Crossing Guards
The City’s Crossing Guard Program is administered by LADOT’s Parking Enforcement and Traffic Control Division with the support of the District Engineers. Crossing guards are a valuable engineering and education resource to enhance the safety of students, specifically those walking and cycling in school zones. Crossing guards, deployed to school crossings across the City of Los Angeles, provide experience and judgment to help children negotiate a school crossing, while also increasing the visibility of their presence to drivers.
Crossing guards are a valuable engineering and education resource, among other SRTS toolkit solutions, to enhance the safety of students, specifically those walking and cycling in school zones.
Crossing guards, deployed to school crossings across the City of Los Angeles, provide experience and judgment to help children negotiate a school crossing, while also increasing the visibility of their presence to drivers.
Given limited resources, crossing guards will be assigned to locations where they can provide the greatest benefit to children crossing, while reducing risk of collisions. Engineers consider the following engineering factors such as traffic control type (e.g. uncontrolled crosswalk, traffic signal, stop sign), speed limit, number of vehicle lanes, presence of left turning movements, and number of students crossing to determine each requested crossing’s eligibility and to rank order locations for assigned Guards. The prioritization methodology used by the Department was approved by the Los Angeles City Council.
Requested Location Eligibility & Prioritization Factors
Locations with uncontrolled crosswalks are typically the locations with the greatest need for a crossing guard. Locations controlled by traffic signals are of next greatest need, followed by locations controlled by stop signs in all directions.
Once a crossing is deemed eligible for a guard and ranked, the Crossing Guard Program will determine if there is a guard available to be deployed for the year.
LADOT is accepting applications for new Crossing Guards. Please click the Crossing Guard Recruitment/Application Form. Email the completed Form to the appropriate regional contact (contact information included on the Form).
What updates have been made to LADOT’s Crossing Guard Deployment Methodology?
At the direction of the City Council, LADOT has transitioned its Crossing Guard Deployment Program from a primarily request-based system to a data-driven methodology that prioritizes schools and crossings with the highest safety needs. LADOT's crossing guard methodology is available through the City Clerk's Council File 23-0304. Previously, locations entered the evaluation process only after LAUSD requested them. The updated methodology is intended to distribute limited crossing guard resources more consistently and equitably across the City.
What is the overall goal of the new Crossing Guard Deployment methodology?
The goal is to integrate crossing guards into LADOT's broader school safety strategy and direct limited resources to locations with the greatest demonstrated need. Rather than treating crossing guards as a stand-alone, request-driven program, LADOT can consider them alongside other school safety treatments and use a common citywide prioritization methodology to guide investments. LADOT considers only elementary schools for crossing guards.