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I live in northern Europe now. The only time I ever felt unsafe on a bus, was once when a raving junkie walked up and down the bus with a scissor in his hand, t
by TrackerFF 1y ago
I live in northern Europe now. The only time I ever felt unsafe on a bus, was once when a raving junkie walked up and down the bus with a scissor in his hand, trying to "sniff out the snitch". Turns out the bus I took, was the bus that also went to a halfway home.
But that's about it. I've taken thousands of rides, and have felt safe.
Sure, there are some annoying aspects - like teens blasting music, drunk people going out on the weekends, but most of the time it is pretty good.
Then again, taking the bus isn't looked down on in Europe - and carries no shame , so to speak. That goes for the metro, too.
- llbbdd 1y agoThis has never happened to me in a taxi or Uber, and one such incident would be more than enough for me to never take public transit again.
- alt227 1y agoThere have been plenty of people that have got into an Uber or taxi only to find out the driver is unlicensed or has bad intentions. One such incident would be more than enough for me to never get in a car alone with a stranger again.
- llbbdd 1y agoSee my other comment here but this is exactly my point. On a bus with dozens of strangers I have 0 recourse. In a car with someone who at least had to provide some kind of ID, I have more power. Consider that strangers just being present is not likely to protect you. EDIT: I don't think your original comment included the licensing bit (apologies if I just read it poorly), but it doesn't change my point. If you have to provide some paperwork, however illegal, however incorrect, it is a barrier to crime that public transit does not have, and is a paper trail.
- queenkjuul 1y agoAn Uber i was in pulled straight out into traffic and if not for oncoming cars slamming their brakes we'd have been t boned. Like 4 Ubers I've been in featured a driver watching YouTube. Sometimes you don't really have a choice. But I basically always choose the bus instead of i can help it.
- fragmede 1y agoBe grateful you've not been assaulted by a taxi/Uber driver then. On the topic of self driving cars, I'd much rather put a woman in a Waymo at 2am after the bars close than an Uber.
- llbbdd 1y agoI am grateful and this is exactly my point. On a bus I am at risk of being assaulted by dozens of people who did not need to provide any ID to be there. In an uber or taxi I am likely to have recourse.
- fragmede 1y agoIf the Uber driver kills you, you're just as dead as if some random on the bus killed you, unfortunately.
- llbbdd 1y agoI don't disagree, but I still have more recourse as a dead man who hired an Uber with a license plate and never made it to his destination vs. stabbed to death on a subway with 100 people, CCTV and no witnesses.
- orwin 1y agoI'd rather see drunks on my bus/in the metro than on the road. I know it's dismissive of real fears and anxiety caused by that kind of behaviour, I understand where it comes from. But intellectually, I know I'm infinitely more safe having effective public transportation than not, even if emotionally I might not always feel the same.
- llbbdd 1y agoI agree, but at that point I'm in favor of just having a bus that carts drunks and druggies around the city and normal people have no expectation of using it. In my experience in a big city this is already how public transit is used.
- palata 1y ago> In my experience in a big city Do you mean "in the US"? There is a whole part of the world where public transit is actually working well.
- llbbdd 1y agoYes, in the US. Public transit does work well here, doing its part to commute the above categories of people around. Anyone who can afford to opts out because point-to-point travel is literally always better no matter where you are in the world.
- joseda-hg 1y agoIf literally everyone who can avoids it, I'm not sure it works that well I avoid having a car because I live in a place where I can get by with busses, public carpools and the occasional uber, having a car would mean having to deal with finding parking for it, finding a mechanic I trust, driving in traffic and having to still ocasionally use any the former if I want to have a beer
- llbbdd 1y ago
- UncleMeat 1y agoYou've never had a road rager try to run you down or follow you somewhere? And this doesn't even begin to account for injury or death due to car accidents. People die all the time in cars.
- hvb2 1y agoI second this. The drunk people you find on a bus are just driving themselves home in the US. Not sure which option is safer. As a European it's mind boggling that you would find a big parking lot next to a bar