Hacker News Reader

Comment by jrockway | Hacker News Reader

It's been done. Trains in Japan have the option of paying more for the "green car" or a "liner" instead of the regular railcars or regular trains.

But really, how often are people actually defecating on the public transit? Maybe one time you read an article where someone said they saw that? Either public transit is really good in the cities I've lived in, or the problem is you rather than it. Just sayin'.

I am in a pretty high tax bracket and I would never consider "luxury public transit". If I don't want to take the train, I ride my bike instead. (I don't have a driver's license.)

View on HN

I've watched at least 4 defecations in the past year, and uncountable urinations.. Add to that 6 or 7 fist fights, a purse snatching, and my personal favorite, a crazy man swinging his cane at me while ranting about homosexuals and family values.

Nevertheless, beyond my personal experiences, antidotes become facts in the minds of people who are on the fence about something. When suburbanites hear about problems on public transit they decide that if they take a bus in the city, they're going to get killed, and don't use it.

I have never, ever seen defecations or urinations in my public transport system here in Chile. The worst I've seen is two weirdos cossing someone else out, then pulling the emergency break, then getting arrested for it.

I have never, ever seen public defecations or urinations on my public transport system either.

The worst I've seen is the odd excessively loud person and perhaps people having sex - but that's it.

It's really not that bad, it could be like jrockway suggested: a symptom of the OP's area rather than the public transit system.

I've never seen this in the US.

Sounds like San Francisco has a serious homeless problem, and possibly other problems as well (enforcement on the public transit lines?). Perhaps it should deal with that. Building a redundant public transit line to pretend the problem doesn't exist doesn't really sound like a solution, and creates inefficiencies that exacerbates the disparity in wealth.

SF should just figure out a way to keep homeless off public transit. Perhaps they could charge nominal access fees that could be waived by a DL, passport or other proof of residence, and use the extra revenue to fund improved security.

>to keep homeless off public transit

They don't need to do that. Being homeless doesn't mean you are necessarily lacking in morals and public decency. They need to find some way to enforce reasonable behaviour from their paying passengers of whatever status.

I don't know about keeping the homeless off of public transit. I just don't want to have to smell them, or have my physical safety threatened by them. We're going to fail at treating the disease (failed healthcare), but at least we can look at treating some of the symptoms in order to increase diversity in our transportation system.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com