Letters

Comments (0) Thursday, Sep 1 2005

...continued from page 1

Francine Oschin Encino

As a former LACTC, MTA and Metrolink employee, as well as a Westside resident and transit user, I continue to be impressed at the L.A. Weekly’s grasp of transportation issues and history in L.A. You do miss something in reporting the (artificial) bus vs. rail debate, however, along with everyone else. That is personal safety, especially for women. Waiting at a bus stop is as safe as the neighborhood you are waiting in, i.e. not safe anywhere in L.A. after dark. Bus stop safety is virtually impossible to provide, shy of making the entire city crime-free and pedestrian-friendly. Subway stations are a different story. It is feasible to patrol them without selling the farm. With CCTV, panic buttons, “next train” signage, lighting and some staffing, they can be made relatively undaunting. I’ve used the subway comfortably at hours when I would NEVER stand at an L.A. streetcorner waiting for a bus. Why we think poor women (the largest portion of transit users) should be relegated to waiting on the street rather than in a well-lighted, well-trafficked rail station is beyond me. Notice Eric Mann never mentions the preferences of actual transit users, who would surely prefer reliable, safer train service to the vagueries of buses caught in traffic.

Annette ColfaxLos Angeles