Quote: (09-02-2011 04:00 PM)basilransom Wrote:
Quote: (09-02-2011 01:33 PM)kerouac Wrote:
In France they have laws to keep the undesirables out of public transportation. In France, there is even a law that states one must always have at least 1 euro on his person to deal with vagrants. There are ways to deal with the issue, but the question is are law-makers ready to fight the onslaught of political correctness issues.
Since when do laws stop thugs?
http://www.break.com/index/dude-mugged-o...-bus1.html
And beatings may not even be that common. But it's the psychic cost, of going into the bus every day and sitting in fear of an attack, of bracing yourself constantly and casing the joint for possible threats. Every American city has enough criminals to make public transport dangerous at night. And even during the day, if there isn't a critical mass of normal people riding it, public transport is seen as sketchy.
All in all, public transport is rarely superior even in the best of cases. The proof is in the money: when people have it, they don't use it.
The great thing about LA is that you can pretty reliably wall yourself off from undesirables. Eg, work in Century City, live in Beverly Hills, party in Santa Monica... I don't see how you could do that in NY without being extremely wealthy. Even the hipsters here, who don't feel authentic unless they live in a dangerous area, soon stop using the bus and get a car.
Wtf that is fucked up.
I've been using public transport for a long time in Toronto and I never feel unsafe.