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This is the same guy on the NoVa forum who tells people to avoid yuppie, white bread Court House because it's too dangerous (!). He isn't to be taken seriously.
I thought I recognized the name. I thought he was over the top there as well.
Statistically it is much safer than driving. The chance of an injury from an accident is very high for an individual, in comparison to being the victim of a violent crime on DC's metro system. Your chances of being a violet crime victim are very low in general. But there is a high likelihood you will be in an accident that injures you, and the more you drive (VMT), the more likely you will be in such an accident.
I am personally more afraid of being in a severe car accident than being mugged, and that is actually a REASONABLE fear.
I feel safer in the DC Metro than I ever did in the NYC subway, at least during the day. That said, of course you should take the same reasonable precautions that you would take in most major cities in the US and the world.
The metro is safe. Most of NE is safe as well. Telling people to stay away from stops in NE DC is just flat out wrong. East of the river has some problem areas, and I would not suggest tourists go to that area. But NE DC is mostly Brookland (safe) and Ft. Totten (boring). RI Ave is not the best, but its nowhere near the worst either, and outside of NY Ave and N. Capital, which is a problem area that nearly everybody in DC has the street smarts to avoid when possible, most of NoMA is safe as well.
There is not a large population roaming bands of thugs on the metro looking to violently mug people either. You live in a delusional world controlled by fear if you think that. Those who engage in criminal behaviors such as these are a very small set of the population. The activity happening on the metro is smaller in general.
Calling it sensationalism is also pretty accurate in this case.
Additionally, in this case the metro stabbing was pretty accurately called pretty exceptional for the system. Homicides on the metro are actually very rare. The truth is the system is actually safer than DC in general. The large population of thugs on it is just not accurate.
Again being controlled by such fear is unhealthy, especially in the city. Being aware is healthy, being fearful as you clearly are is unhealthy paranoia.
The point of even addressing crime, is addressing actual crime, not mythical fear of what is happening.
I ride the metro every day for work, sometimes going out after work and getting on metro at 9-10 pm on a weekday. I also look to the metro as my first choice in transportation on the weekends. If metro is remotely close to where I'm going, then that's what I'm using. I've lived here for six months and would recommend the metro to everyone. I'm actually baffled by all the complaints against the metro. coming from Los Angeles where the public transportation is a joke, I am in LOVE with metro. So there's an escalator out here and there for a couple days. BFD. I can walk. There are elevators for people who cant. And there are even shuttle options when the elevators are out.
so yes, metro is safe. As a single, attractive white woman who has ridden metro as late as 12:30 on a Saturday night without incident, I would say that you will be just fine. Now, I will also recommend that you not put yourself in a position to be an easy target. Be aware of your surroundings. If it's a not busy time of night and you're alone, try to pick the car that has more people on it. Don't be oblivious with your fare card and your cell phone, especially if it's an iphone. But these are recommendations I would make to people walking at night or alone as well. The more aware you are of your surroundings, the less likely you will be an easy target.
I ride the metro every day for work, sometimes going out after work and getting on metro at 9-10 pm on a weekday. I also look to the metro as my first choice in transportation on the weekends. If metro is remotely close to where I'm going, then that's what I'm using. I've lived here for six months and would recommend the metro to everyone. I'm actually baffled by all the complaints against the metro. coming from Los Angeles where the public transportation is a joke, I am in LOVE with metro. So there's an escalator out here and there for a couple days. BFD. I can walk. There are elevators for people who cant. And there are even shuttle options when the elevators are out.
so yes, metro is safe. As a single, attractive white woman who has ridden metro as late as 12:30 on a Saturday night without incident, I would say that you will be just fine. Now, I will also recommend that you not put yourself in a position to be an easy target. Be aware of your surroundings. If it's a not busy time of night and you're alone, try to pick the car that has more people on it. Don't be oblivious with your fare card and your cell phone, especially if it's an iphone. But these are recommendations I would make to people walking at night or alone as well. The more aware you are of your surroundings, the less likely you will be an easy target.
Enjoy your trip!
Well a lot of us have lived on the east coast most of our lives where excellent public transportation is the norm. I lived in London for a time where buses came just as often as Metro's trains and their trains came every two minutes.
Waiting 30 minutes for a train on a Saturday afternoon is completely unacceptable. It's an embarrassment to our city.
I rode the Metro late at night hundreds of times and never saw anything bad happen, other than constant single tracking. At the time, it was usually from deep NE DC that I started my journey.
There is not a large population roaming bands of thugs on the metro looking to violently mug people either. You live in a delusional world controlled by fear if you think that. Those who engage in criminal behaviors such as these are a very small set of the population. The activity happening on the metro is smaller in general.
Calling it sensationalism is also pretty accurate in this case.
Very disturbing. Whether the gangs of thugs are large or small (two in this case), they do ride the Metro looking for victims--as this case proves. And this wasn't even at night--broad daylight on the weekend.
Yes, the statistical odds this will happen to you are low--but it does happen. That isn't sensationalism; that's reality.
Last edited by Carlingtonian; 07-19-2015 at 12:23 PM..
The DC metro is about as safe as walking down the street in an relatively safe neighborhood.
Crime is one of those things that can happen anywhere at anytime. So constantly worrying about it is dumb. You just have to look at the probability of crime based on the information you have. If the probability is low, then you should just assume you will be fine.
I ride metro every day and I've used it at all hours of the day and night. The safest stops are the ones near downtown. As you go further out away from the city core you will see more sketchy people on certain lines.
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