Do you feel safe on your local subway system?

[KeepItReal]

Being a lifelong Detroiter, what is this subway/public transit you speak of? I know it's different in other cities, but in the Motor City, there's no real effective transit, despite years of lobbying to change that. The majority of people who use buses are those who've had their drivers license revoked or just can't afford a car.

Hasan Minhaj did an episode on public transportation on his Netflix series - you won't be surprised to find out which large corporations oppose the expansion of the public transit system.... ?

[instudiocity]

LA Metro, DC Subway, Seattle Sounder, BART, all seem safe to me. However, I've ridden the LA system through South LA and parts of Hollywood with um, less desirable, patronage. So I tend to stay alert.

 

Also, I spent a weekend in SF in November, walked all over the Financial District, Market St and the Wharf, and never encountered any of the problems often mentioned re: homeless and droppings.

[+ Pensant]

When I’m in Eastern Europe, I love the metros. Clean, safe and, in the case of K’yiv, architecturally stunning. Many US subway systems are grim. That said, I’ve never has issues in NYC, DC, Atlanta or SF.

[jjkrkwood]

When I’m in Eastern Europe, I love the metros. Clean, safe and, in the case of K’yiv, architecturally stunning. Many US subway systems are grim. That said, I’ve never has issues in NYC, DC, Atlanta or SF.

 

Well I must say, the pee smell in the NYC subways has prepared me well for T-room sex. Now, I am kinda immune to the smell.. All I need to remember is to put those baggies on my designer sneakers.

[Guest]

In NYC I feel safe on the subway...but I’m not stupid.

...

A lot of the west coasts subway problems have to do with how lenient they are with the mentally ill. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was severely detrimental to mental heath in America and has harmed a massive percentage of the mentally ill living here. NYC didn’t swallow the koolaide as much as SF, and therein lies the difference.

I agree 100%. Firstly, I agree that I don't feel too concerned in the NYC subway system. But just last night again, I saw on the local news a report of a woman who was accosted on BART by a mentally ill man. She told the interviewer she was done using BART. Although I don't use BART that often, I have experienced multiple times when I felt uncomfortable by a mentally ill person's overt behavior. I haven't used LA's subway, so I don't know if that's a state-wide problem. Certainly I don't see uniformed officers combing the train cars, watching out for that behavior. In response to numerous incidents on the trains and passenger complaints, BART has recently announced it will at least add semi-uniformed "ambassadors" to some trains, though they won't be police officers (they are also going to add some more police as well). There won't be that many of them, though--probably inadequate for the size of the system.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/01/07/bart-plans-unarmed-ambassadors-increase-security-trains/

 

https://abc7news.com/5830074/

 

I also agree that that movie unwittingly did a huge disservice to the mentally ill and society in general. It was before my time, but it's hard to imagine it was possible to do (unsedated, no less) ECT on patients without their consent, or, even more unimaginable, frontal lobotomies. Obviously there are alternatives in between locking up the mentally ill and giving them essentially no rights, and just letting them live in the streets unless they're an immediate threat. I only have experience in California, so I'd be curious if any of you know what the legal situation is in other states. In California, our nursing facilities have ombudsmen to make sure that vulnerable patients' rights are protected from the likes of "Nurse Ratchett." Surely, this could be done in mental health facilities, and other states/countries have found humane ways of handling paranoid schizophrenics and other severely mentally disabled.

[KeepItReal]

Many US subway systems are grim.

Cheer up - you can always picture your fellow riders naked... or dressed in drag!

http://m.quickmeme.com/img/d8/d805b470dbd7ee848abe1e1c7a1b64095e41f862690fc15bdf69949d0c6d71cf.jpg

[nate_sf]

I ride BART, MUNI, Caltrain, and Samtrans fairly regularly, and BART by far seems to be in the worst shape. One of my colleagues at work calls it "The Upside Down" which seems sadly appropriate. Maintenance seems to be a continual problem, so it feels run down and dirty, and has a disproportionate share of mentally ill. But I don't feel unsafe on the system, I just find it depressing.

 

Caltrain is the opposite end of the spectrum... though the trains are old, they're clean and each train has two uniformed conductors who continually patrol the cars. The conductors are friendly, and some quite hunky The only time I've felt unsafe is when there are rowdy drunks, since drinking booze is allowed most of the time, but the drunks are more annoying than anything.

[thickornotatall]

Being a lifelong Detroiter, what is this subway/public transit you speak of? I know it's different in other cities, but in the Motor City, there's no real effective transit, despite years of lobbying to change that. The majority of people who use buses are those who've had their drivers license revoked or just can't afford a car.

[thickornotatall]

The big 3 auto companies bought up many of the mass transit cars and crushed them. They pulled up trolley lines and lobbied against mass transit. Before I moved to Manhattan we lived in Detroit. There was a mass transit company that opertated street cars and all sorts of bus lines.. The Big 3 paid Detroit to give up mass transit... Woodward Avenue from Downtown Grand Circus Park to 8 Mile Road (city limits) was served by a streetcar line with overhead electric grips...Now Detroit is a mess...So glad we moved.

 

 

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/08/how-america-killed-transit/568825/

[+ bashful]

Being a lifelong Detroiter, what is this subway/public transit you speak of? I know it's different in other cities, but in the Motor City, there's no real effective transit, despite years of lobbying to change that. The majority of people who use buses are those who've had their drivers license revoked or just can't afford a car.

 

That brought back memories. Grew up in Detroit in the 60-70's. Took the bus (DSR) everywhere back then, and so did a lot of people living in the neighborhoods. If memory serves me right, it was less than a dollar to ride, and a transfer was only a nickel or dime more. Never had a problem. I didn't have a car until I was 19.

[TruthBTold]

I live downtown so luckily I have access to all of the lines of our "L" system. Generally I do not go that far one way or another so I feel completely at ease taking the system. Actually I feel less safe walking from the L to my home than on the system itself. When I think about it I have been taking the system for about 35 years (yikes!) and luckily have really not felt unsafe.

[+ deej]

I've lived in the DC, NYC, Chicago and LA areas and rode public transit in all of them without incident. You do need to stay alert, AS YOU ALWAYS SHOULD in a city of any size, no matter where you are.

 

Heck, the small midwestern college town I live in now isn't a picnic if you're not paying attention. If you don't lock your car, it'll probably get rummaged through. If you don't lock your bike, it'll probably disappear.

 

That's just modern life.

[+ g56whiz]

When I’m in Eastern Europe, I love the metros. Clean, safe and, in the case of K’yiv, architecturally stunning. Many US subway systems are grim. That said, I’ve never has issues in NYC, DC, Atlanta or SF.

I was in a group touring Prague among other places in Eastern Europe. I enjoyed the above ground trolley but one of my colleagues on that trip was mugged in broad daylight on a trolley, knocked unconscious and then the muggers screamed at him because he carried almost no cash. It’s a reality rather than racial slur to note that the muggers were Gypsies.

[thickornotatall]

I was in a group touring Prague among other places in Eastern Europe. I enjoyed the above ground trolley but one of my colleagues on that trip was mugged in broad daylight on a trolley, knocked unconscious and then the muggers screamed at him because he carried almost no cash. It’s a reality rather than racial slur to note that the muggers were Gypsies.

[+ Pensant]

I was in a group touring Prague among other places in Eastern Europe. I enjoyed the above ground trolley but one of my colleagues on that trip was mugged in broad daylight on a trolley, knocked unconscious and then the muggers screamed at him because he carried almost no cash. It’s a reality rather than racial slur to note that the muggers were Gypsies.

Hmm. I had a similar experience in Budapest in 2001, but I fought back and escaped totally unscathed.

[+ bashful]

I'm retired, and live in the suburbs, but can easily access Chicago via Metra a block from my home. Once in the city, either walk, or take a cab, which are cheap and plentiful.

[Guest]

I heard on the news yesterday that the new "progressive" San Francisco District Attorney fired a good number of her most experienced prosecutors. I guess they didn't have enough of a "laissez-faire" attitude on crime. The analysts said that, for example, she doesn't want the mentally ill put away when they commit crimes. I think it's going to make a bad problem worse in SF. Yes, there should be mental health facilities where mentally ill criminals can be put long-term. But, barring that, the public does need to be kept safe from the violent mentally ill (and drug addicts who break into cars to support their habit, etc.)... I fear that San Francisco will end up being a welcoming place only for criminals, the mentally ill, and substances abusers.

 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/new-san-francisco-d-a-fires-city-prosecutors/2213738/

[LaffingBear]

I was on BART one round trip in 2018. Not since, and prior to that, not for 5 years.

 

I quit a job in 2013, BART being a major contributing factor.

 

I only felt physical-safety was threatened once. There was some freak in clothes with sharpened metal spikes. Real. Not just on shoulders, but arms, elbows, everywhere to be weapons. Real brass knuckles with mini spikes/needles. Metal cap-toed boots with razor filed tips...like some sci-fi character. Maybe he was harmless. Maybe it was his way of conveying "don't fuck with me" But as he stood there glaring, it made me so uneasy, I got off train at next exit, to take next train, [for scoffers, it was no costume.]

 

I occassionally felt uneasy when solicitors came through, but I avoided eye contact, head down in my book, bopping to the music on my headphones, I was never bothered.

 

I felt much more unsafe for my health, and general discomfort. The worst human smell of my life... people were gagging, leaving the car. The time some young woman came on with a bad case of alopecia and she'd chosen her defense mechanism as wayyy excessicve facial piercing, partial hair shaving or loss. She sat immediately one seat in front of... back to me. Then I saw all manner of crawly and jumpy things in her hair... ugh. I was sure I'd get lice or chiggers or?????

 

There were times the train was so packed... I actually wondered if there was ample oxygen.

 

So when my job changed, requiring 4 BART commutes per week, rather than one, it tipped the scales of what I was already considering and I resigned.

[+ Pensant]

Back in the 80’s I read a book called Seven Tomorrows, which described 7 possible scenarios for the future. I feel that we may be entering the era of what the authors described as Chronic Breakdown. It seems that many customer service people are increasingly inept and that the public sphere is increasingly chaotic.

[harlow]

I ride BART, MUNI, Caltrain, and Samtrans fairly regularly, and BART by far seems to be in the worst shape. One of my colleagues at work calls it "The Upside Down" which seems sadly appropriate. Maintenance seems to be a continual problem, so it feels run down and dirty, and has a disproportionate share of mentally ill. But I don't feel unsafe on the system, I just find it depressing.

 

Caltrain is the opposite end of the spectrum... though the trains are old, they're clean and each train has two uniformed conductors who continually patrol the cars. The conductors are friendly, and some quite hunky The only time I've felt unsafe is when there are rowdy drunks, since drinking booze is allowed most of the time, but the drunks are more annoying than anything.

Yes The Upside Down is the perfect description! LOL

[hypothetically]

I feel no more unsafe on the subway/metro than I do above ground. And that applies to both the U.S. and abroad. Something could happen at any time and I think it’s important one is always aware of their surroundings.

[+ Seaninsf]

There was some freak in clothes with sharpened metal spikes. Real. Not just on shoulders, but arms, elbows, everywhere to be weapons. Real brass knuckles with mini spikes/needles. Metal cap-toed boots with razor filed tips...like some sci-fi character.

 

No, no, @LaffingBear. That was an Oakland Raiders fan you encountered. Easy to mistake them.

[+ quoththeraven]

As someone who once took the NYC subway from Grand Central to mid-Bronx late at night in the 70s, when the South Bronx was widely considered akin to the Wild West, I probably shouldn't even be answering this question.

 

My biggest gripe with the New York subway is accessibility - there are way too few elevators and way too much reliance on stairs. (This may also be true in Boston.) Even the Newark (NJ) light rail has stations with noticeable urine smell in the stairways.

[RealAvalon]

I loved the metro in Paris, took it everywhere, quick efficient. But then I thought, I'm not seeing the City down here. I started taking the busses, bit slower but, I'm on vacation so who cares, I was able to see everything sliding past my window, instead of another tunnel. I love taking public transport anytime I visit any City. And if it doesn't have it, I probably won't go there.