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> such as L.A. and Denver, are watching transit ridership decline across the board, in part because investment in buses has trailed so far behind the commitment

> such as L.A. and Denver, are watching transit ridership decline across the board, in part because investment in buses has trailed so far behind the commitment to trains That's not completely true for LA (and for the record, train ridership in LA is on decline as well, while the population is growing). Here's the actual reason http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-metro-homeless-20180406-htmlstory.html http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-metro-homeless-2018... "People looking for warm, dry places to sleep have barricaded themselves inside emergency exit stairwells in stations, leaving behind trash and human waste. Elevator doors coated in urine have stuck shut. Mentally ill and high passengers have assaulted bus drivers and other riders." "More than 1 in 5 current passengers has been harassed on the train. In a 2016 survey, 29% of former riders told Metro they stopped taking transit because they felt unsafe." "Sim said she saw a man pull down his pants, squat over the edge of a platform and defecate onto the train tracks at Union Station. She said she has sat in urine on the subway, “hopscotched through peoples’ feces” on sidewalks, and endured verbal and sexual harassment on the train." "In one more serious case, Loew said, LAPD officers used a Taser on a man who was brandishing a knife and threatening passengers." "He kept riding, until he sat down one morning on a seat that was wet and hot with urine. With no change of clothes on hand, he wore the urine-soaked pants to work. Then he started driving to work again."

sudosteph 9y ago
Seattle is in a similar situation. Ridership is growing still, but mostly due to driving and parking being very expensive and inconvenient. We also have a program where major employers (including Amazon) will provide cards for unlimited transit use, but not re-imburse or provide for the full cost of parking. Even so, it's very common for people to get on the bus without paying and make everyone else uncomfortable. I've seen harassers, people vaping and shooting up, obviously unstable people yelling and making a scene. That's not to say anything of the people who just bring an awful odor or take up a whole row with absolute junk. I've never seen feces or urine, but definitely seen vomit. There's no enforcement against this kind of thing most of the time, and riders are too afraid to speak up on their own. If I'm given the choice between a 30 minute walk and a 10 minute bus ride, I'll almost always walk if it's not just pouring rain. Luckily Seattle sidewalks and pedestrian friendliness in general is pretty great. It's a drastically different situation from my hometown, Charlotte NC, where the buses don't get much use and it really is due to service stinking and general perception of the bus being for poor people only. Also cars are fairly cheap and ubiquitous. I would frequently be the only white person on a crowded bus, but even though I sometimes got weird looks, I was never harassed or made to feel in danger like I've experienced in Seattle. It was mostly just working class folks or people and some people with DUIs going to work, city services, or community college (which was my reason for taking it, I just hated driving though). An improvement in service and getting some nicer buses probably would have helped, but now that light rail is a thing (just barely though), I do think they are putting all their resources there instead.
- techsupporter 9y ago
  It's funny that you mention Amazon when referring to the ORCA card program since Amazon's outreach to other cities to kick in for transit improvements if its HQ2 is located there has caused one of the latest flare-ups of kerfuffle about Amazon's impact on Seattle. (The angst, for those unaware, is that while Amazon is offering private dollars to add transit stations or make service improvements in cities like Atlanta or Baltimore, it isn't making the same offer to Seattle / Sound Transit even though two of the new light rail stations are being built to serve the area that is effectively its campus.) I would like to also mention that my experience doesn't match yours. I ride the bus almost exclusively (there's no light rail near my house and never will be) and have only, rarely, encountered what you describe. I'm certain it exists, but not to the extent of calling it very common. Two routes, RapidRide E and route 7, stand out as being the most likely "culprits," which is, I think, less of a function of riding a bus and more of where those two routes happen to serve. The streetscape of the part of Aurora that the E runs down looks a lot like the inside of the E's bus.
jon-wood 9y ago
This and the replies honestly make me think there are far deeper problems than public transit in play here. In the UK I’ve never in my life seen someone defacate in public, or encountered the result. The worst I usually encounter on public transport is someone who smells bad, or is a bit weird, and the very worst drunk passengers throwing up on late night trains.
- mayniac 9y ago
  >In the UK I’ve never in my life seen someone defacate in public Funnily enough, this happened last weekend at a friend's housewarming. That said it was in Clapham so it wasn't entirely surprising.
KozmoNau7 9y ago
You don't have a public transport problem in the US, you have an underlying societal problem of people not giving a shit about other people.

sudosteph 9y ago

Seattle is in a similar situation. Ridership is growing still, but mostly due to driving and parking being very expensive and inconvenient. We also have a program where major employers (including Amazon) will provide cards for unlimited transit use, but not re-imburse or provide for the full cost of parking. Even so, it's very common for people to get on the bus without paying and make everyone else uncomfortable. I've seen harassers, people vaping and shooting up, obviously unstable people yelling and making a scene. That's not to say anything of the people who just bring an awful odor or take up a whole row with absolute junk. I've never seen feces or urine, but definitely seen vomit. There's no enforcement against this kind of thing most of the time, and riders are too afraid to speak up on their own. If I'm given the choice between a 30 minute walk and a 10 minute bus ride, I'll almost always walk if it's not just pouring rain. Luckily Seattle sidewalks and pedestrian friendliness in general is pretty great. It's a drastically different situation from my hometown, Charlotte NC, where the buses don't get much use and it really is due to service stinking and general perception of the bus being for poor people only. Also cars are fairly cheap and ubiquitous. I would frequently be the only white person on a crowded bus, but even though I sometimes got weird looks, I was never harassed or made to feel in danger like I've experienced in Seattle. It was mostly just working class folks or people and some people with DUIs going to work, city services, or community college (which was my reason for taking it, I just hated driving though). An improvement in service and getting some nicer buses probably would have helped, but now that light rail is a thing (just barely though), I do think they are putting all their resources there instead.

techsupporter 9y ago
It's funny that you mention Amazon when referring to the ORCA card program since Amazon's outreach to other cities to kick in for transit improvements if its HQ2 is located there has caused one of the latest flare-ups of kerfuffle about Amazon's impact on Seattle. (The angst, for those unaware, is that while Amazon is offering private dollars to add transit stations or make service improvements in cities like Atlanta or Baltimore, it isn't making the same offer to Seattle / Sound Transit even though two of the new light rail stations are being built to serve the area that is effectively its campus.) I would like to also mention that my experience doesn't match yours. I ride the bus almost exclusively (there's no light rail near my house and never will be) and have only, rarely, encountered what you describe. I'm certain it exists, but not to the extent of calling it very common. Two routes, RapidRide E and route 7, stand out as being the most likely "culprits," which is, I think, less of a function of riding a bus and more of where those two routes happen to serve. The streetscape of the part of Aurora that the E runs down looks a lot like the inside of the E's bus.

jon-wood 9y ago

This and the replies honestly make me think there are far deeper problems than public transit in play here. In the UK I’ve never in my life seen someone defacate in public, or encountered the result. The worst I usually encounter on public transport is someone who smells bad, or is a bit weird, and the very worst drunk passengers throwing up on late night trains.

mayniac 9y ago
>In the UK I’ve never in my life seen someone defacate in public Funnily enough, this happened last weekend at a friend's housewarming. That said it was in Clapham so it wasn't entirely surprising.

KozmoNau7 9y ago

You don't have a public transport problem in the US, you have an underlying societal problem of people not giving a shit about other people.