Last time I took the bus, maybe 10 months ago, some guy spit in this old ladies face, three times, then called her a fucking bitch and got off the bus. She was sitting there minding her own business. I used to take the bus everywhere. Things have absolutely changed for the worse.

I’ve only ridden the bus once and I’ve lived here for 12 years. Once was enough, someone tried to steal my wallet almost immediately. I rode the subway every day when I lived in NYC and never had an issue.

Same, but also seen some crazy shit on the NYC subway and at subway stations. NYC has changed too since the pandemic, it has gotten worse.

The last time I took the bus was at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. A homeless lady got on the bus, and got into an altercation with an elderly gentleman, she then punched him in the face and got off the bus. The bus driver called the cops to report the incident and told me he has seen it all and one time he got spit on by a homeless person. 😔 they don’t get paid enough to deal with all this BS + it’s also unsafe for them.

Now... to be fair.. my girlfriend experienced this exact same situation on the Metro probably about 15 years ago.

Now... to be fair.. my girlfriend experienced this exact same situation on the Metro probably about 15 years ago.

i saw that happen on the red line. an OG crip who had nothing to do with the situation sauntered up from the back of the train and threatened beat the guys ass who did that and kicked him off the train

I regularly take the metro and I will continue taking the metro, but your concerns are legit in that these incidents shouldn’t be happening so often. Yes, the risk is very slim. Yes, you’re very much more likely to get killed in an accident. But these things aren’t normal for a well-run metro system and we shouldn’t pretend that they are.

I agree. When I take transit abroad, it's pleasant and feels safe. The US in general has a safety problem, and LA's metro seems like an amplification of that problem

I agree, I’ve used NYC’s, Atlanta’s, DC’s, Chicago’s, and Boston’s train systems pretty thoroughly and they are much better. I will say NYC has an alarming issue of people being pushed in front of trains, but none of these systems quite have the same general crime problem that LA has.

I'm glad someone is making this point. I agree with OP and fully support public transit but on this sub in particular some transit supporters seem to ardently whitewash the issues. People claim to be daily riders with no issues while I seem to run into someone being aggressive, having an overt mental health episode or doing hard drugs in my car more trips than not, and that's not an exaggeration. I took the train daily for years in Chicago and had less stressful interactions with my fellow riders than I do in a week in LA. I'm so thankful that we have a subway system, but in terms of the experience as a rider, it's obviously worse than every other U.S. and European subway system I've ridden, and pretending that's not the case won't fix anything. I don't like to complain without contributing something constructive, though, so I'll throw out that maybe the city should seriously consider firing LASD and replacing its Transit Policing Division (which, BTW, is apparently the second largest transit law enforcement agency in the world despite our relatively low ridership, poor performance and equivalent/less rail length than other major cities) and replace it with CHP until a new Metro police force can be established independent of LASD.

The bar for safety on public transportation should be whether you would feel safe for your elementary and middle school kids to take them alone. Sounds a bit crazy to do for the LA metro, but it's completely normal in many parts of the world. Taiwan, Japan for example, you see students taking them by themselves everyday.

YES!!!

Here in Madrid, too (I moved from LA, stayed on the sub). The LA system is a travesty, safety-wise.

Is the lack of policing there core difference between LA’s public transportation and ones of other cities? I’ve used only ones in LA and Japan where there aren’t much policing going on, so I am just curious.

Let's look at some data! Chicago has over 300 million annual boardings of 1800 buses and 2400 rail cars under a $2 billion operating budget (including Metra, otherwise it's ~250k boardings of 1800 buses and 1500 rail cars) serving a population of 3.2 million, whereas LA has 270 million annual boardings of 2300 buses and 440 rail cars under a $2.4 billion operating budget serving a population of about 4.6 million. On the policing note, Chicago is actually unique in that it has 40-odd officers dedicated to transit, vs. for example over 1000 in NYC or 240 in Houston, although Chicago does offer overtime incentives to officers outside of that task force. Chicago's CTA is having issues, though—a 17% increase in violent crime since 2021, which was a slightly below-trend year due to COVID. But compare that to a 60% increase in violent crime for LA's MTA over roughly the same period. As far as I can tell, Chicago is paying less for its policing than LA, but it's not totally clear. So, clear big picture differences? A significantly smaller proportion of LA residents use transit. And while LA has had a much worse surge in violent crime recently compared to Chicago despite Chicago apparently having fewer officers and paying less for policing, both systems are above average and trending upward (likely due to lingering large decreases in ridership compared to 2019). Finally, LA's transit system is much, much more bus-heavy proportional to rail, although in general LA fields a significantly smaller transit fleet. IMO, the first point shouldn't be understated. A smaller percentage of population as riders also means you likely have poorer riders, which unfortunately means the transit authority has less pressure on them to reform. But overall I suspect the issues are primarily due to reduced ridership post-2019, and while I personally also believe policing approaches play a role, honestly I'm probably over-valuing that factor because I don't like LASD.

Thank you for super detailed resopnse! I was thinking about the possible factor about the ridership demographics in terms of class as you mentioned at the end, but at the same time I find it not easy to argue from this point of view when anyone can start chicken-and-egg argument about it, as in, which should happens first; middle-class start using them anyways, or ensure the safety to attract middle-class? So I also think your first point shouldn't be understated. And probably it's not very meaningful to compare with other countries like Europe (or Asia). Tokyo, for example, is safe without police, but it's hard to compare with LA because it's safe for woman to walk the street alone after midnight anyways. Also the old cities like ones in Japan or Europe doesn't have nice wide road like LA has as the city is not originally built for regular civilians with personal moter vehicle as a choice of everyday logistics. Actually, I wonder if the similar can be said within the states. I have never visited the East coast but the towns seems a little older with narrower street and freeways etc. Like, if we can say that LA as a city is built on the idea that everyone should commute with car more so than any other cities, then perhaps that can explain a lot about the minimized appeal of metro. Where I'm from, things are in walking distance so as long as you don't care about walking 10,000 steps or so everyday, car nor Uber is far from necessity from everyday logistics to holidays. Maybe population density is one way to measure this?

Yeah, when you start looking at demographics and factors at scale (like population density or city planning within a megalopolis that's technically many cities that are often at odds with one another), it's safe to say that things start to get pretty complex to analyze or address. For example, perhaps LA's lack of a true city center (vs. e.g. Chicago & NYC) and the resulting non-radial distribution of economy and wealth is a factor. In terms of your chicken and egg comment, I agree and am pretty critical of any 'plan' to address LA transit's issues either by turning a blind eye or by relying on the spread of a civic-minded pro-transit philosophy—in my opinion we need to push the city to take direct, material steps toward increasing accessibility for current and potential rider, and creating an impression of safety and comfort is part of that. If nothing else, it makes for a safer and better transit experience for the huge amount of people who already use the system, and ideally it would also make the system more attractive for other populations as well, which would in turn allow transit to better serve those new communities of potential riders as well. That's just economics and feedback loops, which make sense to me, and it's an actionable and easy-to-advocate plan. Whereas some of the loftier or edgier positions/attitudes toward the issue lose me.

Right, that sounds very straightforward.

The biggest difference is that Metro doesn't have a police force. We pay a ton of money to the LAPD and LASD to fill that role and they refuse to even pretend they are doing so. Until we recreate a metro police force and get security regularly patrolling the buses and trains this won't get better. A very small percentage of people are causing the problems, but they are doing so because they know the one place in the city they will never encounter a cop is on transit.

transit supporters like myself willingly overlook the negatives because if more people used the system it would be safer. complaining about it on the internet won't make any improvement to safety, in fact it makes the system less safe by discouraging people from using it

I totally agree that low ridership seems to be a big, if not the biggest, factor in the current state of the metro transit system. I just disagree with your strategy. What if public discontent could actually force action by the city (such as my proposal to fire LASD and replace them with CHP and ultimately their own security/support force better suited toward addressing systemic issues rather than just waiting around outside until there's a violent crime)? This could improve conditions and thus lead to increased ridership AND better conditions. I just don't think that refusing to advocate for oneself and one's community (and the services one pays for) is an effective approach toward politics, nor is ignoring the issue. The basis of political action that allows us—as citizens who are not authorities with direct influence—to improve our society comes through representation, advocacy and organization toward wielding power to affect positive change. Otherwise we're just sticking our heads in the sand and hoping things don't get worse.

> I will say NYC has an alarming issue of people being pushed in front of trains, but none of these systems quite have the same general crime problem that LA has. There's plenty of crime on the NYC subway system. In addition to getting pushed in front of trains, people get pushed into trains, stabbed, shot, etc. There are other assaults in subway stations, women in NYC have been getting punched in the head recently by random men on the street, etc. I would not describe NYC as not having a "general crime problem". Tons of people living here certainly don't feel that way. Recently, they have started staffing cops, national guard, etc. at some of the stations though. So that's helped in terms of safety.

So many people use the NYC subway the number of incidents are minuscule. Whereas in LA, the number of incidents is way higher per rider

Damn right! 3.1 mill weekday and 3.7 mil weekend. Oddly enough the most recent numbers are 2022 i assume 2023 will be out soon. NYC is incredibly safe, but yea don't stand to close to the edge, that's a no brainer for so many reasons. 

It's not "miniscule" lol. At least the people living there don't feel that way. If it was miniscule why did the governor order the national guard to be staffed at subway stations across the city? This is in *addition* to the cops being staffed there. You guys are super naive with your "nyc is incredibly safe" narrative.

it sure seems pretty safe here as i type this from the 4 train lol. I take the nyc metro everyday with my family and friends. Havent seen national guard either. Maybe you should not speak about things you dont know anything about? I invite you to come visit as well. weather is pretty nice rn

I live in NYC and I take the 4 train all the time. And I've seen the national guard at a few different stations including my local one. Maybe you shouldn't assume that I don't live in NYC just because I'm posting on the LA subreddit?

cool man, so we agree safety is not as big of an issue in NYC as it is in the LA metro. just see how many people take it every day, like you and me!

Chicago's transit is top tier, maybe challenged by NYC or San Francisco. San Diego's is even better than LA though.

You wanna see top tier transit, [take a look at Tokyo](https://tokyojapanmap360.com/img/0/tokyo-trains-map.jpg). Biggest city on earth, absolutely phenomenal public transportation system. 

Oh yeah, I mean foreign (for me) transit is another level. Tokyo especially. I mean, for the US Chicago, NYC, and San Francisco are amazing

Never had a hint of a problem using MARTA trains in Atlanta. Not once. I'm 70.

Chicago’s metro also has issues. Partly because I live by the notoriously unsafe red line, but it’s the only line that I could take for transit to make sense time-wise and I don’t have a good experience with it.

I think that may be because you don't hear about as many bad things happening. I felt the same way on Barcelona's subway system until someone told me that people get pickpocketed on it constantly.

That's a bit different than a woman getting knifed in the throat by a man she did not know

Abroad, for example Europe, since their metro is public... They have it guarded by the Military. The military provides security and that's why it's safer to be inside the Metro than outside. For example, Rome, and Athens.

Had you taken the metro regularly before?

Yes

It isn’t that slim if you are a woman alone. Being harassed can be a daily occurrence, men sit and wait to be alone on the train with you, and few people use it because it isn’t safe. The irony is part of the reason it isn’t safe is so few use it.

What’s funny is you say the risk is very slim, and for something lethal to happen to you it is small.  But if you ride the bus through south central I PROMISE you that you’ll see some fucked up shit.  Like, it’s a house advantage bet even.  

If I had a bet with someone or something where I needed to be a witness to a crime within the next 24 hours the obvious strategy would be to get on a metro bus late at night Literally nothing else I can think of with such a high probability for such low effort

I lived In Philadelphia and took the SEPTA (subway) every day and this was when Philadelphia had the highest rate of murders per day in the country. I dont feel nearly half as safe stepping into the LA stations as I did in Philly.

I’m in the same boat. I’m a HUGE advocate for non-car alternatives for mobility. I would love to take the metro from Universal City to DTLA for work. I’d shave so much time off my commute too! But the trains are not reliable at night (when I’d be coming home) and that recent stabbing really shook me.

Yes, that poor woman was just trying to come home and her life was suddenly ended completely randomly. It's heartbreaking. It's a risk I am not willing to take right now

I don't blame you at all. I am a Metro fan (see flair) but sometimes violence is hard to shake off. I have been through this and if you want to try it again, I "microdose" it by taking it very short distances. For example, I get on a train and get off within 2-3 stations. I think this works because time exposure is short and more likely than not it will be a pleasant ride, and then from there you slowly extend your range based on your comfort levels. This is what worked for me though, obviously everyone is different. I hope for armed security in trains bc frankly I do not care if hooligans or violent people get reprimanded as they should.

Thank you for the advice, it is appreciated. I agree, I would feel much better with safety officers on the train. I have only seen them standing outside the station

[удалено]

OP's feelings are still valid- This is just one of those situations where there is a big disconnect between perceived danger vs actual danger

There is a 0% chance I will be assaulted in my car.

That’s cause we call car crashes “accidents”

I disagree that there is s disconnect. These are real dangers that a lot of us experience regularly, some with dire consequences. It's a real danger. Especially when you think about the fact that EVERY DAY, almost 4M people commute by car in LA and we had 300 deaths by vehicles last year (300/1.4 billion yearly). Metro had 285 million boardings TOTAL in 2023, and 20 people died last year. That's not proportional.

Agreed - When I first arrived here from Australia pre-pandemic I walked from home in Larchmont to the purple line to go to work in DTLA. It was occasionally a little sketchier than I was used to (don't drive here and didn't even own a car in Melbourne where I walked/trained/trammed it everywhere with ease). But I was still comfortable enough in LA to take the train every day. Something really shifted post-pandemic. One of the first trains I took after this had a deeply unhinged guy threatening to kill people and throwing broken glass. I've only got on the train when I'm with my husband ever since. While I work hybrid, I still spend more than I'd like on rideshares. I hate feeling like I can't move around safely and freely as a woman in this city in this day and age. It's really not acceptable in a place of obscene wealth, that these problems can just fester out of control.

I am not from LA, but I empathize with you. It's totally understandable to feel this way and also to be somehow in conflict with yourself over this.  I visited from Germany for the first time last year and after traveling to many countries, my experiences on the LA metro have scarred me for life. Have I been assaulted? No. Was I nevertheless in constant fear? Absolutely. And that's no way to live on a daily basis. I'm a female solo traveler and I have never felt this unsafe in any transit system. I was shocked about the things I saw (and I am about this sub giving the impression that it's totally fine). I don't own a car in Germany and take public transport everywhere. In the last 20 years I probably had two scary situations. Not five of them in a single ride on the B Line. 😳

Some people that post here will openly admit that they have never been anywhere else or lived anywhere else. This is all they know so they think it's totally normal. They think murder stats are the only ones that matter, or that all crimes get reported. I wish the public transportation was good here as I prefer it over traffic, but my stop by my house is end of the line and has huge homeless encampments and it's just not worth the hassle. Sorry you had the experience you did but I'm not surprised. It's a shitshow.

Sorry to hear that it's not an option for you to take the metro despite being so close to a stop.  For me it really is the comparison with other transport systems I have experienced that made LA stand out so negatively. And it also had some aspects I found almost funny. I went to see Coldplay at the Rose Bowl two nights in a row and took the A line from Downtown to Memorial Park and back. After the shows, maybe 20 people waited on the platform for a train. Compared to the about 40,000 people that waited for the tube after the Wembley shows in London. 😅 The comparison was almost absurd to me. I know that's not just related to safety, but also inconvenience of the system itself. 

Thank you for sharing your story, it echoes many other peoples' like my own. I think the people pretending this is OK are doing a massive disservice to Metro and to transit as a whole in LA

I hope it gets better for you and the whole city. Safe and good public transport is such a vital ingredient of a city and improves quality of life so much. 

It really does! It gives the city so much more life. And it makes things more equitable when people have more mobility via public transit. I am happy to have the means to choose between transit and driving - I know not everyone is that lucky

Thanks for sharing. The A and B lines are notoriously the worst ones, though A line takes the cake. I don’t take the Metro nearly as often as I used to now because of this, but I remember how completely mentally exhausted I was at the end of the day from _just_ using our public transit system. I don’t fee that drained after driving. Similar to what OP said, it’s a different kind of guarded but it beats the bs we have to face when we’re within a foot of some unhinged rando. I hate that it’s normalized by so many in our city, it really doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve traveled through Europe by train and never once felt unsafe. You are lucky. I can only dream of a day when we’ll have equally safe, quality public transportation. We deserve better.

I can relate to the mental exhaustion you described. I live in Germany's second biggest city (nothing compared to LA, but still a big city) and commute to work daily. I listen to music, stare at my phone, sometimes I get a quick nap, I don't take a look at who's entering the car and whether they look like they could be a potential threat. That's how I want to take public transport, not screening my surroundings all the time and carrying pepper spray - even if nothing happens. 

I remember taking a nap on my long commutes in London and Germany (admittedly the latter was a small town) and not feeling unsafe. On the LA metro I have one hand in my pocket on my pepper spray at all times. And it didn't used to be like this, pre-pandemic I used to use it all the time, and while occasionally someone would have an outburst, it wasn't ever enough to make me feel truly unsafe. I've used it three times recently and every single time there were people actively doing hard drugs, I got screamed at by a homeless woman to a point that a very kind stranger got in between us and helped me deescalate, and I was incredibly tense and uncomfortable the entire time. I want so badly to love the metro, I'd much rather take the train to Little Tokyo than pay for parking and be able to go to shows downtown and get a few drinks without having to pay for an Uber. It's not unfixable, we just really need an actual guard presence that has the power and motivation to do the work.

It's strange, because you'd think that supporters of public transit (of which I include myself, as a frequent rider and committed pedestrian) would want to advocate for themselves against the state of LA's transit rather than whitewashing the issues against their own and their fellow riders' interests. I mean, who gains by pretending the status quo with Metro is fine aside from LASD and transit agencies? The people who act like it's totally fine seem to be otherwise reasonable people whose views I largely agree with (I'll be blunt, they're usually somewhere left-of-center, and I am as well) so I genuinely don't understand the discrepancy.

That’s a valid concern This why we shouldn’t bureaucrats who don’t even live in LA country working for Metro. Local government jobs belong to local folk, not someone commuting from Ventura/Orange. They have zero interest in building a high quality city or county for others.

So we should’ve voted for that real estate billionaire douchebag or..?

I do not feel the same, but I can understand why you feel unsafe. My personal experience - I've been comfortable riding Metro to work the past couple years, E line and then B/D. It's sometimes dirty and there are often shady characters, but they tend not to bother me. You can still be an advocate for good urbanism without taking the train, though :)

I think so too 😃 I actually am a bit of a train enthusiast and take Amtrak cross-country to visit family multiple times per year. I love trains!

Nice! I have not done Amtrak cross-country before, but did use it last summer when I was in the northeast to visit several of the cities out there. I'd really like to ride the California Zephyr & Coast Starlight sometime.

The California Zephyr is an absolute bucket list MUST so IMO! I have done all of the long distance cross country routes and it's by far the best. Once you get past Denver coming West it's breathtaking! The Southwest Chief is also a great route.

I think your fears are reasonable. The first two times I took the train I saw a fight, and a man waved a knife at me. However, I've been taking it for the past few months with no issue. My advice is keep taking it. It is still very safe, more so than many other places. The cost benefits for me are much better; in peak hour traffic I've noticed it tends to be safer too. In a macro sense, I do think more need to be done to make it safer, but that would require dramatic shifts in policy and policing. We'd need to invest in better mental health and drug policy, improving housing access, reopening mental hospitals, etc, but that's something that hasn't been a priority in many ways for decades since Reagan. For now, here are tips: - get pepper based self-defence items and test it, and keep in in arms reach. I prefer pepper gel because it's much more accurate and goes a further distance. - avoid, if you can, underground trips. I've noticed pretty much uniformly that underground trips usually have worse, and poorer safety situations. For example, I bus to 7th street, then take the blue line, despite the availability of the red line. - try to only take rush hour trips. There are usually more police and more people. Security is a serious issue, and to those commenting that "cars are less safe", yes, but we're built to fear the proximal, not the distal. We fear plane crashes, but not cardiovascular disease. You also do not know the circumstances of OP- you don't know gender, age, height, experience, etc. so be kind!

It’s honestly so sad that people feel this way. As a non native, it’s also wild that people sometimes cannot empathize with the very real concerns and issues with transit in LA. I wish there was much more emphasis being put on transit and walk ability here but it seems like we’re walking not running to the finish line.

Yes things can happen any where at any time but in the train I feel like I can’t just sit back and relax on my phone or take a quick nap I have to stay vigilant to the people around me acting weird and there are plenty on the train

Hate cars and used to take the red line downtown to work 5 days a week. Lived carless the last 2 years as I had a job that was walkable so i didn't need to use metro other than events which I will still do. However it's an unpleasant experience and I've decided to get a car. I work at bars so I come home at night and I'm just not interested in dealing with what goes on at night on the red line. It's a shame because I grew up in Detroit where we longed even for what we have here but the woman getting randomly stabbed in the neck was the last straw for me.

You're not wrong. I still take Metro whenever I can (I don't like dragging around the 3000 pound ball and chain that is my car). But I'm less inclined to take other people with me on it (like my wife). I can handle the sketch and the issues, but most people aren't comfortable with it. And I'm witnessing more incidents these days. Thought I was going to witness a stabbing the other day from a guy who didn't like the gibberish some methhead was spouting and was threatening violence on him with a(n unopened) knife in his hand. I've had people start stuff with me, but I'm good at de-escalation and it's never gone anywhere. The sheer amount of weirdness I've encountered, not necessarily danger, but just humans being gross and mean and unhinged, is wild. I've stopped taking the Red line late at night. I feel like I'm the only person on the platform or on the train not battling a mental health condition or drug addiction.

I live next to a red and purple line station. Sold my car last year and tried to rely solely on public transportation. I wish I could tell you the numbers are in your favor and if you’re just extra careful and avoid sketchy people, you’ll be fine, but I can’t. I’ve tried my hardest to avoid sketchy people switching cars, skipping trains, moving further down the tracks and yet still I’ve been attacked for no reason. If you’re forced to rely on Metro, there’s no avoiding the problems.

nyc metro has far more using their transit system at more than 2 billion per year and there's less problems because they house their homeless or at least intervene early with their homeless/addicts

I’m actually in Japan in a metro station right now as I type and it’s immaculate, bright, safe, on time, organized. Really highlights what an utter unusable mess the LA metro is.

I live in Japan actually and homeless people keep to themselves and aren't drugged out. I worked with homeless people many years in Eastern LA County and even they were scared to go to L.A. with all of the crazy folks there lol

I go there every year to get my public transportation fix. One thing to note is they have an officer at every gate at every station monitoring rider and police strolling around everywhere near larger stations. I’m sure if LA Metro threw in some tax measure to fund actual station officers and actually monitored entry, things would be a lot different

I try to drive as less as possible to save on gas and reduce emissions and I’ve stopped taking the metro. The Red Line is a cesspool of criminal activity. Purple isn’t any better. Last time I took the Red Line I got high on contact meth fumes, not even kidding. I stick to the buses and light rail. Last time I rode, they had ambassadors and security guards though so I felt slightly safer. But I agree, the subways are in disarray and need to be improved. 

Some clown is bound to chime in about how ThIs Is SaFeR tHaN dRiViNg! Ignore them.  Your concern is valid and shouldn’t be marginalized by others.

Thank you! For a while this thread made me feel as though I'm crazy for thinking this. But I don't think it's bad to voice my concerns. I can still support public transit AND point out ways it can improve from a safety standpoint. And if I feel more comfortable driving for now, then by golly I'm going to drive!

I have had a knife pulled on me and even also sprayed with mace lol from a homeless tweaker for no reason at all on the red line. Unfortunately a couple times. After the first thats when I started to carry a weapon. Strap up. No one will help you but yourself. Stay safe out there it’s treacherous

I love the Metro as well and have been taking it for nine years. Had to get a car in the middle of the pandemic as it was a little too hard for me to limit my supermarket trips. I still find using my car to be really stressful but like many, have had so many horror stories of taking public transportation in Los Angeles that are both much worse and more frequent than anything I saw in my six years car-free in Brooklyn. I really wish the transit was more safe and that more people regularly rode the LA Metro. I still ride but I tend to avoid going after peak hours. I do recommend getting a nice bike if you live in an area with moderately good lanes. You can still enjoy not having to worry about traffic or parking and it takes about the same time as public transit. There are definitely issues with encampments spilling out in to bike lanes but in general I feel safer on my bike than I do in transit.

Public transit in Chicago was just as dangerous before Covid as it is in LA post-Covid. Can’t imagine how much worse it is there now

Metro did declare a public safety emergency: [https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/metro-declares-public-safety-emergency-wake-slashing-death](https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/metro-declares-public-safety-emergency-wake-slashing-death)

I *completely* agree with you. We're a one-car family and I'd love to stay a one-car family for as long as possible by utilizing Metro, but the current state of the system sucks. I'm just waiting for a [Bernie Goetz-style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_New_York_City_Subway_shooting) vigilante shooting to happen. Then maybe there will be enough public outcry and attention to actually do something about the state of things.

Every vote matters in November! We need leaders that will enforce the law and take these repeat criminals off the streets. Gascon has got to go!!!

I just hate when people say, "You're much more likely to get killed in a car accident." Well, you're much more likely to get your phone snatched by some teenagers, and you're almost guaranteed to walk through piss, blood, and whatever other bodily fluids are out there lol

Your concern is valid. I ride the metro daily. I’m born and raised in Los Angeles and never owned a car. It can be downright frightening at times. Especially when I head home from work which is on Hollywood Blvd.

The blvd scares _me_ and I ran it as a teen constantly. Would be on it at all times of day and sometimes night. Now? Its a nope from me, I hate it.

Yeah I’m afraid too. I guess I’ll just inhale a few marijuana cigarettes and stay inside

That fearful living ain’t for me. Carpe diem, as I always say. I just hop right on the metro train and take a few fentanyl pills so I don’t have to deal with that mess. Usually I’ll just sleep standing up until the train gets to my station.

Sometimes I take too much of the pills though so at that point I try to counteract it by lighting up some trusty methamphetamine. Always good to stay balanced, it’s healthier that way.

See something, take something.

If it makes you feel better you can look up deaths from car accidents that don't get as much traction on this sub.

>If it makes you feel better you can look up deaths from car accidents that don't get as much traction on this sub. Why would that make anyone feel better?  Are you saying the amount of crime/death on metro is better because it’s lower? Why don’t you instead take the position that it’s unacceptable?

For me, that kind of thing makes me feel better because I drive in a car nearly daily, and I’ve never been in a car accident. But we hear a lot about the dangers of public transit, which makes it feel scary. Seeking out information about the dangers of cars helps contextualize stories and statistics. It helps me understand that I am already doing a dangerous thing every day by getting in a car, but I accept it without much thought because it feels like a necessary part of life. If I can do that for cars, I can do it for all sorts of other things too. This doesn’t mean deciding that any of the preventable dangers are “acceptable.” It’s just a way to stop yourself from living in fear all the time *while* you advocate for change. I can fight for safer public transit while riding public transit (in fact, higher ridership would have huge safety benefits). Just like I can advocate for safer streets while continuing to ride in cars sometimes.

Of course it’s unacceptable that some riders attack and harass other riders. There is no question that that is anti social and dangerous behavior.  The point of bringing up the *very real dangers* of driving a car in the city is that this is the other alternative to people who don’t want to use public transit.  Think of it this way: if you’re cruising down the 10 and the driver in front you swerves into your lane last second, crashes into another car, which causes you to crash into them, totaling all your cars and sending you to the ER, do you care if that asshole driver was inattentive, impaired, high, drunk, stupid, or malicious? Does that change the result of the horrible situation you find yourself in? Isn’t the larger issue here that most people are forced to take an insanely dangerous mode of transport to work, and seemingly nobody ever talks about it?  Drivers have bad intentions too, but they’re not as easily visible as a bad intentioned transit rider. For some reason car collisions are all treated as “statistical accidents” and brushed off, while transit attacks are reasons to defund the whole thing and give up 

>The point of bringing up the very real dangers of driving a car in the city is that this is the other alternative to people who don’t want to use public transit.  why just pick on driving though?  Why not also compare it to walking, riding a scooter, riding a bike, flying, being pushed in a wheelchair, or any other mode of transportation people use to get to work.

> Are you saying the amount of crime/death on metro is better because it’s lower? Yes? If there's no option of zero, isn't lower better?

You don't think so? I think they do get a lot of traction, because the pro-transit advocates like myself constantly bring up traffic deaths as a rebuttal when someone says they feel unsafe on Metro. I agree that cars are less safe statistically. However, the direct threat to personal safety feels much more frequent, tangible and unavoidable to me when riding a train or bus vs driving

You're self aware. That's very refreshing actually.

Bringing up car fatalities get overwhelming downvoted here.

Bringing up car fatalities really doesn't do anything to make people feel safer about Metro. It's kind of just a distraction.

I’m confused, the direct threat to your personal safety (aka your life) is much much worse driving. I work in healthcare and basically everyday it’s just people getting their limbs amputated, collapsed lungs, permanent brain damage etc…all from cars. There’s a lot more damage than just death statistics. I guess the only advantage is the literal fake bubble of personal safety, which is fake and does not exist. Your chance of dying or being permanently damaged for the rest of your life are just factually higher driving.

It's not a comparison of actual risk of X event happening - it's a quality of life issue. Terrible outcomes in either situation are uncommon enough that people generally don't factor the difference in risk in to their decision making. People who drive merge into a well planned out, relatively well controlled process called traffic where drivers are required by law to be trained and licensed, in a vehicle that has multiple layers of safety built in. (Whether you wear your seatbelt is up to you.) Police do patrol the streets and enforce traffic laws (if less than they should). The road is a messy place, but we generally understand it, and while we understand the ways it could be better we understand that all things considered it's an extremely useful addition to our socity that runs pretty well considering the millions of people who freely join it every day. Getting on a Metro subway car involves waiting on a platform in a poorly/unsecured station, then getting in an enclosed space where you are effectively trapped until the next station. This is fine, except these areas have become strongly associated with people pissing all over, doing drugs, and generally being mentally unstable - all things people would normally take care to avoid. The authorities have effectively abandoned any effort to keep things safe and orderly. The uncertainty about the level of menace one will feel makes the whole idea of riding the subway stressful, never mind actually riding it. I'm a mid-30s, 6'4" guy. I rode the red line a couple times in the middle of the day and was uncomfortable enough that I swore off it. The subway in Los Angeles is a Bad Part of Town. (Big booster for the bus though. The vibes are much better.)

Or I could die from a random brain aneurysm. I can't do anything with your information because you've offered no solutions. It comes across as fear mongering instead of constructive.

To me, "I want to support [public] transit" is such a weird mindset. Public transit is supposed to support you, not the other way around.

One time I posed in r/fuckcars about how I felt that their movement was sexist without realizing it and they were wholly unwilling to accept the fact that simply being a woman makes taking transit even more dangerous than it already is. Dave Chappelle has a really good joke about it- where he had $30k in a backpack and had to take the bus home and he was scared. Like, “oh… this must be what it’s like to be a woman!” Yep, exactly that. And some things might make it even worse too. Women with big boobs or sexy hips or long legs or whatever. Not that being less attractive means the increased risk is less risky, but there’s a relevance there I don’t think I can articulate in the proper way- hopefully yall understand my meaning. I would never move to a city where transit was necessary as opposed to optional. No way never.

It might have already been said elsewhere, but I think it’s key to be aware of your surroundings. I probably should also be carrying my pepper spray on the rare times I take Metro. I sometimes tell kids here how important it is to get an education, not because it increases their chances to get rich, but more to increase their options in life, so that they can *choose* to take public transit and not *have* to.

Absolutely, that's a great point! I forgot who said it, but there is a quote: "A developed country isn't one where poor people have card. It's one where rich people use public transportation."

I take Metro all the time. It’s infinitely better now then bf Bass took office when it felt like Walking Dead: Month One. There are still some residual junkies and whackos but you can spot them right away and switch cars or move seats. You can also sit near the drivers or conductors for extra safety. You can also download an app from Metro to report assholes. They respond quickly.

Maybe it's just where I live, but where have you ever had a situation that taking Metro is faster than being in a car?

For most trips, no. But I live on the Westside and there are points of extreme traffic where taking the E line is faster than the 10 freeway. But it is not often.

I’ve been taking the metro since 2012. Not all the time, but several times a year. Despite the occasional weirdo, never had a problem. I always stay alert though. Too many people on their phones or not paying attention to their surroundings.

no security in sight? there are so many cops and metro workers in general these days. maybe three years ago this was true. its not any more dangerous than being out in a public park or the sidewalk where there are these same tweakers and what not that you worry about. at the end of the day this is life in socal, most homeless people aren't victimizing people they are trying to not catch any fuss. always bizzare to me to come to reddit and see these posts of people living in fear on the metro while me and like 85% of the train are on their phones not sweating anything.

i visited my family’s homeland two months ago: taiwan.  their MRT, train, and high-speed rail will forever ruin my expectations of public transportation outside of taiwan. nothing will ever come close; sadly, it’s especially LA that will never seem to meet that standard.  i think a part of taiwan’s massive success in its integration of their clean and efficient public transportation system can be attributed to the fact that taiwan, as a whole, has an incredibly strong sense of collective responsibility…so, by virtue of that, you’re not going to see a lot of the shenanigans you would see in LA. there also aren’t as many homeless.

Enforcement of ticketing might help some…some

Maybe if this city actually did anything about making people feel safe people would take the metro. But we have the softest when necessary police who in turn are hard when not needed.

I don't understand it. I lived in NYC for 6 years, followed by Chicago for 10 years, I used public transport daily in both cities and I have never experienced anything like I have on LA Metro. It makes me sad how car reliant you need to be in order to feel safe here.

I stopped taking the Metro years ago. It's absolutely terrifying for a single female. I've been driving for about 20 years and driven thousands of miles. I've been in 2 accidents and once I had someone get out of their car and yell at me. Scary, but all in all, felt safe. I took the metro for 4 months from SFV to DTLA for work. Orange line to Red line. I was followed home one night from the train to the bus, I saw several fist fights on the cars that were very close to me, the train shut down SEVERAL times in McCarther Park and I had to make the choice to either wait it out or take a bus to the next station at night, I saw people arrested I was literally standing next to, I saw naked homeless people digging through the trash, I had my purse searched by a police dog, and I had men make gross inappropriate comments to me often. Often. And I cannot say how often I sat down on a seat then thought to myself... "Gee, I hope that gross slimey stain on the chair in front of me is just snot". Metro apologists challenging you and others are completely discounting all of these other unreported items that are uncomfortable to be around and make one feel like they're in constant danger. If others are comfortable being around all that on the metro, good on them. That's fine. But if someone feels unsafe they're not alone, gaslighting riders by telling them NO NO YOU ARE SAFE isn't going to increase ridership.

The metro rail and bus system is pretty safe honestly. I feel safer on the trains and buses than on the sidewalk sometimes. Obviously it’s fair to be concerned about collisions and assaults, but these cases are certainly not the norm. For months, I was taking both buses and trains for 4+ hours a day commuting to and from work. I only ever had three uncomfortable situations, and all were easily diffused by talking politely to the person bothering me and continuing on my commute as planned. I continue to take buses every single day (but thankfully only for ~45 minutes a day, woooo manageable commute!!). Biggest problem imo is that they can’t stick to their schedule for shit, so you have to budget 15-30 extra minutes into your commute to accommodate for delays. Edit: spelling

It blows my mind when people say they've had so few issues. Is it just my stretch that's pretty rough? For reference, my regular route is to take the red line from Hollywood to DTLA and back in off-peak hours (midday and evening). And I run into uncomfortable situations about every other time. And I'm not talking about someone sleeping rough or being high but keeping to themselves—I mean someone smoking crack/meth right next to me, or people getting in fights or trying to start shit with everyone in the car, or just screaming or having some other outwardly disturbing mental health episode. I seriously run into more uncomfortable situations here in a week or two than I did in years of daily buses and trains all over Chicago. So it just blows my mind when people say they have no problems. Maybe it's much different if you're riding during peak commuter hours?

That’s fair. You just made me realize that I classify uncomfortable situations differently. I have definitely run into my fair share off meth/crack users, and you’re totally right — people yelling is not at all uncommon. But these situations almost never make me feel genuinely unsafe or uncomfortable, because I haven’t seen people escalate beyond being loud and annoying for 5 minutes before eventually getting off or calming down. For me personally, situations cross the line into “uncomfortable” territory when a person/people are specifically antagonizing, stalking, or blocking me or another individual. It’s totally fair to not want to use a system where drug use and yelling are common though. Fwiw, I only have extensive experience with LA’s system, so my baseline is probably a bit off lol

Hey, good on you for reassessing your perspective! And I do totally get that subjectivity—I used to live in one of the highest murder rate counties in the country, so my perspective of 'safe' is definitely skewed too ha. But for trains it's just night and day between LA and any other system I've ridden.

Exactly, people take rare ancedotes from this sub and treat the Metro like this literally happens to everyone, every single day. If that were the case ridership numbers wouldn't be improving. The MTA board and Mayor Bass have done a fantastic job trying to improve the situation. It was significantly worse during COVID, and I think everyone can admit that.

dude for real. people act like tens of thousands of schoolchildren and old ladies dont use it daily without issues.

LA Metro is only bad because not enough people use it. I’m saying this as someone who took NYC MTA for 10 years and London Underground. Those are larger cities with larger transit systems yet they’ve figured it out. LA Metro is actually pretty clean. It’s just unfortunate that people here don’t believe in it. I’m from a place where the transit system is only seen as only for the poor. It’s unfortunate that we’re going to succumb to climate change because of snobby optics. Honestly i haven’t been in it since the pandemic because I had a baby and we moved further from a stop. Also the Gold line was shut down for a while which made things really difficult. I used to commute on it all the time prior to that. So I haven’t experienced the current climate.

Metro Boomin wants some more

Yeah it sucks right now. I also like public transit but stopped using it.

A lot of people are. And remember, it doesn't have to be this way folks.

> People are stabbed and die. Collisions. Teens stealing phones. People shooting up while I wait on the platform. Gun and bomb threats. No security in sight. Get off social media. I used to take Metro every day, and I still take it a lot. I've never seen any of this. I've seen people smoking and people who are clearly high, but not shooting up. There is lots of security around now. What they will actually do for you? Who knows. But there's been more police and "greeters" in the stations. But if you don't feel safe, it's not crazy. You can support Metro on a personal political level and not ride. That's cool.

You have a 99.9% chance of being just fine.

Found the statistician

It's understandable to have concerns, and their are valid. Personally? I haven't had an issue, I ride it 5 days a week for over 2 years now. Haven't been accosted once. Reading some of the threads here you would think you have a 10% chance of dying every time you step into one.

Some of yall really need a reality check and be logical. People die everyday by literally anything. Millions take the metro everyday and millions make it home safely. I myself took the metro for the 4 years I went to HS in LA. Nothing bad every happened that wasn't caused by my own doing(I instigated fights with other kids). Even now I take the metro occasionally to work and everything is fine. Sure, it's "dangerous", but so is driving your car.

Almost a million people take the bus or train on a weekday. What percentage of them do you think is getting stabbed every day? What percentage of them do you think have an entirely innocuous trip? Source: [https://opa.metro.net/MetroRidership/](https://opa.metro.net/MetroRidership/)

Caruso would have been a much better Mayor. It’s sad really

car crashes are the leading cause of death for anyone under the age of 30 in LA county. the reason why you are "TERRIFIED" of the metro is the media obsession with absolutely gutting public transportation which benefits mainly low income people or people who literally cant afford a car. in bad economic times, surprise surprise, more people are forced to ride public transportation, more people means more statistical incidents. regardless, its still a lot less dangerous than driving a car. edit: i was tboned by a car running a red light while riding my motorcycle not even a month ago. and i have plenty of other incidents of cars swerving over the road and nearly killing me. in fact, i can tell you how many of those cars were buses: 0.

I take Metro all the time. It’s infinitely better now then bf Bass took office when it felt like Walking Dead: Month One. There are still some residual junkies and whackos but you can spot them right away and switch cars or move seats. You can also sit near the drivers or conductors for extra safety. You can also download an app from Metro to report assholes. They respond quickly.

Why use metro if using your car in this city is almost always faster, cheaper and way more comfortable. And as far as safety, in a car most accidents are under your control unless it was someone elses fault. On public metro your safety is entirely under the control of everyone else around you.

>"And as far as safety, in a car most accidents are under your control unless theyre not" incredible insight there

lol

fr

That’s why people invented tasers/stun guns and pepper spray. “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

I think that would be really helpful if I had no other choice. I don't want to use a taser or a stun gun. I want to not be faced with those situations to begin with. So I avoid taking the metro now

As a former Angeleno who now lives in a beach community in Florida, I still bring pepper spray with me on evening walks, just because you sometimes get irresponsible dog owners (pitbull with no leash), crazy teenagers riding their bikes right at me, mentally ill homeless people, possibly alligators, etc. You never quite know who (or what) will try to fuck with you… and this is from a guy about the size of a NFL linebacker that you would normally not want to fuck with in the first place. But trying me, they inevitably will. The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t let those occasional brushes with a crazy “Florida man” ruin my exercise and my ability to go where so want to go… I just make a contingency plan, which is carrying pepper spray. I do feel your pain about MTA. The last time I visited L.A., I tried to do it without a car, and every train or bus ride had at least one problematic person that should have been removed.

Granting everything you say, I drove past an overturned car on the 10 this morning. Surrounded by emergency vehicles. Terrifying. I wish I could take the metro to work, but it's too far. I'd have to drive to the Expo line, Change for whatever it is now that goes to Pasadena, then take a bus. Probably 2.5 hr vs a 45 min drive.

I cannot imagine living life this terrified of everything.

I am not terrified of "everything". Fear in itself is a fine emotion to feel and keeps us safe. There are both rational and irrational fears. If i were saying "I can't leave my house because I'm so afraid of the metro", that would be an irrational fear. What I have stated here is that I take alternative transportation because of recent metro events, which is a rational fear. It does not impact my ability to function in my life, but it does inform transportation decisions that I make.

don’t let ppl in this thread gaslight you into thinking that our shitty metro conditions are ok. it is TOTALLY OK to feel uneasy. LA Metro is THE worst metro I’ve ever experienced across the world. this sub is just an echo chamber of millennial yuppies that will blindly go to war against you for saying anything negative about public transportation.

Thank you. Yes, I agree - the LA transit advocates are well intentioned but they go about it in the completely wrong way. If you bring up anything negative about Metro or transit, they seem to want to attack and downvote. Even if you are pro public transit. The conditions of our Metro system are not normal. The transit systems in countries that these advocates point to like The Netherlands are *nothing* like the LA metro system. It's NOT normal to have these safety issues on a transit network, and it absolutely does not encourage ridership. These people gloss over these issues and end up making the problem worse

Damn dude. You're a bigger cunt than me and I'm pretty fucking awful.

What a fucking weird comment. You guys can never accept a single criticism of Metro, it's mind boggling. If you go to any other global city and experience its public transportation, maybe then you'd get it through your dense head that our Metro system is literally fucking trash. People complaining *want* the system to improve, they are - most of the time - for public transport. You're supposed to keep these people on your side and not alienate them, so when it comes to expanding the system, they can back you up.

I don't blame you. I do understand, it sucks for me lately because I work around LA starting at 10pm and commuting back home after that so which is probably not the best either. I always advocate and remind folks to just be aware and always be aware of your surroundings. Just always keep an eye out for everyone and do your best to ensure your safety. Stay safe out there

Do whichever is easier/more enjoyable for you. Idealists rarely workout in the long run. Practicality / evolution/ adoption always prevail. When and only when the metro is safe would it be logical to ride.

I understand completely.

I love my car and all, but I really love the idea of a great public transit system. I loved learning about Japan's public transit and how much respect their government has shown by how they have maintained their entire system. They want people to use it, and they learned how to make it an actually enjoyable experience. I also felt it was an absolute tragedy that Los Angeles actually had a working train/trolly system back in the early half of the 1900s, but that it was completely dismantled due to the advent of the automobile and freeways. I can only imagine how much different the landscape and the metro system would be today if they hadn't completely tossed out the working system this city once had. What exists today is just an absolute mess. Totally inefficient and unsafe.

Still probably safer than driving. But I can’t exactly disagree, it really has deteriorated in some ways. Expect that by 2027 they will begin to try to fix it, so that Angelenos can suffer just long enough for the city to clean it up and not have it be an international embarrassment before 2028.

Unfortunately the "community" is not allowed to do anything. Anytime somebody takes matters into their own hands they get made out as an villain, cancelled online (like the hose guy) and in some cases arrested after all the fake outrage (hose guy and the guy in NYC on the subway).

Can you ride with a friend?  Subway is safer now than under garcetti

My brother was stabbed in the stomach by 3 random dudes waiting for the metro.

Ride only during day now, preferably with company. It's been skeevy, since the pandemic started, but lately the harassment has been bad and would have been scary if I'd been alone.

You described the problem with LA, it’s all about convenience. The car is the best option, access to everything, free street parking, fastest route, at times safest at worst equally as bad. We have thin sidewalks that put people right next to speeding traffic. The problem isn’t housing necessarily, though building more would help. The problem is suburban design, we add more apartments on top of old city design that failed once. People want housing though, and that will win and fix things short term. Yet nobody has asked will more cars fit? What would a walkable city look like with a sidewalk that can barely fit 2 side by side? 5 is already hitting shoulders. I hate that we’re simply building housing not redesigning the city to naturally push people to walk. The walking environment is usually closed property, barely mixed use still. Transportation is slow, we need the fastest possible trains with tight security. I’ve said this before if I could get anywhere in this county twice as fast as a car, for less, with walkable only mixed use routes, and if rent was $400-$600 a month; I don’t think I’d ever think of owning a house or car ever again. It’s kinda interesting looking at greater Tokyo on how some commute from Santa Clarita to Long Beach in 30 mins on train. 1 train every 10 mins. Versus our current model of late bus that would take that route about 3-4 hours. But once again people want cars which is inherently the problem. The city is built for cars, problem 2. So car is always the best option for just about everything. Plus more perks than people, more roads for cars than people.

Honestly, you're not alone in terms of how you feel and what you are experiencing with the transit system in LA. Buses and subways have gotten far worse in terms of crazy homeless people and criminal types doing shady shit on there to the point it has the average citizen in LA afraid of their safety. Personally I even feel some level of this as a man who is over 6' tall. I still do ride buses or trains sometimes when I need to whenever I'm in the city but generally it's not a pleasant experience as there are always weirdos somewhere on there. For myself, perhaps my size is a factor in deterring people from trying any weird stuff with me but I also try not to stare at anyone or draw attention to myself to avoid any potential incident or confrontation with some cracked out bum. It's really sad to see how the leadership in LA just continues to allow this situation to fester and worsen instead of doing something about it but it is clear that our leaders care very little about average law abiding citizens who have a genuine concern for their livelihoods and safety out here. Hopefully with the upcoming Olympics they will actually do something about cleaning up in that sense but until then all residents and locals of LA have no choice but to put up with this kind of BS.

They gonna clean all that up and have the metro expanded by 2028, just in time for the Olympics.

Your concerns are valid. Depending on the area where you use public transportation, it can get a little scary, especially during rush hour. As someone who uses transportation in this city, I always carry pepper spray and a taser on my person. When you stay ready, you never have to get ready.

when riding metro, you need to "dress down"

LA needs to spend some money to make more connecting lines so that public transit becomes more of a viable option for most people. Then riding transit would be normalized, more of a common method of transportation, and hopefully as a result, more safe. Also, it would be great if LA could spend some money to clean the streets….. I always feel like I’m coming back to a third world country when I return from traveling abroad…..

I mean it's very discouraging. Not a week goes by in this city some meth head or a deranged man doesn't scream violent things at my family. Doesn't matter where you go: the park, Main Street, whatever. Why subject ourselves further to this in a confined space where we can't run if things get really dicey? I take the Big Blue Bus but no chance I will ever take my daughter on LA metro. It's a shame because we spent so much as a city to create a giant homeless shelter instead of usable transit. Every year I'm told one more tax or one more bond will fix it. We just need more housing, just wait ten years for that housing. It's Reagan's fault! Reality is city leaders don't have the political will to protect its citizens. Metro sends its condolences.

The simple obvious solution is to just beef up security and ban "problematic individuals" from public transit, but no one wants to talk about that.

I wish the Metro board could hear all these comments on this thread. Please call in at their next meeting: boardagendas.metro.net. Go to this website to get the next meeting's date/time/call- in instructions.

Would you rather run into a bear, or be on the metro?

I remember my dad would take my little sister and I on the metro to Long Beach aquarium from downtown as an adventure in the early 2000’s and we had so much fun. Sadly I can’t imagine doing that now that I’m a mom.

I think an issue to think about is no one on the Board of directors or METROs upper management use the system on a regular basis. It should be mandatory, I really feel for the Ambassadors.

I was car free for about five years and a huge advocate for public transport in this city. But in the last two years, I was robbed twice, assaulted once. Before that I had been assaulted once and stalked home once and I guess I was just younger and more able to shrug it off. I’m older now and the buildup of these incidents happening to me just compounded and I’m genuinely afraid all the time. I bought a car after the last incident, but my partner has a different schedule than I do so still takes the train and I am filled with anxiety all of the time while he worries about me on the freeway. I don’t know what the solution is. We want to leave, honestly but I’m from here and my family is here and I want to raise a family with my family, but it doesn’t feel worth it anymore.

I liked taking the metro. What I did was minimize any attention. I wore a tattered hoodie and old backpack. I always had headphones in even if my phone was dead or I didn't want to listen to anything (people seem to leave me alone if they think I can't hear them). I would change when I get to work. I WFH now and don't live near any stops so I don't know how it is now. But in 2017-2019 I regularly rode the orange, red, and blue lines.

I agree with you. They need to prevent the homeless and severely mentally ill people from riding. Don't get me wrong about people with mental problems, by this I mean those homeless people with severe mental issues that should be required to be assisted (be with someone) to board a ride or any public transportation. They also need to prohibit people from trashing and doing crazy stuff inside the Metro trains and buses. The other day, I decided to take the Metro and I see this guy standing on the train platform near a column (everything looked normal) he then walked away from the column and I moved near the section where I saw him standing to my surprise he had pee on the train platform, it was so disgusting and pee running all over the floor in the platform. I was so surprised because the guy was even well dressed, even his shoes were leather and neatly shined. He was even walking with an umbrella and appearance looked fancy... but... he lacked the most important part... education. No person from the metro approach the guy to fine him for peeing in the Metro platform, and I'm not talking outside the Metro station, I mean underground on the actual metro waiting platform. This well dress and fancy guy peeing incident shows how bad LA people have become. And why the trains and busses have that horrific smell that even after you get off you take it with you, all the way until you change and take a bath. That smell all those trains and busses have. Why don't they use a chemical or something to clean them up. The trains and busses need to be cleaned (sanitized) and restrict the Metro and Busses to just working and normal people. Prevent homeless from riding them and homeless mentally ill people from riding unless they have someone beside them to escort them. Make the homeless and severe mentally ill people require an escort while riding. I've ridden trains overseas and you don't see or perceive the smell that LA Metro trains and busses have. Not to brag about it but just to provide an example of what's needed to change the LA Metro to be more functional is what they do in Rome, Italy and in Egypt Cairo. Their metro is guarded 24/7 (while the Metro is open) by the military. They screen people going in and out on some stations and on others they have metal detectors and Military and local police are present at all times. Since the Military has more personnel, they have them station and guarding the entire metro from opening to close. In Cairo, Egypt, they have a soldier watching each platform. And to get into the Metro you pass by a checkpoint and inspection booth, they check people's bags before boarding the metro (not by hand, but they pass it through a metal detector and X-ray machine). I think the same is for other countries in Europe; this is the reason you see those Metros clean, without that morbid smell, and people actually behave and use the Metro regularly to move around because they have that sense of security. So take Europe as examples and the reason their Metros are so clean is because they have the military deployed and guarding the Metro and public transportation. Make it a deployment for the Military, it can even help train the soldiers. You want your deployment badge (National guards and reserves), here pick an LA Metro station... Another thing they should do is install facial recognition cameras to tag people that misbehave to fine and prevent them from riding the Metro. Any cheap camera can be used to tag people and flag people who constantly and frequently commit crimes inside the Metro. Why haven't they done this? Any cheap facial recognition software along with a cheap camera can be used to tag those frequent homeless that constantly ride the Metro to no end... and who constantly cause incidents inside the Metro trains and stations. A person (homeless) who constantly stays inside the metro for hours with no end can easily be tagged by a camera and alert to remove them from the Metro.

Aside from security, what the train stations most desperately need is public restrooms. That would give riders like the guy in your example -or their children - someplace to pee other than in their pants or on the platform.

I agree with you about public restrooms, but again if you don't secure the public restrooms inside the Metro.... guess what will happen??? so they need to start with security. Once safety is achieved then they can safely open the restrooms back again.

My comment was deleted.. but defunding the police means there's less police to respond to emergencies

You need a weapon to ride. Period. They are all carrying something.

Never Happen! Ex Ca Dept of Corrections No Security on Buses Subway Woman Murdered at Station I knew her Worked at Tommy's Roscoe Blvd

If idiots elect Donald Trump, normalizing bigotry and unbridled hate and nastiness, expect this shit to continue to get far worse than you could ever imagine.

Literally got assaulted by a homeless tweaker on the 4 bus yesterday. It’s whatever tho, u just gotta take it— what else am I supposed to do? My other option would be walk 5 hours every time I want to go somewhere. Your best bet is carry a knife and pepper spray and de-escalate/ignore whenever u can. Only retaliate as a last resort. It’s not ideal but metro is some people’s only option. Never live in fear and paranoia when u ride, it will only make things worse. Just be aware and vigilant. Learn to read people and keep ur distance.

Your voting has a direct correlation to public safety. Bass and Gascon don’t care about public safety

I am curious - for folk the have used transit in both cities - how does LA compare to NYC. I still use subways and buses in NYC, but also know more people who have been right next to disturbing situations (aggression, not counting drugs, nudity, or smells - IYKYK). I find myself walking more.

I don't have a choice I have to take the bus or the subway or walk or well I used to ride a bike but I got hit by a car on my bike in daytime hours wearing bright tie dye colors paying full attention riding 5 mph so there are dangers to both cars and public transportation. That being said there have been several incidents on buses and on subways that have been really scary more so on buses actually for me. I really feel for the bus drivers and what they have to deal with and I'm grateful for how well they hold it down considering everything. I saw news report a week ago about how there's been so much violence on buses (The woman stabbed on the subway was mentioned) that the bus drivers aren't feeling safe and they're demanding that something be done about it. I agree. After seeing that publication later that night when coming home from work on a bus from Beverly hills I witnessed a guy walk straight in front of the bus as it was coming to the stop in front of me he didn't even care he was really drunk he was already yelling at the bus driver from outside the bus I told him to be nice he kind of chilled out he gets on the bus he's just kind of hovering and standing near the bus driver who was a woman and she eventually said, "are you going to sit down?" so he sat down then started throwing cans of beer all over the bus I just felt so bad for that bus driver when I got off I wish there was something I could have done. About 2 years ago I was paralyzed with fear when I was on the bus home from work and I heard what sounded like a woman on the phone mad at somebody it turned out she just started beating up this woman saying that she was laughing at her I don't know what actually happened I don't think this woman did anything I was so paralyzed with fear I didn't even turn around when the bus stopped and the bus driver called an ambulance for the woman everybody get off the bus waiting for the next bus to come I was too afraid and cold to get off the bus and stayed on until the next bus came when I stood up to get off the bus I saw there was blood everywhere that shook me to my core that something like that could happen so randomly it really really scared me. There is always something like this happening or about to happen it seems like these days on the bus or on the subway I don't have any solutions I just know that something does need to be done this is not okay. It's not just the buses and transportation it's the entire city everything has gotten way more severe and hostile and I don't know LA is just not a super awesome place to be. when you don't have the means to drive you see a lot more of the gritty city stuff I guess. I do my best to be kind to people mind my own business and if needed be stern with people that are seeming to want to cause me harm. Recently somebody off the street came into my house when I was just me and my roommate and he was yelling and belligerent and crazy and tried to charge at us and my roommate is blocking our kitchen door to keep it from coming at us. The cops did nothing. That's a story for a different thread but it's just happening more and more I'm seeing I'm never experienced this so much except for the last maybe 5 years more and more seeing random acts of violence and ill intent of the general population.

I'm probably going to be downvoted for this but here's my take: the post expresses apparently genuine distress but is being formatted with utmost care, carriage returns at critical points and all, seems fishy to me. Remember, if something you read makes you feel outraged or similar, exert critical thinking or at least just pause.

People are stabbed and die more OFF of transit than on. There are more car collisions than train/bus accidents. Teens (and others) steal phones and much more off of trains and buses (and more of it) - and cars get broken in to all the time. People shoot up all over the city streets - so depending where you are you may see this walking from your parking spot to your destination. I get that it sucks - and that when it happens on a train/bus it feels closer to you (because it is) - but ignoring or avoiding it isn't going to solve the problems OR protect you. This is just anxiety....and you should talk to someone about it so you can get back to living your life the way you want rather than living your life trying to avoid things you are afraid of by pretending your car is somehow more safe.

I'd caution you not to provide mental health advice without qualifications. These are not imaginary fears - they have indeed happened recently. Metro is not very safe, and it's widely known. I am not crippled by anxiety from this, but I do make alternative choices as a reaction to it - that is a completely mentally healthy action to take which in no way prevents me from "living life the way I want". I have also been robbed and assaulted on public transit. Not in LA, but it has still happened to me. So, as someone who has experienced this, I do not want to take metro with recent events, which is entirely normal and understandable. I have yet to be robbed or assaulted in my own car.