Hacker News Reader

Comment by _uhtu | Hacker News Reader

No one wants to ride the bus because the entire public transport budget is slashed to go to more roads, bigger roads, all of which is doing nothing to help traffic and making climate change worse?

View on HN

In LA, it's nothing to do with funding - it's the fact that public transportation is perceived as filthy and unsafe[1] according to the LA Metro's own data. The majority of ridership is comprised of people earning <25k/yr and likely are forced to use it because they can't afford a vehicle, and most of these folks stop using public transportation the moment they have another option.

[1] https://thesource.metro.net/2022/10/27/results-of-our-2022-c...

Fascinating, so safety and cleaniness have nothing to do with the budget? Do you volunteer to clean trains and buses for free?

>so safety and cleaniness have nothing to do with the budget?

No, they do not.

The safety and cleanliness of public infrastructure ultimately stem from the culture of the people living there.

You’re both saying the exact same thing. LA residents do not care about public transit service because they do not use it. People making under 25k a year do not have the power to compel the city to change anything.

I’ve seen people peeing on the track multiple times on the blue line and human feces on the red line. Why would I want to keep using that service?

Metro's take on this problem is to add more police to the equation, but that's a sisyphean task. As long as there is no way to ban people from the system for bad behavior, having a few random cops walking around isn't going to change things. There's also a problem of people who behave badly but not in a bannable way, e.g. behaving creepily toward women but not fully crossing a line.

My wife tried using the bus system for her first six months working in downtown LA, but ultimately gave up because she was getting harassed regularly. I stopped using the metro after a rider on my train walked up and down the train threatening to stab everyone and nothing was done about it.

You would need a uniformed officer on every single bus and train in the city to begin to chip away at this problem. I suppose it's a budget issue in a way, but it's more of a culture issue.

No. The big issue is that the trains aren’t considered safe. The homeless hang out and cause a lot of issues. I’ve been accosted by them on the green line. Which is too bad as with connections you can go all the way from my area all the way to Universal Studios.

Yes when public transit is underfunded so much that only the homeless want to take it, you’re likely to be surrounded by lots of homeless on public transit.

It’s a vicious cycle and the only ones who profit are the car companies.

Frankly, the reality is bus system in California is mostly for poor people, including sketchy types that middle class people don't want to be around. Transit budget won't really change that.

Not really true at all in SF.

Point taken, SoCal seems to be particularly like this and source is from the LA Times. Exception is commuter trains.

My bus from east bay to SF is always full of businesspeople.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com