[add-sub-mul-div]

> The reason nobody uses public transit in America is it's always packed with transients or dangerous people.

That's a lie told by people who sell fear as a product to people who always want new reasons to live in fear.

[potato3732842]

>That's a lie told by people who sell fear as a product to people who always want new reasons to live in fear.

They don't just sell fear. They sell confirmation bias too.

The man who lives in an ivory tower in the suburbs is happy to read the news about a stabbing on the subway as it makes him feel less bad for not putting his money where his mouth is and riding it himself.

[insane_dreamer]

And he pays no attention to the reports about car crashes on the road because those aren’t even reported.

[JimTheMan]

This platitude doesn't make the back seats of a greyhound bus any more palatable.

God they were cheap tickets though..

[ckdarby]

I used to live in Toronto in 2019 to 2020 and used the transit exclusively.

I return as a visitor of Toronto every quarter for work and there are many times where I Uber instead of TTC because of these comments. Even slightly busy at 4-5 PM there's always folks who have hit the gym and skipped showering and most days there's "something" happening on the TTC.

[david-gpu]

Motorists in Toronto have killed 34 people so far this year and seriously injured an additional 146 [0].

Meanwhile the TTC, with daily ridership in the million people range [0] has seen one homicide [2].

Which one is safer?

[0] https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-tra...

[1] https://www.ttc.ca/transparency-and-accountability/Operating...

[2] https://www.blogto.com/city/2024/06/outrage-person-murdered-...

[ckdarby]

Noted, while I appreciate the citation it isn't entirely correct.

How many of those are Uber specifically with passengers? Why this specific? Because Uber has a ranking system and my gut feels says anything with a ranking system that has tons of feedback weeds out bad drivers.

The other portions of my comments is psychological safety, how many times do individuals get in an Uber and feel unsafe vs being in the TTC?

How many times do individuals take an Uber service, are crammed and with a driver that smells? Even if I got a ride like that I know the market system will remove that driver.

If you told me the TTC required an identification card to enter onto and TTC could suspend/revoke access I'd go back because there would be a regulating system to remove behavior that riders don't want.

[consteval]

I mean... this is a huge stretch. Car accidents are, more or less, completely out of your control as a driver. You can be an amazingly defensive driver and die. And you can drive like an ass and get lucky.

In fact, I'm sure a lot of those Uber drivers are rated well because they get there fast. Well, you have to drive like a maniac for that. In the city you need to drive bold if you want to get there with limited BS. That means risking your life.

[ckdarby]

Noted, the TTC website did not appear to cover all incidents and injuries related to all vehicle incident as compared with the motorists stats.

It looks to just focus on homicide safety stats.

[itqwertz]

I spent years riding public transit in Portland, NYC, Seattle, SF, San Diego, Chicago, and other US cities. I can tell you anecdotally that public transit in the US is dangerous and meant for the poors who don’t have their shit together to level up and commute via car.

Ride 8AM and 5PM every workday for a year and tell me that it’s safe when you roll through the bad parts of Long Island/ brooklyn/Queens or the south side of Chicago. Tell me that you don’t have to take the inconvenient early train because of nTh handicap ramp pickup or last-mile cyclist that slows down your commute. Security on transit only cares about fare collection. The US is not like Europe where there is some latent pride in your ancestors accomplishments.

[jahnu]

European here. Spent a week in NYC with a 9 month old. Traveled all over 4 of the 5 boroughs and never felt in the slightest threatened. The only major issue was the lack of elevators. Fortunately NYC people are really friendly and helped us with the stroller every time.

[rawgabbit]

Maybe you came at the right time?

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-york-deploy-750-nationa...

https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2024/05/02/new-tea...

[jahnu]

It was back in 2013. Oh god… feels like only yesterday but it’s been 11 years :(

[WorkerBee28474]

Remember folks, if someone says they don't want to ride transit with a hobo smoking meth, they're lying and they're a bad person. Even if they've previously experienced it firsthand.

[consteval]

I know half a dozen people who have died in a car accident. I'm in my 20's.

I don't think those people are lying. I think they're 100% telling the truth... about 5% of the picture. Some consider that dishonest.