They don’t understand probability
Does “dangerous” necessarily default to meaning murder? A breakdown for assault and robbery would be helpful since I suspect that’s the direction a conversation would go.
Is there a graph that breaks it down by rider? As in, deaths per 100K riders on public transit? I think this graph would be including people that don’t ride public transit at all (I fully believe it’s still safer, just not sure if this particular graph is the most accurate).
One way I’ve seen it normalized for cars vs flying is by hours of transit time. That way, it demonstrates you’re in more or less danger per hour in the vehicle during transit.
No data but this is common concern among my social circle too (Toronto). More with people who don’t use transit but also with those who use it to a lesser extent. The economic conditions produced a drastic increase in homelessness over the last decade. It spills over into the public transit system as people seek warmth during the deadly winter cold. While people tend to ignore the problem, as the unhoused population grows, random attacks become a thing. That goes on the news, people see it on their daily commutes, and here we are. It’s not a transit problem.
You hit the nail on the head. The ultimate cause is homelessness due to profit being necessary to live in a home – when shelter is a basic right at all.
I do think part of the issue is that you might not see actual violence on a train, but you might see some behaviour which makes you feel uncomfortable. Because you’re in a carriage with maybe 100 other people, then the likelihood is less that you’re in any actual danger, and far more that you’ve witnessed an incident which makes you wary. Meanwhile, there are several car accidents daily, but it’s witnessed by maybe 20 odd people, and most people only see a slowdown of the road.
In TO there’s definitely violence that’s been seen on trains and street cars, but it’s rare. As you said, uncomfortable situations are the common case.
You’re 100% right about the exposure to such inicdents vs car accidents. And that’s amplified by how it’s covered. One’s still rare, the other has been commonplace for decades in the news. So yeah. The material conditions produce these results without much intervention.
There was a parent who didn’t correctly park her pram on a train platform, and sadly the pram went onto the train line, and one of the children and her husband died. This was a major news story, harrowing CCTV footage, a community in mourning. There was discussion on changing platforms to be safer, etc.
Similar story with an SUV which reversed over a pram. No CCTV, the story was barely reported, largely local news. Similar scale of tragedy, and sadly the SUV story is probably more common, but the fact that it’s common also makes it an invisible story.
100%. “Accidents” with cars are so common and normalized, they’re not major news even if many more people get killed or maimed in aggregate.
Kathy Hochul sent in the national guard to swarm the subways, in response to some supposed crime wave. She was eventually forced to admit the data showed she was lying, and violent crime was way down.
IMO statistics should always be a requisite factor in any deliberation or executive order that would mobilize law enforcement or military, and lying about those statics in that capacity should be a serious crime.
What’s with the Sawyer County call out? Do they just have the highest death rate for traffic accidents or something?
Statistics do not help, when you have a feeling. The honest solution is to make the experience feel safer. So clean open friendly light stations help a lot and the trains should also be clean and friendly.
Exactly. Dirty noisy smelly subways are not where people want to be. I’ll take a car any day over that. Sorry.
Tbf, ive only been on the Chicago and Boston subways. They were pretty freaky at night.
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You’re right, but in a car youre isolated from that, see the difference ?
A car driving through a crappy neighborhood os better than getting on a subway in a carappy neighborhood. Now, this isnt even a question of are cars good or bad but more of if the streets were cleaned up decently and we had well taken care of public transit.
Inner city I agree cars are a nightmare. Sub 100k people towns and rural areas, they are necessary.
They’re also necessary if you haul a lot of stuff for work/hobbies, as I do.
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Makes sense in cities, driving doesn’t suck, is traffic that sucks. I love driving, although not on boring long interstates or traffic jams obviously.
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The honest solution is to make the experience feel safer. So clean open friendly light stations help a lot and the trains should also be clean and friendly.
No, no, the solution is to remove the benches, setup hostile architecture, put bars on every piece of glass, and…
- The MTA
I don’t really know anyone afraid of transit crime here in LA, but the main deterrent is mostly how long it takes to get to places – which is ironic, given cars are the main reason our trains and busses are delayed (our trains cross busy intersections, which is insane).
Yeah im one of those. It’d be insanely easy to rob and stab someone on a train or bus, im surprised it doesn’t happen all the time. But I also detest large cities.
This is more a crime/homeless issue than a car issue imo. A homeless person with nothing to lose is going to stab you for your wallet. If im driving downtown instead of walking, that cant happen.
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Yep, absolutely. My hubby has zero issue with public transportation. He’s also 6’1 220 pounds. I don’t think he quite gets why a woman a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter would prefer to not.
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It is however a decent anecdotal example of why feels often trump reals when it comes to encouraging transit usage.
