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While I think the idea that the addition of public transit invites crime is questionable, I'll also point out that the situation described above would not be the only possible scenario. Burglaries during the daytime when a lot of houses are empty are not an entirely farfetched concern. The burglars would already have ridden back to the city hours before the crime would be discovered and word would be out to the police or to people on the train. Of course they'd have to go after small items like cash or jewelry in order to transport the loot without a vehicle.
I don't know what statistics there might be on the incidence of burglaries in relatively affluent areas located along transit lines that also pass through ghetto areas, but I wouldn't completely dismiss, or laugh at, some degree of concern about the possibility.
We keep getting reminded that most Americans have cars, but apparently robbers and criminals don't. If there was one line of work I'd definitely want a car for, it would be burglary and robbery.
We keep getting reminded that most Americans have cars, but apparently robbers and criminals don't. If there was one line of work I'd definitely want a car for, it would be burglary and robbery.
The more professional burglars have (or "borrow") vans. There's also a class of thief who takes public transit out to the crime scene and steals a car on the way back (mall parking lots a favorite target for this type).
But then there are idiots who do dumb things like try to use a bus as a getaway vehicle after a high profile crime like bank robbery. Criminals don't tend to be the brightest of sorts, and dumb criminals can't afford a car.
I don't know what statistics there might be on the incidence of burglaries in relatively affluent areas located along transit lines that also pass through ghetto areas, but I wouldn't completely dismiss, or laugh at, some degree of concern about the possibility.
Of course it happens . . . but that neighborhood already has roads that burglars can use and if a new rail line is coming then there's a 99% chance that there's already a bus route there. Trains aren't a crime-free bubble. Crime happens there just like everywhere else but, given the number of people using a train it happens far less often and it doesn't often happen on trains that run at limited intervals. It's far more likely to happen where I live where, at rush hour, the trains run every couple of minutes. But taking away the train isn't going to eliminate that crime. Like I said, people who use that as a reason to not build a suburban rail line are trying to say something without saying it. Unless the trains are rumbling through your living room property values go up when you live near a station.
All that aside, most burglaries are committed by people who are already familiar with your comings and goings - not of some schmo from the ghetto who hops off the bus and starts walking around your 'hood. Because that would never attract the attention of a suburban cop.
Also, the idea that poor people live in the city and are going out to the 'burbs because that's where wealthy people live is, at best, outdated and at worst maybe a bit paranoid. The suburbs overtook the city for share of impoverished in the 2000 census and in most cities that are big enough to have a rail system the most expensive real estate in the metro is often right downtown. Beacon Hill, Upper West Side, Rittenhouse Square, Inner Harbor, Georgetown, Lincoln Park, etc, etc.
It's just people trying to say something without having to say it - "I'm scared of people who don't look like me."
Much as I hate to admit it, the rural areas do have a susbstantial component of people -- many of them either elderly or not prone to travel outside the area -- who do automatically associate non-auto transit with the stereotypes they have been conditioned to resent.
My personal introduction to, and familiarity with urban transportation came via a roundabout route. I'm a lifelong railroad enthusiast, and while in my teen and college-age years, discovered that I could stretch a buck by leaving the car in the suburbs and taking a commuter train into New York or Philly.
This was, BTW, at a time when those serices still extended further into the outlying regions -- communities like Bethlehem, Reading or Pottsville, All this lasted all the way into the early Eighties, but finallly dried up due to apathy over fundng. Also, the need to involve more than one state sometimes puts a lot of obstacles in the way of a revival.
The only consolation I can offer here is that many younger people are becoming acutely aware of the greater strain on their limited budgets caused by maintenance of an automobile -- that's what drives the demand for the "Chinatown" buses and is increasing traffic at sites like routefriend.com.
Still, the likeliehood of future advancement, the eventual establishment of marriage and family obligations, and prospects for eventual long-term stabilization of the fuel issue have me conviced that hints of the death of auto-centric culture are greatly overstated, and the smugness and self-righteousness of a few of the most fervent bike and transit advocates probably drives some potential allies away.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 12-25-2012 at 05:18 AM..
A friend of mine in Santa Rosa (California) said the issue there was whether a good enough transit system to keep young people in town could be developed.
Thanks, 2nd Trick, for mentioning routefriend, that seems like a pretty useful site by combining trains and buses, even if it does propose some off base itineraries. It taps into the growth of intercity bus service.
From what I have seen all over these forums, no they don't at all.
Examples?
It seems that PT users don't understand it either, considering posts about "driving is subsidized" as if PT isn't.
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