RTA: Safe or No?
A side-discussion on the safety and usefulness of RTA cropped up in the comments in a post about the Medical Mart on BFD.
Try as I might, I could only recall a handful of specific instances from my 30-year association with RTA which might have made me feel unsafe. So here they are, in no particular order:
1. Patchouli and sandals. I was waiting at the bus shelter on Memphis Ave for the #82 and an unmarked utility van pulled up in front of me, blocking my view of the street. I was getting ready to flee when the door opened and a crowd of young Jehovah's Witnesses dressed in hippie clothes spilled out, sat down next to me, and told me about God.
2. Speaking of Whom. Picture this: East 21st and Euclid, circa 1997. The last stop on the55X [ed. note: sorry, it was the 75X I was taking in 1997]. I was the last person on the bus -- I paid my fare and said goodbye to the driver, as was typical. But the driver wouldn't let me off until he'd told me about God.
3. Nice doggy. It was just another morning on the #23 until a stray dog boarded the bus and started running up and down the aisle barking at the passengers. (Actually, I didn't feel at all unsafe, but someone might've.)
4. Sideswiped! I had just gotten on the 9X to Coventry, when the bus was sideswiped by a delivery van, knocking the driver's side mirror off. We sat there and waited for 15 minutes and then someone from RTA came and took all of our names and addresses, and then I got off and waited for the next bus.
If I had a lunch day rather than a lunch hour, I might treat you to a list of instances in which I've felt unsafe on I-480.....
Try as I might, I could only recall a handful of specific instances from my 30-year association with RTA which might have made me feel unsafe. So here they are, in no particular order:
1. Patchouli and sandals. I was waiting at the bus shelter on Memphis Ave for the #82 and an unmarked utility van pulled up in front of me, blocking my view of the street. I was getting ready to flee when the door opened and a crowd of young Jehovah's Witnesses dressed in hippie clothes spilled out, sat down next to me, and told me about God.
2. Speaking of Whom. Picture this: East 21st and Euclid, circa 1997. The last stop on the
3. Nice doggy. It was just another morning on the #23 until a stray dog boarded the bus and started running up and down the aisle barking at the passengers. (Actually, I didn't feel at all unsafe, but someone might've.)
4. Sideswiped! I had just gotten on the 9X to Coventry, when the bus was sideswiped by a delivery van, knocking the driver's side mirror off. We sat there and waited for 15 minutes and then someone from RTA came and took all of our names and addresses, and then I got off and waited for the next bus.
If I had a lunch day rather than a lunch hour, I might treat you to a list of instances in which I've felt unsafe on I-480.....
posted by Christine Borne at 12:49 PM
11 Comments:
I agree with you. I've felt no more in danger using RTA than I have taking public transit in NYC or Boston.
If anything, I'd feel more uneasy on the mornings in New York when the local news would shriek, "Possible terror attack imminent against the subway!!!"
I will add, too, that during off hours (especially when the hours are so off that there's no one up in the booth), the train platforms feel pretty abandoned. (Ditto for NYC - there were just fewer times I recall the train platforms being so empty.)
My advice to anyone who doesn't feel safe: put the transit police on speed dial: the 24-hour emergency dispatch # is 216-566-5163. (And be glad you're aboveground - you can't use cell phones on the subway!)
I don't want to downplay the issue of safety, of course, but truly I've seen more unsafe behavior on the part of other automobile drivers than I ever have on RTA.
Just the mention of I-480 strikes a bit of fear in me. I can't think of one time I have felt unsafe on any public transportation system, be it the MTA in Boston or the Metro in DC or the Rapid here. My only bus complaint was an express bus I took from Rockville to 14th Street in DC for a half yr before the Silver Spring Metro line was completed. And the unsafe feeling was during t/storms because invariably a tree would fall on Canal Road and we'd for sure be blocked and sitting for at least an hour and only once did we actually have a tree hit us. I did get used to walking up the hill to Georgetown to wait for other transportation though!
I totally agree with you. I take the bus to/from work every single day and I have never, ever felt unsafe. I've been annoyed a few times when people wanted to talk to me - but never unsafe. My sububanite coworkers ask me about it all the time, though. Not sure why RTA has a rep for being dangerous but it's good to hear someone else who has never had a problem.
One of my dad's best friends is an RTA transit cop and he swears that generally you're safer on the RTA than you are in your own home, which may be a bit strong, but it's something to consider.
I've seen some near-misses as far as other drivers go, but I have yet to fear for my life.
The only time I've ever gotten nervous was when my friend and I got out of a show and missed the last rapid out of Tower City and were stranded on Public Square at 1:30 in the morning.
Children's librarians know that if you want your kids to read, they have to see *you* reading, they have to see *you* handling books. I wonder if there's something similar going on with public transit. I was thinking about this the other day while watching a grandmother teach a little girl about how to open up the bus schedule, how to look at it.
When I was a kid, the bus and rapid were a big, everyday part of our lives. My dad took the bus and/or rapid to work every day for 25 years. If we wanted to go downtown, there was *no way* either of my parents were going to drive down there and pay for parking.
(Despite this aversion to driving on one-way streets and paying for parking, my parents were also sort of always waiting for the shit to hit the fan, petroleum-wise.)
You know, I recall visiting from NYC once and a suburban friend's husband asking me, "you actually ride the subway? aren't you scared? isn't everyone else scared?"
Thatgirl, I was thinking about the "safer on RTA" thing this morning...I think you're probably safer on RTA than you are walking down the street in most areas of Cleveland, b/c there are at least other people on the bus with you.
RTA is pretty safe, for the most part. I think that it's a hell of a lot safer than Akron Metro which still isn't that bad.
Just to put things in perspective, I've lived in the middle of Boston, lived in Atlanta proper, lived in Ward 15 of the City of Cleveland since 1983, and the first time I ever was assaulted was in Seven Hills, Ohio, this past March 2nd. FWIW.
Glad that you're still with us, Tim - that's terrible.
I'm glad you and Carole mentioned other cities...I think there's this misconception that "city" = "dangerous", even though what really is the breeding ground for danger is a combination of (among other things), poor lighting, poverty, and a lack of "people presence."
We need to change pre-conceived notions.
For instance--
city = safer, because help is closer, and neighbors protect each other
dark = safer, because intruders are the ones at the disadvantage if we are a united neighborhood
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