondbacks games, First Fridays and other busy events. She said the team of five will expand to 10 by this fall.