I have gotten off at subway stations in the outer limits of the NY Subway system and Chicago as well as places like Baltimore late night after a long day of railfanning and I know and have some close calls. The incendent in Cleveland on a afternoon between rush hours happened at a station that used to have token clerks but are now unmanned. I have noticed a trend away from manned stations on amtrak,commuter railroads and subway systems and it makes me uncomfortable not just for me but like on the South Shore and the IC lines scared for some poor nurse who is getting off the late train who is a walking target.
I suspect those token sellers will eventually have to be replaced by security personnel. It’s probably easier for municipalities to get money for security, than for operating subsidy.
closed-circuit tv survaillance can help solve the problem and its installation is long overdue. The state-of-the-art should include selectable audio pickup as well.
You will probably find that the unattended stations have video surveilance. That seems to the way the systems are evolving.
which system in the photograph?
Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte.
There are cameras on every platform and every light rail vehicle.
I will feel so safe getting mugged or killed knowing that the incident will be on video. [/sarcasm]
Perception is reality. If people perceive public transit in the United States is not safe, they will not ride it irrespective of the statistics.
I know people in Dallas and Austin who will not use public transit because they believe it is not safe. Moreover, they don’t want to associate with what they perceive to be the lower class people who use it.
I have had some bad happenings on public transit, although I have not been the vicitim of a physical crime. I use the DART light rail system, as well as its buses, during the day, but I would not ride it late at night.
I am 75, and I am a target. When I go to Dallas for the symphony, I catch a cab back to my hotel.
Do you think the ticket clerk is going to run out and protect you?
No but having a human witness would discouage any shenaigans as well as having conceielled carry
The fantasy of the decade:
If only I carried a gun I would never be the victim of a crime.
The trend to unmanned stations in off-peak periods is hardly new. In my dim and distant high school days, I can recall that ticket agents at most South Shore and IC stations were on duty for the morning rush and were generally off-duty by noon with no agent on duty at all on weekends.
CSSHEGEWISCH, the original post mentions subways, which in my neighborhood, Philadelphia and the US northeast, had long meant staffed anytime the subway ran. I don’t think many people consider the South Shore or IC, or any other Chicago area suburban railroads, to be subways.
The Cleveland rapid system is a hybrid of heavy and light rail. The heavy rail high platform rail was built and planned for 50 mile subway system that was never completed. The Shaker Rapid or light rail was a PCC operation where the operater collected fares
The shooting of the young man in Cleveland by police was at West Park a heavy rail station. The young man was told to put the BB gun away by several passengers
Which shooting do you mean? The one about which I remember reading was Tamir Rice http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/24/cleveland-police-kill-12-year-old-boy-wielding-bb-gun-that-looked-like-a-semi-automatic-pistol/
“On Saturday afternoon, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was sitting on a swing outside a recreation center in Cleveland, wearing a camouflage hat and hiding a BB gun in his waistband.”
All accounts I’ve read said it was at a playground, not at a transit station.
PATH is solving the problem with complete 24 hour 7 day TV camera survailance of all station public areas, under installation. Of course, it is a small system compared to NYCTA and CTA, but this should be possible there too. Monitoring is at the building at Journal Sq., and the Port Authority Police Hq. can respond quickly to any incident seen.
Security cameras are better than nothing, but in the end all they do is record the incident. A masked bad guy or a deranged one isn’t likely to be concerned with cameras.
A uniform on the platform is the best solution.
Security cameras that are monitored can put whatever emergency service that is required on the platform quickly. A uniform hanging around on a lightly used platform, or riding the train, just in case, is a very expensive proposition. It takes 4 1/2 men to provide 1 man 24/7. Most light rail systems do not provide for movement from car to car. You are at just as much risk waiting for a bus. It is not possible to eliminate all of life’s risks.
You’re confusing two stories, I hope not intentionally. The West Park shooting was a robbery, on December 9th. It did not involve a BB gun mistaken for a real one, nor was it ‘by police’.