Steven Higashide on Transit and Public Safety

[A fare check on the Green Line.]

One of the best urban podcasts out there, 99 Percent Invisible, had transit expert Steven Higashide on the other day to talk about how to improve the bus, and transit systems more generally in the US.

About 20 minutes into the conversation, he and Roman Mars began discussing safety concerns. I think what Higashide says would be a great improvement on the current conversations bout light rial safety happening in the Twin Cities.

Here's the quote:

Roman Mars: Another way to improve bus service is to make it equitable and safe. So how do you go about making sure everyone feels comfortable riding the bus? 

Steven Higashide: A lot of times transit agencies look at survey data showing that people are worried about their personal safety on transit, which is a major reason why people don’t ride, or a major reason why people stop riding. But transit agencies see safety as a concern, and often they very quickly to go policing as the answer. 

And that is one solution that makes some riders feel safe, but it can also make riders feel less safe. And you don’t want to create an environment where people feel like, by getting on transit, it could have implications for their immigration status, or it could lead to them being embroiled in the criminal justice system. 

And there are a lot of aspects to safety, whether that’s lighting, station design, or human presence, which may or may not be law enforcement. These are really things where conversions really have to happen at the community level, and [we should] ask what is the community definition of safety, and not just assume what the answer is. 

And then I also think the it comes to equity, fares are really important. How we pay for transit, how much, and whether people are really being treated equally. 

Let me just give a couple of examples, at a lot of transit agencies, it turns out that wealthier riders pay less because there’s a discount for a monthly pass, whereas low-income riders can’t afford to pay for that monthly pass up-front. Instead they’re paying $2.50 every time they get on, and it adds up much more than the cost of the monthly pass every time.

The point is that we need to have transit riders themselves figure out what is the best solution to light rail safety. In my opinion, more cops and fare-checks must not be the answer in today's climate of scapegoating immigrants and deadly policing. The state legislature should appropriate funds, butt out, and let Metro Transit handle this.

Also, cops or transit ambassadors should simply sign people up for the TAP program, instead of giving out fines.