[wcummings]

>I'm going to venture a guess that it's not so much about poor people and more about crime and drugs and rudeness

Maybe Seattle is just a shithole but these kinds of things are rare in the cities I've lived in, the worst I experience regularly is people being loud and even that is uncommon, especially during commuting hours.

>Would you want to expose your children to that?

I see school-aged children taking the bus whenever I ride around 2 or 3. I've been on the bus when entire classes of children get on with their teacher to go on a field trip. I took the city bus home from school when I was in school, the city provided free passes for kids who lived a certain distance from their school. Heaps of people bring strollers on the bus, there's a special space for them at the front and everything.

[wildmusings]

There are other people replying to you in other threads with similar experiences in different cities. Good for you that in the city you live in, on the routes you take, you don't experience this stuff. But maybe you shouldn't be so quick to call people selfish snobs.

[wcummings]

I've used public transit extensively in a bunch of cities, as have friends of mine. These experiences are the exception, not the norm. Statistically, crime is low on transit systems, including in the cities mentioned itt. It's not perfect, but the problem is more about perception of safety than actual crime.

[wildmusings]

Only a one of the things that I and others described would even register in the crime statistics. Playing loud music, acting intimidating toward other passengers, having gang tattoos, stumbling drunk, arguing with the bus driver, are either not crimes or are seldom reported.