Riding Mass Transit Is Like Inviting 20 Random Hitchhikers Into Your Car

17 Replies to “Riding Mass Transit Is Like Inviting 20 Random Hitchhikers Into Your Car”

1. Little rascals.

2. The comments are great.
   Article is a fine example of modern urnalism.

3. “My people” … don’t ride MASS transit … with the unwashed masses. Obama, sHrillary, and Jerry Brown can go to HELL ! I am NOT riding your “high speed” train to nowhere, with all the criminals

4. “Police initially indicated that juveniles were involved in the hijacking, but later stated it was just one man.”
   You might want to update your tagline, Kate.

5. Killed a person too. Society is getting progressively more insane.

6. After a brief Renaissance in some U.S. cities over the last 20 years, I believe we’re on the leading edge of a serious decline in QOL in a lot of cities, thanks to BLMers, and an overall sense of entitlement among our cities’ um, “youths” and various other malcontents, and the fiscal mismanagement/debt defaults. Possibly riots and such. I live in the burbs so, yeah, not all that bummed if the liberals continue on this path.

7. You link to a story where one person is killed and another is injured, all so you make snarky comments about riding on public transit.
   Classy, as always.

8. KT — Original article didn’t have all of that information… so TROLL MUCH? and the fact remains that public transit is like this, please make a point, or troll else where.

9. KT — Original article didn’t have all of that information… so TROLL MUCH? and the fact remains that public transit is like this, please make a point, or troll else where.

10. I doubt that Ms. McMillan has ever ridden on public transport, in her entire life.
    Here is a quote – not sure where it came from – “a developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it’s where the rich ride public transportation.”

11. “and the fact remains that public transit is like this, please make a point, or troll else where.”
    Make a point? OK, how’s this — the basic premise of this post is factually incorrect:
    – http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JPT17.4_Litman.pdf
    – faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~ipsavage/436-manuscript.pdf

12. Your own reports belie your bullshit. They lump auto theft and vandalism in with actual violent crimes to the person to get the rates comparable:
    “Comparing transit and automobile crime risks is challenging because they have very different crime risks (Table 4). Transit passengers face personal assault and theft risks, and motorists face risks of road rage, vehicle assault, vehicle theft, and vandalism (AAA 2009; FBI 2012).”
    Your second link doesn’t even evaluate crime; it evaluates fatality risk, meaning accidents.
    You’re full of shit, as usual. You can’t even troll well. 2/10.

13. Has anyone seen Alan Grayson lately? This sounds like his style.

14. My oh my. Must be the heat. Get an AC

15. The officer says “all the individuals involved were adults, there were no juveniles” and then “we have the suspect in custody”. Why start with plural and switch to singular? Were there others?
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/suspect-hijacks-washington-dc-bus-kills-pedestrian-38846144

16. “They lump auto theft and vandalism in with actual violent crimes to the person to get the rates comparable:”
    The study’s author didn’t “lump in” auto theft and vandalism with violent crimes as part of some underhanded way to “get the rates comparable” — he was openly acknowledging the limitations of the data sources (e.g., the FBI UCR system doesn’t separate out carjackings from “motor vehicle theft”).
    So true enough, the data aren’t perfect. Still, citing partial data is better that the SDA methodology, which is to post anecdotally about any sensational story involving public transit while selectively ignoring everything that doesn’t fit its pre-conceived ideological narrative.
    With that in mind, here are two (imperfect) data points — make of them whatever you will:
    – There are roughly 3,800 violent crime incidents (murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults) on public transit in the US per year.
    – There are approximately 34,000 carjackings alone in the US per year. On top of this, we could add road rage incidents, vehicular homicides, smash-and-grab assaults, etc.
    “Your second link doesn’t even evaluate crime; it evaluates fatality risk, meaning accidents.”
    Gee, was it the title of the study (“Comparing the Fatality Risks in United States Transportation Across Modes and Over Time”) that gave it away?
    The second link wasn’t mean to refer to crimes. Just pointing out that, overall, you’re still far less likely to die while riding a bus with “20 random hitchhikers” than in a car. Sure, fatality due to a violent crime is singularly horrible, but it’s not like being killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver is a real hero’s death.

17. In my AUTO-mobile … I can personally AVOID every single one of the “greater” crime rates that are “statistically” (read: gawd damned lies)”proven” to occur for automobiles. On mass transit … I am STUCK. I have no PERSONAL ability to avoid the crimes. I am a CAPTIVE.
    Road Rage: I yield to all “aggressive” drivers. I never CLOG the left lane (like liberals driving Prius’s).
    Vehicle Assualt: see above
    Vehicle Theft: It is virtually impossible for a thief to steal my high-tech BMW
    Vehicle Vandalism: I simply do not put a ‘TRUMP 2016’ bumper sticker on my BMW, so none of the unhinged leftists will key my car. I also avoid downtown Seattle on May 1 (Commie, May Day) … so none of the bandana-face-wrapped Anti-capitalist Anarchists will smash a Molotov cocktail through the window of my beautiful saloon.