Portland used to have Fareless Square. There's a push in LA to make all transit free. Positives that its free for all. Negatives, that you'll increase crime/sitting next to homeless and unsanitary people. Thoughts?
I think mass transit should all be free. It doesn't pay for itself directly anyway and the gain for the economy is worth it. The main problem as you mentioned is homeless people endlessly riding it, which they do already. That has to be addressed somehow anyway. I dont think there will be a significant increase in crime associated with free transit either, thats already there and its mostly petty theft stuff.
They put a rail line that went from downtown LA, all the way through the hood and went all the way to Santa Monica. Its been way more ghetto out by the beach ever since.
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/santa-monica-crime-expo-line/ If you make it free, it'll be even worse. I've been accosted on a city bus by what was likely a homeless man before, its not good. Gotta have a barrier to entry.
I dont think making it free wont change that, thats just a problem that comes with easy mass transit. Homeless and gangs are a growing problem in Portland also. I live off the Max line in Hillsboro, the stop is a few blocks away. People just jump off the max and cruise the neighborhood for stuff to steal and there is a growing homeless problem in Hillsboro in general. I use the Max a lot and there are always homeless people just chilling for the day or even people with mental illnesses. There is basically no barrier to entry already, they just need some transit police to patrol the trains.
That's part of why they got rid of Fareless Square in Portland. Still, I missed it when I could ride mass transit downtown.
Don't forget the perp that murdered those two good Samaritans with a razor sharp blade by slashing their necks on a Max train.
Anywhere, Anytime.....Mindless bastards prey on the unsuspecting. In another view, if we all lived in fear of any stranger, the quarantine solution would still be no good as humans need social normalcy, laws and companionship. Furthermore, when fate calls your number, you either escape or die.
I agree with this but how and where? Many don't want housing or don't want to be housed somewhere out of the city. Housing units can quickly turn into ghettos.....
It'll take a federal mandate for it to be successful. But it would save everybody money. Problem is if one city or state does it first all of the homeless in the country would overwhelm that system. But there are more than enough vacant units in Oregon to house all of the homeless in Oregon. Everybody wants housing. What they don't want is a baby sitter. It would have to be no strings attached. But in doing that we would help far more become self sufficient far quicker and almost entirely clean up our streets.
Rather than local transit, we should make Greyhound buses free. That way the homeless could easily check out other places, reducing the need for bad weather shelters and potentially giving some a chance at a 'new start' in a new place. barfo
I just don't want my fate decided on my ability to escape. I'd have to escape on my walker which means I'm shit outta luck.
