5 ms·

I've taken public transport in Paris. Legit feared for my life one time. No thanks. Will gladly pay to take the taxi next time.

dv_dt 5y ago
In France for work for a week, I paid for an unlimited tourist public transport pass and had a wonderful time after work traveling into Paris from an suburb, then around in the city.
- dukeofdoom 5y ago
  Did you take a bus at night?
  - dv_dt 5y ago
    Some mix of buses trains and subway
  - watwut 5y ago
    I did and it was prefectly ok. I think you still got unlucky to be at place where young men fought. But it is not something that happens every time one uses public transport.
QuesnayJr 5y ago
The one time I fear for my life in Paris was in the back of a cab driven be a particularly aggressive driver.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  30cm is a perfectly acceptable distance to keep from the car ahead of you. Anything more is wasted space.
rorykoehler 5y ago
I've spent a good deal of time on Parisian public transport and have no idea what you are talking about. This includes many trips to less desirable neighbourhoods. The worst I saw was constant pickpockets. Do you care to elaborate?
- dukeofdoom 5y ago
  Sure, had a transfer between buses at night. Some sort of gang warfare was going down. People chasing after each other, throwing bottles and fighting. I'm going to assume was some sort street gang clashing, because thats exactly what it looked like.
  - ranguna 5y ago
    I don't see how that's a problem with the transportation system.
    - dukeofdoom 5y ago
      You remind me of this tired old joke. The doctor proclaims, "The surgery was success, but unfortunately the patient is dead!" From my perspective, I only care about getting from paint A to point B in a safe way that doesn't kill me. Avoiding ware zone bus stops in-between counts, since the bus stops are part of the transportation system.
      - techphys_91 5y ago
        After reading your comment I found a report on the relative safety of public transport and individual cars [1]. It concludes that in the USA there are up to 60x fewer fatalities per billion passenger miles on public transport (20x for commuter rail, 30x for urban rail, 60x for bus). It also claims that crime rates on public transport are decreasing despite increasing passenger numbers and are lower than for individual cars (crimes include road rage, car theft etc). The results of crimes to individual drivers are apparently also more costly (e.g. a stolen car rather than a stolen phone). Obviously I've only seen one report, but it may be that the perception of cars as being safer is incorrect. [1] - https://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JPT17.4_Litman.pdf https://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JPT17.4_...
agumonkey 5y ago
If you mean Parisian subway, i can understand, some parts are really not pretty That said, many large hubs have been rebuilt, only some small chunks of the network are still nasty.
netmare 5y ago
Here in Greece, taxis are quite expensive. Think 5-10 times more expensive. They're faster and more convenient, sure, but not for everyday use.
slowmotiony 5y ago
My company instituted a ban on taxis and ubers to make employees use public transport while abroad because it's good for the environment. Then our execs visited Paris - it only took one metro ride from the airport to get rid of the whole rule and have folks use taxis again. I always wondered what happened on that metro ride.
- pjerem 5y ago
  TBH, Paris’s metro is a national shame. It stinks everywhere, it’s dirty, it’s inaccessible, it’s barely decorated… I don’t understand how we can tolerate this in the most touristic country of the world. I’ve never seen a network that bad, be it in other France cities or abroad.
  - baud147258 5y ago
    it depends on the line, though. Line 1's way better than 13, for example
  - whywhywhywhy 5y ago
    Still can't get over the fact it drives on tires. Makes it so bumpy.
rcMgD2BwE72F 5y ago
Your anecdote is weird. I've been paying my Navigo pass and equivalent for ~20 years and rode thousands of times in the metro, bus, tram, Noctilien, Citadin and RER, and I have never encountered such situation. I've lived intramuros (mostly on line 13) and in the suburbs (RER B) which are both renowned as being the worst in Ile de France, I've commuted both as a student and as a worker in almost all directions (Saint Denis, Massy, 13ieme, 18ieme, 20ieme...).
hellow0rldz 5y ago
You are downvoted but I can confirm the only time I was almost assaulted as a tourist was in the Paris metro. Then I came outside and it looked like a Mad Max scenario with somebody casually selling corn baked in a barrel fire.
- greengrom 5y ago
  Good <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/">https://ru.wikipedia.org/</a> https://ru.wikipedia.org/">https://ru.wikipedia.org/</a>
- greengrom 5y ago
  [url=https://ru.wikipedia.org/]https://ru.wikipedia.org/[/url] https://ru.wikipedia.org/]https://ru.wikipedia.org/[/url]
- greengrom 5y ago
  https://ru.wikipedia.org/ https://ru.wikipedia.org/
  - hellow0rldz 5y ago
    Go away troll.

dv_dt 5y ago

In France for work for a week, I paid for an unlimited tourist public transport pass and had a wonderful time after work traveling into Paris from an suburb, then around in the city.

dukeofdoom 5y ago
Did you take a bus at night?
- dv_dt 5y ago
  Some mix of buses trains and subway
- watwut 5y ago
  I did and it was prefectly ok. I think you still got unlucky to be at place where young men fought. But it is not something that happens every time one uses public transport.

QuesnayJr 5y ago

The one time I fear for my life in Paris was in the back of a cab driven be a particularly aggressive driver.

Scoundreller 5y ago
30cm is a perfectly acceptable distance to keep from the car ahead of you. Anything more is wasted space.

rorykoehler 5y ago

I've spent a good deal of time on Parisian public transport and have no idea what you are talking about. This includes many trips to less desirable neighbourhoods. The worst I saw was constant pickpockets. Do you care to elaborate?

dukeofdoom 5y ago
Sure, had a transfer between buses at night. Some sort of gang warfare was going down. People chasing after each other, throwing bottles and fighting. I'm going to assume was some sort street gang clashing, because thats exactly what it looked like.
- ranguna 5y ago
  I don't see how that's a problem with the transportation system.
  - dukeofdoom 5y ago
    You remind me of this tired old joke. The doctor proclaims, "The surgery was success, but unfortunately the patient is dead!" From my perspective, I only care about getting from paint A to point B in a safe way that doesn't kill me. Avoiding ware zone bus stops in-between counts, since the bus stops are part of the transportation system.
    - techphys_91 5y ago
      After reading your comment I found a report on the relative safety of public transport and individual cars [1]. It concludes that in the USA there are up to 60x fewer fatalities per billion passenger miles on public transport (20x for commuter rail, 30x for urban rail, 60x for bus). It also claims that crime rates on public transport are decreasing despite increasing passenger numbers and are lower than for individual cars (crimes include road rage, car theft etc). The results of crimes to individual drivers are apparently also more costly (e.g. a stolen car rather than a stolen phone). Obviously I've only seen one report, but it may be that the perception of cars as being safer is incorrect. [1] - https://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JPT17.4_Litman.pdf https://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JPT17.4_...

agumonkey 5y ago

If you mean Parisian subway, i can understand, some parts are really not pretty That said, many large hubs have been rebuilt, only some small chunks of the network are still nasty.

netmare 5y ago

Here in Greece, taxis are quite expensive. Think 5-10 times more expensive. They're faster and more convenient, sure, but not for everyday use.

slowmotiony 5y ago

My company instituted a ban on taxis and ubers to make employees use public transport while abroad because it's good for the environment. Then our execs visited Paris - it only took one metro ride from the airport to get rid of the whole rule and have folks use taxis again. I always wondered what happened on that metro ride.

pjerem 5y ago
TBH, Paris’s metro is a national shame. It stinks everywhere, it’s dirty, it’s inaccessible, it’s barely decorated… I don’t understand how we can tolerate this in the most touristic country of the world. I’ve never seen a network that bad, be it in other France cities or abroad.
- baud147258 5y ago
  it depends on the line, though. Line 1's way better than 13, for example
- whywhywhywhy 5y ago
  Still can't get over the fact it drives on tires. Makes it so bumpy.

rcMgD2BwE72F 5y ago

Your anecdote is weird. I've been paying my Navigo pass and equivalent for ~20 years and rode thousands of times in the metro, bus, tram, Noctilien, Citadin and RER, and I have never encountered such situation. I've lived intramuros (mostly on line 13) and in the suburbs (RER B) which are both renowned as being the worst in Ile de France, I've commuted both as a student and as a worker in almost all directions (Saint Denis, Massy, 13ieme, 18ieme, 20ieme...).

hellow0rldz 5y ago

You are downvoted but I can confirm the only time I was almost assaulted as a tourist was in the Paris metro. Then I came outside and it looked like a Mad Max scenario with somebody casually selling corn baked in a barrel fire.

greengrom 5y ago
Good <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/">https://ru.wikipedia.org/</a> https://ru.wikipedia.org/">https://ru.wikipedia.org/</a>
greengrom 5y ago
[url=https://ru.wikipedia.org/]https://ru.wikipedia.org/[/url] https://ru.wikipedia.org/]https://ru.wikipedia.org/[/url]
greengrom 5y ago
https://ru.wikipedia.org/ https://ru.wikipedia.org/
- hellow0rldz 5y ago
  Go away troll.