Have you ever felt unsafe while using Public Transportation? If you said yes, then you're not the only one. According to Manhattan Institute, “only 34% of riders feel safe, down from 70%.” When you're on any type of transportation, you can never know what might happen. Videos on social media have further heightened this fear as we are seeing an uptick in assaults occurring on trains/buses. There are various occurrences of such situations escalating and harming surrounding people. Furthermore, not only is it dangerous to use public transportation- but women especially on the streets of New York City struggle with this fear. There have been videos circulating around Tik Tok about girls getting punched while walking in the streets of NYC. No one should feel so unsafe when they are walking or using transportation anywhere, especially when there are students who are trying to get to school. It is crucial to understand what is happening in NYC in order to be safe.

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Public transportation can be an important part of many people’s daily lives, since most people prefer not to be in traffic and get to a certain place as fast as they can. However, according to Microsoft Start, “subway crime is up 22.6% since the onset of 2024, according to NYPD data.” On social media you may have seen people getting pushed into train tracks, or even fighting going on in the train. There are many dangerous situations that can occur in the subway/train, which many people use everyday. According to NBC News a 29 year old lady was allegedly pushed by her boyfriend onto the tracks, leading to her being severely injured. This can easily happen to anyone because there are no safety bars that separate the people and the tracks. When there are a lot of people on the platform, it can be hard to find a place to stand. If you have to stand close to the platform, due to there being no other space it is really scary. Furthermore, there can be unsafe situations when you're on the train going to a destination. According to NBC News, a 36 year old male and a 32 year old male were fighting on the train. Leading to a woman stabbing the 36 year old male and he took out his own firearm. There were babies on the train and riders fled right when the door opened, as they left they heard gunshots. This situation illustrates the dangers that might happen on the train and how escalated a situation can get. Of course there won’t always be instances of this occurring constantly but there are similar situations that can happen, especially when you rely on the subways to get to work, school, or travel in general. Cars are expensive to buy and maintain, it isn’t an option for everyone. Neither is using a taxi or uber all the time due to the amount of money. It is crucial to know how to be safe but there should be better safety measures in place.

As a young woman in New York City, there can be instances I’m scared to use travel on my own. Many other women can share the same feeling as me and have their own experiences. Seeing these situations online where women are in danger, can increase that fear of going out alone. So, what is done about the crimes that are ongoing in the subway? According to Forbes in February, Eric Adams deployed 1,000 officers to subway stations in order to address the violence. Also, police are checking bags constantly every week. Although there are more police, bag checks can be biased. A specific group can be targeted for bag checks which can be unfair. Furthermore, according to USA TODAY, New York City Mayor Eric Adams introduced a robot, Knightscope 5, to patrol the subway of Times Square. This robot which is 5 foot 2 inches and 400 pounds is used for citizens to report crime and also records with its 4 cameras. The trial of this robot had recently ended and didn’t provide much more safety for the people. Rather it was more of an expense, than stopping the crimes in the subway. New York City had added barriers in subways, in order to prevent people from stopping from falling. However, there are gaps in between the barriers, in order for people to enter and exit the subways. Not all subways have these barriers either but this is a step forward to better safety in the subways. It is frustrating that there aren’t better safety measures for subways. Such as better technology that separates people and the tracks fully, without having any gaps in between. Safety measures are crucial for those who rely on public transportation.    

Overall, although we’ve seen many occurrences of dangerous situations on the train online, it is less likely to occur in our daily travel use. However, there should be more safety measures so we don’t see these situations occur. There shouldn’t be people falling off the platform or having to witness fights on the train. Even though there aren’t better safety measures, you should have your own protection. Meaning having pepper spray or anything to defend yourself. First and foremost assess the situation and if you feel that you are in danger, use any method to defend yourself.

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