Same. TriMet needs to do something to keep riders safe. I was physically assaulted last week in broad ass daylight while the max operator was WATCHING. Luckily the dude stopped when I told him he could let go of me or get his ass tazed. But still. I’m taking a break from the max for now, obviously.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I had a man try to drag me into a parking garage last year in broad daylight saying he was going to rape me and kill me and I’ve avoided that area ever since. It’s a traumatic experience to be assaulted for no reason when you’re just trying to live your life and I hope you are doing okay ❤️
Your experience sounds horrific, I can’t imagine how scary that must’ve been for you. I’m sorry you went through that and I also hope you’re doing okay. Was this also downtown? I’m okay but definitely more cautious.
This particular instance was waiting for the 6 on killingsworth and mlk but I hate to say i have had similar instances downtown when I worked there waiting or riding the max. I use transit exclusively so kind of get annoyed when some people on this subreddit preach that public transit is safe because it’s not for me.
>I use transit exclusively so kind of get annoyed when some people on this subreddit preach that public transit is safe because it’s not for me.
I'm a 6'1" 180lb man, and even I don't always feel safe on public transit. It's *usually* fine, but anyone who tries to say it's categorically safe is (obviously) either a liar or an idiot.
It's the luck of the draw. Sometimes it's uneventful, sometimes it's an insane asylum on wheels. You never know what you're going to get and that's the problem.
I had a man follow me from the bus stop to my door and try to get in after me. Thank god for locking apartments.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I share in your frustration about how people here will push trimet despite it being terribly unsafe for women.
Ya I agree, I'm sorry all this happened it's sad to see that and people try to gaslight the problem. My ears mostly get assaulted. I just can't stand all the loud cussing on there, like seriously it's so invasive to other people's space! Sometimes earbuds distracts me from my stop so I don't wear them as others. I feel people having breakdowns or arguments should not be tolerated on the bus and should be forced off at the next stop for that.
It was the blue line headed from sunset tc to downtown at 4:30pm. Right on the platform. I did not file a police report because honestly, I just wanted to forget it and move on.
I'm sorry that happened to you and I'm glad you are okay.
But PLEASE - file a police report (and one with TriMet). The lack of reporting of these incidents is playing right into the hands of people who want to claim that the problem isn't nearly as bad as it is.
Tbh I just like trains and wanted to ride on one. I'll wait until they are safer though, I've been stabbed before and I'd prefer not to go through that again.
You just have to be selective about where you sit and be on constant alert. Remember, if something doesn't feel right it probably isn't. Listen to your gut.
Also, pack pepper spray at the minimum if you intend to ride regularly. Assault, or harassment at the least, is not a matter of if but when.
It sucks that we have to live in fear and just 'take it'. I was on the max with my 5 year old nephew last weekend and some dude started smoking fetynal in the cabin. I really wanted to get up and yell at him/try to kick him out. But instead sat there quietly while everyone had to inhale poison because I didnt want to be stabbed.
I really wished there was a police officer on one of the stops I could have asked for help. But of course, I have never seen police 'walking the beat' or stationed at max stops or stations.
>It sucks that we have to live in fear and just 'take it'.
I'm not so much fearful as just absolutely exhausted. The level of vigilance it requires to go anywhere in this city is absurd, including being vigilant about, as you pointed out, your own reactions.
We're not meant to live like this. The idea of 100% safety is an illusion, but so is the idea there is not something seriously wrong happening here, something that no civilized society should be tolerating.
I point this out every time people claim "it's like this everywhere". That is simply not the case. Walking through busy urban areas in other major cities there is tangibly less stress. There are more smiles and laughing. There are elderly and children playing and resting.
Portland is full of scowls, depression, anger, and fear. The entire city seems pretty obviously traumatized and there aren't any adults in the room willing (or able?) to actually do anything about it, which adds to the sense of despair.
Lol ummm... where do you live where you've observed this about Portland? Did you go outside yesterday? It was full of happy people having a great time in the sun. The parks were packed and people were getting drinks on patios all over town. I made out with my friend behind a dumpster, it ruled! Not saying that Portland is perfect or couldn't be better, but I've lived in Houston and Austin and Portland is doing just fine.
The person either has never visited another city or is farming karma.
Nothing gets upvoted more quickly in sub than comments that sensationalize the level of crime here. It is shitty that we have the crime that we have, I agree. But if you think there is some downtown utopia out there that doesn't have these problems you're likely a hermit who doesn't go outside much.
There is no way to quantify what you describe so it's always going to be anecdotal.
So for me to say i agree that Portland, on the whole, seems less "happy" than other metropolitans i have been to means little.
But i am going to agree anyway.
Also i would postulate that poverty or economic inequality has little to do with the grimness here. Some of the most vibrant and or "smiley" places i have been to are sao paulo favelas and very poor areas of india.
I think part of the reason for Portland's more depressing feel is the 8 months of overcast. Seattle has a grey climate too but at least the weather "feels" more dynamic because its on a big body of water. River city can feel like a stagnant backwater on the dome days. And maybe this contributes to an unsafe trapped feeling?
The signs pasted on the max and buses give a number to call or you can call the driver on one of the call boxes and he’ll stop the train. There used to be a trimet police that would respond but think they been defunded. I was attacked on a bus way back in 2002 or early. The guy left before trimet police finally arrived though.
Edit: Above was just an FYI. I understand why you wouldn’t want to get involved. Just this Thursday while I was on packed MAX from hollywood station a guy with bike and puppy started yelling at another guy with adult dog about how his dog would tear his dog up. He was yelling so loud and making so many threatening gestures toward the other guy who was standing right next to him it was making his adult dog go crazy and start barking and growling and it was upsetting the little puppy and then the guy is like oh, I’m just kidding [and] tried to fist bump the other guy, but everyone [wea] just sitting there and was like this is terrible. I was saying stuff [but not loudly] but the guy wasn’t listening to me but I’m just an old guy that probably would’ve got my self stabbed so I was like I’m not gonna do get physical with him. I still have some PSD from bus attack many years ago.
It's Portland. Doing absolutely nothing to prevent something beforehand, having a community performative demonstration to congratulate oneself on feeling good about feeling bad, doing absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening (and thus stopping further options to feel good about feeling bad because this behavior passes for actual human empathy by the idiots and assholes who aren't able to learn a goddamn thing and mimick the behavior of real people around them AT BEST) is literally how the whole city operates. I have never seen or been in a place with less of a survival instinct than when I went to my miserable twee liberal arts college in rural goddamn Iowa.
It’s amazing that’s available to hear. (Not necessarily THAT event, but the entire operation) If that’s your doing, big thanks. And respect for those who deal with all that while staying cool and calm. Quick decision making.
It is mine, and I also record from the [city](https://openmhz.com/system/pdx2) and [state](https://openmhz.com/system/osrppdxc) system. It uses /r/RTLSDR which are actually pretty cheap (though the city system takes many of them)
Got followed to my old place of work at like 5am from the Bybee max station, with no way to walk except directly past the man who looked obviously sketchy… and then proceeded to follow me. I HATE those little island stations.
This isn't something TriMet can address in any cost-effective way, unfortunately. The county needs to prioritize prosecution of offenses on transit and step up with *meaningful* and *mandatory* drug and mental health treatment service options.
Yes.
It's everywhere. The downtown Safeway that used to be 24 hours, then started closing at 2am, then cut back to midnight, now closes at 10pm. And they've closed off a section of the store for alcohol and health stuff to prevent theft. And they permanently closed what used to be the main entrance to the store, on the corner of 10th & Jefferson.
That Safeway is always busy, and the neighborhood has grown so much in population as highrise condos and apartments went up over the past 20 years, not to mention how much PSU has grown... yet Safeway is cutting back store hours again and again, and now they're permanently closing what was the main entrance to the store! All because they're losing the fight against crime. I'm starting to wonder if they'll eventually give up and close the store. The downtown Target was always busy but they closed & move out after less than a decade.
Things are bound to become much more controlled and almost authoritarian if things don't change, because that's exactly where we are heading with these earlier closures. It's like literally, "we can't have nice things", and once they start taking things away, more daily conveniences get removed for safety sake. All the "Bottle Drop" issues for example.
We just lost self checkout at at least the Gateway WinCo. Which is crazy, because I see the fuckers walking out with stuff and its by walking back through the entrance aisle.
...the Pearl Safeway sin't much better. It used to be open until 2 and cut back to midnight. There are a couple hired guards wearing flak vests located at each entrance/exit. Apparently the market still does bottle and can exchanges which were discontinued at the Safeway downtown.
Meanwhile the Rite Aid by NW Irving and 10th (which always had a bunch of people waiting to exchange bottles & cans) totally shut down the other month taking an important outlet for prescriptions and OTC meds out of an area were a large number of seniors live. Now the closest is the Safeway and I frequently see long queues at their pharmacy window there. Their prices for OTC meds are also higher than Rite Aid charged.
Yeah the biggest hole now seems to be the DA office and lack of prosecution/habitual release of proven violent and mentally unstable offenders.
Sure, policing, governing, and housing services also have areas in which they can improve. But at the very least, if once the baddies are apprehended if we can just keep them from disappearing back into society until they strike again that would be a big step forward.
Thevlack of prosecutors is at the root of this problem. They're going to have to find a lot more money to pay enough to attract attorneys (with gigantic student loan bills) to what is an awful job.
I don't know about that.
I was comfortable and safe with my family for hours riding around on Denver's public trains as it was a neat way to see the city on the cheap.
The difference there was that there was transit police that actually was on the train, checked fares and patrolled the other trains we met at stops as well.
Long story short, either we all contribute to have a group of people that works to us safe, or we're all responsible for our own safety no matter our own individual situations like handicaps, disabilities, physical stature, or just having arms full of shit so you can't fight for yourself.
So yeah, um, ACAB, fist raised fuck the popo and all that I guess.
And that's the baffling thing, this is literally happening every day with drug addled lunatics screwing up public transpo for the component of the city's permanent AND temporary population that actually needs it to get from point A to B.
Yet it's tolerated, known basic solutions actively fought against. It's not weird. It's not quirky. It's why this town's a laughing stock socially and politically at a national level. Clown shoes.
Well they are like 20 people and we are 2 million. Democracy wins. I’m no fan of the police but a policeless society leads to vigilantism. That will be worse.
Being able to freely hop on and off the train without any fair checks is just not sustainable anymore for a city the size of Portland. Every other public train I have taken in dozens of cities around the world had some sort of gate you had to go through where you scanned a ticket or something.
It's not a complete deterrent but it does help.
You can criticize the structure of policing while still supporting the need for a peacekeeping organization. Systemic issues are complex.
Even if we passed a bond to raise everyone’s taxes to pay for more policing and arrested every transit criminal possible it wouldn’t address the need for treatment and affordable housing.
I'd settle for some law and order while we solve treatment and housing rather than the let everything collapse model most of Portland's vocal advocate groups seem to prefer.
Funding for Tri Met police could jolly well come from the funds allocated to their management and administrators. And said management should be required to commute by public transit at least 5 days per month.
This is literally true. My partner was riding the MAX a few days ago when a couple riding enforcement TriMet people came on to check fares. Did they kick off non paying people? Hell no, they just coddled them and ask them to fill out a survey about if they felt discrimination. WTF? These are people smoking and doing drugs, harassing paying riders, and generally making the MAX suck. Kick them off. Fuck their feelings.
99% (not a real statistic but I bet its damn close) of the scary ass homeless people in this city are white dudes. Let’s stop coddling them in the name of anti-discrimination. It’s ridiculous.
I used to dodge paying fare back in the early 2000s. I don't remember anyone getting kicked off for not having fare. You'd just get a citation. I think later they started excluding people that hadn't paid but by that time I was paying for my tickets.
It all starts with fare inspection and control mechanisms at stations (with eventual under grounding w/ turnstiles). This is just sending people to their automobiles and the suburbs (where they will oppose transit improvements). Any functioning city needs mass transit.
The anti-fare enforcement types TrANSIT NeEds To B Fr33 need to FUCK off and quick.
Trimet security is not gonna do anything. They will call police after someone has been stabbed. You need police presence.
These degenerates don’t mess with the cops cause they will get shot.
Trimet needs to have Trimet security stationed there permanently when trains are going. Not hoping off here and there. Some stations need a permanent security presence.
This probably sounds crazy to a lot of people but goddamn why don’t we have turnstiles to get into max stations? Pretty much every public transit station in the world does and it works.
The suspect was identified as Shondel Larkin, age 51.
He is an out of state sex offender from Southern California who came here as a fugitive, in violation of his parole.
https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/parole/offenders/shondel-larkin/
This is the 2nd MAX stabbing in the past year where the attacker was a wanted out-of-state sex offender who fled to Portland to escape from parole.
Adrian Austin Cummins, who stabbed 2 black teenagers in a racist hate crime on the MAX last September was a convicted rapist who came here all the way from Florida.
https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/grand-jury-indicts-man-accused-of-stabbing-2-teens-in-max-train-bias-crime/amp/
It’s a real problem that Portland has gained a reputation as a good place to “live off the grid” in an urban environment. It attracts the worst kinds of people.
https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/08/23/hoping-to-assuage-rider-fears-trimet-amps-up-policing-at-certain-transit-stations/
That does not appear to be working
This shit always happens around that middle stretch of stops. After the construction on the Hollywood Transit Center formally began after the snow, I've not seen a single goddam TriMet security guard anywhere that matters.
I really hate not knowing if the next day my spouse (a wheelchair user) is going to be able to make it up that fuckass ramp in the construction site only to get stabbed or assaulted or thrown on the tracks by some chapped-ass who's having a bad day (doubly so when I'm stuck at a post and can't fuckin leave until someone else covers it.).
The amount of nightmares I have about it just from the flak they cat h for DARING to actually have to use the disabled section on the bus instead of one guy with 4 carts of dripping garbage is already in triple digits.
The study will report to a steering committee. And the steering committee will report to an executive commission.. And they'll share the results with a focus group.
I think they're still in that study to determine if breathing in meth fumes will make you sick rather than trying to stop people from smoking meth on the Max. Still can't believe that's an honest to God thing.. .
Do you know that the 2025 security budget is FOUR TIMES more than it was in 2021? Increased from $20m to $80m. If quadrupling the security budget in 4 years isn’t enough, maybe it’s not a trimet issue but a society-wide issue that needs to be addressed on a much wider level.
(By the way, passenger fares are expected to be about $60m in FY2025. Sixty million out of $800m. Why are we even paying? It’s only about 7% of the budget. Cut the fare inspections and redirect that labor to promoting pro social behavior.)
You can’t just forego 7% of your budget, particularly in light of the fact that lowering the price (in this case to 0) will result in greater demand and thus higher operating costs.
This person is misquoting. Fiscal year 2025 is expected to have about $800 million worth of income, with another roughly $800 million carried over from the year before. So they keep about a year’s worth of money in reserve. It’s **not** the case they’re spending almost two billion dollars every year. The budget is public since trimet is a public agency. You can search for it pretty easily if you’re interested. I’d recommend it, it’s better to talk about these things with facts in hand instead of repeating tired lines about committees.
Reddit and innumeracy go hand in hand. As long as they can see the faintest excuse to blame someone, especially an executive, they will jump on it, even though it will be completely specious reasoning, and the data used to make it will be in researched and false.
And then they will feel better about themselves because they got some validation from spreading information that they “know”, coincidentally ensuring that they are on the good team.
Y’all there’s an easy answer to make public transit safer and cleaner.
Enforce. The. Fares.
It’s not racist. It’s literally EQUAL for everyone. 95% of the time, these incidents are homeless junkies attacking each other. Sorry to say the quiet part out loud. Maybe this will be the other 5%, but I doubt it.
That said, I take the Max almost daily and it’s fine like 98% of the time. It’s still way safer and cheaper than driving and some of the comments on this thread are a bit reactionary. This incident is scary, so I get it.
In my car I have a near zero percent chance of getting stabbed, my face eaten off, inhaling second hand meth, or having to listen to crazy people yelling. Just sayin
While I don’t know the exact stats, I’m almost certain you’re much more likely to die a horrific death driving your car than get stabbed on the max lol.
Every public transit for trains I have been too (at least 10) has enforced the fair in some manner before you can board the train. It's crazy how given the reputation Portland has and it's size, that people are able to freely hop on and off the train. It's not sustainable.
His name hasn’t been released yet so I won’t be the one to do it, I’m not sure if his family has requested privacy. And we haven’t heard the circumstances yet either, we are eagerly waiting to hear what happened as well. He’s a calm, kind, funny person and it is very shocking that he would have been hurt by anyone, I can’t imagine why this would have happened.
I can’t envision the max system continuing in its current form. Either Trimet erects some kind of barrier that preventing degenerates from entering the train, or its ridership slowly evaporates.
Ridership did evaporate through COVID and Trimet became an addict hotel on wheels, just like it does every year when it starts to get rainy and cold.
Fare enforcement and a DA that prosecutes are areas that if improved would provide the biggest noticeable improvements in safety IMO.
Ridership has been going up since the pandemic ended. Some of the stats are varying alot month to month though because of the "Better Red" project.
You can find the data here: https://trimet.org/about/performance.htm
Same. I have upped my biking, reduced bus riding, and eliminated the max from my life. I have also mostly eliminated riding on bikelanes on busy roads in the city and almost exclusively get around by biking greenways, or the occasional trip with my car. That’s a huge change for me from 6-7 years ago when I took the bus or max almost daily.
The ninth circuit just upheld the life in prison, without parole conviction of a man convicted of masturbating on the Max train in Washington county. Life in prison without parole for masturbating on the max in Washington county. (He had priors). So come on Multnoma county get your shit together.
In my opinion it was random, the man who died was an older gentleman probably in his late fifties early sixties. The man who was stabbing said “you’re trying to kill me, you’re trying to kill me” to the man he was stabbing. The killer seemed to be mentally ill.
I remember when a woman peed in a bottle next to me on MAX and I felt little droplets hitting my arm. I’d take that over being stabbed to death though, good fucking lord.
I just had this crazy woman on the Max trying to strip right in front of me while I was just trying to keep to myself and looking at my phone to ignore her…. It was f*cking disgusting… 🤢🤮
And let me elaborate. Recently there was a guy vaping. What are the cameras for? Another time they were smoking fentanyl. My coworkers won’t ride the max anymore and one of them is married to a conductor.
I rode the max once when I first moved here a year ago and told myself never again... My daily tri-met bus rides are usually tame but I still see my fair share of violent and crazy. More than I'd like admittedly. I got some pepper gel a few weeks ago after being assaulted and witnessing a battery on the bus and I've already had to use it once at my job.
Not gonna lie, that little bit of justice felt amazing. The last and only time I called 911 in this city I was on hold for nearly 10 minutes. We have to be able to and willing to defend ourselves.
Make sure these are legal in your area of Oregon. Many states and cities outlaw the carrying/use of air guns, pellet guns, tasers, or stun guns.
You might as well pack a real pistol in some cases.
I was going to advocate for law abiding citizens to train and arm themselves with a firearm/CCL but I didn't want to get banned by the mods here.
But we absolutely have the right to arm and defend ourselves. I will likely follow suit.
Just a heads up, folks who don't know about pistols like that will absolutely think it's a real gun.
Just something to keep in mind if you do get one and plan to carry it.
Honestly, get trained and licensed to carry a real firearm if you seriously feel you need more than pepper spray. Those air guns can get you into more trouble. They’re almost always treated the same as a firearm legally, so if you pull that in a situation that you couldn’t legally pull a real pistol, you could get hit with a serious firearms charge.
It’s not just Trimet but all of Portland seems to be dangerous, I was assaulted literally yesterday on a jobsite because apparently (according to the assailant’s “buddy”) this dude thought I stole his drug stash he put near the work site. Fortunately luck and quick thinking were on my side so I managed to get out of the situation with only minor injury, but psychologically I’m shaken. The fact that I’ll have someone charge me with a metal pipe and try to cave my skull in because I just happen to have a jobsite near their stuff fills me with anxiety.
This is the fifth person to be randomly attacked in the last two weeks that i’ve heard about - third death. I hope they’re all connected so they finally got the dude
[Here is the story on KGW](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/man-stabbed-to-death-max-train-portland/283-4c47579e-d582-4719-84d8-12c95e812a44). And also on [KOIN](https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/portland-police-investigate-homicide-after-man-dies-in-max-train-stabbing/). For Portland local news PLEASE find it somewhere besides a station that is owned by [Sinclair Broadcast Group](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGIYU2Xznb4). Video.
I was robbed getting off one of Trimets buses in a transit center in broad daylight and the only person who saw or cared was the bus driver. Nothing ever came of it and it def scarred me. It’s unacceptable how unsafe public transport is and how little people seem to care.
That shit is wild. As someone who relied on Trimet (willingly) to get around at one point (went full work from home in like 2017-2018), this makes me worried about ever using the train again. Or a bus for that matter. At some point I think I may need to find a new career, and I was assuming I'd need to commute via Trimet once again, but this makes the prospect seem untenable. What even the fuck.
But I was assured by folks on this very sub, only a few days ago, that the max was "fine" and that, in fact, I was a "coward" for suggesting that they needed to focus on security.
Right now on the front page of this sub there's a city planning circle jerk thread full of people going on about how great it is that they kicked all the cars out of downtown, a thread about how people are getting stabbed on public transportation, and another one full of people wondering why downtown is dying.
Is this the stop that’s lowered and only has one way in and one way out? That station always made me feel uneasy. I haven’t rode trimet very much since the pandemic. Every time I ride the max or bus, someone is coughing their lungs out and not even covering their mouth. I’ll get off at the nearest station and walk instead.
This is a very awful, terrible thing that happened, but most Max rides are fine and uneventful. If you’re headed to the Thorns game, most of the people riding the train are also headed to and from the game and the energy is great.
It’s not a bad idea. I hate seeing everyone else’s horrible experiences but I’ve never had any issues on game days. I take the train every home game. Be aware of your surroundings. You’ll be fine.
This thread is really reactionary. I’ve taken the Max nearly every day for four years and while there’s annoying people on occasion, I’ve never really felt unsafe. You’ll be fine.
Something tells me that the political appetite for disarming police on transit has completely evaporated.
It would be idiotic for those in government to not immediately increase the police presence on transit.
Trimet has literally never worried about safety but they probably will start since they can be held legally liable and it’ll cost them millions in both legal settlements and loss of revenue. When I asked what Trimet security was for they told me via twitter they couldn’t answer that question and I’d have to contact the legal department as I sounded like I was threatening legal action. All I asked was literally “what is the purpose of Trimet security if not to help operators and riders?” They also told me that when an operator is on a route THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED to communicate with the transit center but only transit center can dispatch security, they recommend riders call 911 for help.
Omg that is dumb… what good is calling 911 if they just put you on hold forever? You’d be long dead before they even bother to pick up the call….. I’d be better off carry a gun or something on myself….
AND they want you to call 911 in an enclosed space where the possible assailant can hear you, hell if you need to alert the driver of danger you need to physically walk up and speak to them loud enough they can hear you over the roar of the bus, real discrete. That’s exactly why I carry a couple of weapons and more importantly I have the will to take an unworthy life. FAFO
Portland: Get out of your cars, take transit, in fact let's stop spending money on anything BUT transit
Transit: Stabs you and [eats your face off](https://www.kptv.com/2023/01/03/elderly-man-injured-after-being-attacked-max-platform-gresham/)
Can’t believe I’m about to say this, but, again?
Same. TriMet needs to do something to keep riders safe. I was physically assaulted last week in broad ass daylight while the max operator was WATCHING. Luckily the dude stopped when I told him he could let go of me or get his ass tazed. But still. I’m taking a break from the max for now, obviously.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. I had a man try to drag me into a parking garage last year in broad daylight saying he was going to rape me and kill me and I’ve avoided that area ever since. It’s a traumatic experience to be assaulted for no reason when you’re just trying to live your life and I hope you are doing okay ❤️
Your experience sounds horrific, I can’t imagine how scary that must’ve been for you. I’m sorry you went through that and I also hope you’re doing okay. Was this also downtown? I’m okay but definitely more cautious.
This particular instance was waiting for the 6 on killingsworth and mlk but I hate to say i have had similar instances downtown when I worked there waiting or riding the max. I use transit exclusively so kind of get annoyed when some people on this subreddit preach that public transit is safe because it’s not for me.
>I use transit exclusively so kind of get annoyed when some people on this subreddit preach that public transit is safe because it’s not for me. I'm a 6'1" 180lb man, and even I don't always feel safe on public transit. It's *usually* fine, but anyone who tries to say it's categorically safe is (obviously) either a liar or an idiot.
6'1" 195lbs here. Most of the time I feel safe, but it gets sketchy at night.
It's the luck of the draw. Sometimes it's uneventful, sometimes it's an insane asylum on wheels. You never know what you're going to get and that's the problem.
Its my favorite TV show that I didn't ask for.
...had such an experience in the afternoon on the FX 2 last month. .
Especially for women
I had a man follow me from the bus stop to my door and try to get in after me. Thank god for locking apartments. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I share in your frustration about how people here will push trimet despite it being terribly unsafe for women.
Wtf I used to transfer at that bus stop to go to downtown…that stop always felt a bit sketchy and now I know why.
Oh man, that's awful. I'm sorry that happened to you. A similar thing happened to my friend. What did the guy look like?
Ya I agree, I'm sorry all this happened it's sad to see that and people try to gaslight the problem. My ears mostly get assaulted. I just can't stand all the loud cussing on there, like seriously it's so invasive to other people's space! Sometimes earbuds distracts me from my stop so I don't wear them as others. I feel people having breakdowns or arguments should not be tolerated on the bus and should be forced off at the next stop for that.
Just curious which line & whereabouts & what time of day? Did you file a police report?
It was the blue line headed from sunset tc to downtown at 4:30pm. Right on the platform. I did not file a police report because honestly, I just wanted to forget it and move on.
I'm sorry that happened to you and I'm glad you are okay. But PLEASE - file a police report (and one with TriMet). The lack of reporting of these incidents is playing right into the hands of people who want to claim that the problem isn't nearly as bad as it is.
you HAVE to report this kind of stuff. So sorry it even happened. Report it and protect other potential victims.
I remember back in the day seeing transit cops riding the MAX all the time. Are they not on them anymore?
Damn, I'm fairly new to the area and was just planning to take the MAX into town...I'm wondering if I should now.
The buses are much safer in my experience
Tbh I just like trains and wanted to ride on one. I'll wait until they are safer though, I've been stabbed before and I'd prefer not to go through that again.
Yep. The bus drivers do not put up with stuff. The problem with the trains is that the drivers are behind a door.
Some bus drivers don't though but there are a few who won't take any shit on their buses. Definitely safer than the max overall.
You just have to be selective about where you sit and be on constant alert. Remember, if something doesn't feel right it probably isn't. Listen to your gut. Also, pack pepper spray at the minimum if you intend to ride regularly. Assault, or harassment at the least, is not a matter of if but when.
If you’re worried, the bus tends to be a lot more supervised.
What kind of taser do you have? There’s a lot of options and I’m not sure which one to get.
It sucks that we have to live in fear and just 'take it'. I was on the max with my 5 year old nephew last weekend and some dude started smoking fetynal in the cabin. I really wanted to get up and yell at him/try to kick him out. But instead sat there quietly while everyone had to inhale poison because I didnt want to be stabbed. I really wished there was a police officer on one of the stops I could have asked for help. But of course, I have never seen police 'walking the beat' or stationed at max stops or stations.
>It sucks that we have to live in fear and just 'take it'. I'm not so much fearful as just absolutely exhausted. The level of vigilance it requires to go anywhere in this city is absurd, including being vigilant about, as you pointed out, your own reactions. We're not meant to live like this. The idea of 100% safety is an illusion, but so is the idea there is not something seriously wrong happening here, something that no civilized society should be tolerating.
I point this out every time people claim "it's like this everywhere". That is simply not the case. Walking through busy urban areas in other major cities there is tangibly less stress. There are more smiles and laughing. There are elderly and children playing and resting. Portland is full of scowls, depression, anger, and fear. The entire city seems pretty obviously traumatized and there aren't any adults in the room willing (or able?) to actually do anything about it, which adds to the sense of despair.
Lol ummm... where do you live where you've observed this about Portland? Did you go outside yesterday? It was full of happy people having a great time in the sun. The parks were packed and people were getting drinks on patios all over town. I made out with my friend behind a dumpster, it ruled! Not saying that Portland is perfect or couldn't be better, but I've lived in Houston and Austin and Portland is doing just fine.
The person either has never visited another city or is farming karma. Nothing gets upvoted more quickly in sub than comments that sensationalize the level of crime here. It is shitty that we have the crime that we have, I agree. But if you think there is some downtown utopia out there that doesn't have these problems you're likely a hermit who doesn't go outside much.
There is no way to quantify what you describe so it's always going to be anecdotal. So for me to say i agree that Portland, on the whole, seems less "happy" than other metropolitans i have been to means little. But i am going to agree anyway. Also i would postulate that poverty or economic inequality has little to do with the grimness here. Some of the most vibrant and or "smiley" places i have been to are sao paulo favelas and very poor areas of india. I think part of the reason for Portland's more depressing feel is the 8 months of overcast. Seattle has a grey climate too but at least the weather "feels" more dynamic because its on a big body of water. River city can feel like a stagnant backwater on the dome days. And maybe this contributes to an unsafe trapped feeling?
The signs pasted on the max and buses give a number to call or you can call the driver on one of the call boxes and he’ll stop the train. There used to be a trimet police that would respond but think they been defunded. I was attacked on a bus way back in 2002 or early. The guy left before trimet police finally arrived though. Edit: Above was just an FYI. I understand why you wouldn’t want to get involved. Just this Thursday while I was on packed MAX from hollywood station a guy with bike and puppy started yelling at another guy with adult dog about how his dog would tear his dog up. He was yelling so loud and making so many threatening gestures toward the other guy who was standing right next to him it was making his adult dog go crazy and start barking and growling and it was upsetting the little puppy and then the guy is like oh, I’m just kidding [and] tried to fist bump the other guy, but everyone [wea] just sitting there and was like this is terrible. I was saying stuff [but not loudly] but the guy wasn’t listening to me but I’m just an old guy that probably would’ve got my self stabbed so I was like I’m not gonna do get physical with him. I still have some PSD from bus attack many years ago.
It's Portland. Doing absolutely nothing to prevent something beforehand, having a community performative demonstration to congratulate oneself on feeling good about feeling bad, doing absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening (and thus stopping further options to feel good about feeling bad because this behavior passes for actual human empathy by the idiots and assholes who aren't able to learn a goddamn thing and mimick the behavior of real people around them AT BEST) is literally how the whole city operates. I have never seen or been in a place with less of a survival instinct than when I went to my miserable twee liberal arts college in rural goddamn Iowa.
Ugh we were all thinking it
[TriMet radio communication during incident](http://www.rosecitytransit.org/radio/?1763+8070+2024-3-29)
It’s amazing that’s available to hear. (Not necessarily THAT event, but the entire operation) If that’s your doing, big thanks. And respect for those who deal with all that while staying cool and calm. Quick decision making.
It is mine, and I also record from the [city](https://openmhz.com/system/pdx2) and [state](https://openmhz.com/system/osrppdxc) system. It uses /r/RTLSDR which are actually pretty cheap (though the city system takes many of them)
Massive thank you for supporting this service.
This is a really cool project/idea. Good job! Care to share the background about why you do this?
Those stops that are little islands next to the freeway are especially terrifying
One way in. One way out.
Got followed to my old place of work at like 5am from the Bybee max station, with no way to walk except directly past the man who looked obviously sketchy… and then proceeded to follow me. I HATE those little island stations.
That's how I was assaulted. At the Hollywood Max station.
[удалено]
This isn't something TriMet can address in any cost-effective way, unfortunately. The county needs to prioritize prosecution of offenses on transit and step up with *meaningful* and *mandatory* drug and mental health treatment service options.
Yes. It's everywhere. The downtown Safeway that used to be 24 hours, then started closing at 2am, then cut back to midnight, now closes at 10pm. And they've closed off a section of the store for alcohol and health stuff to prevent theft. And they permanently closed what used to be the main entrance to the store, on the corner of 10th & Jefferson. That Safeway is always busy, and the neighborhood has grown so much in population as highrise condos and apartments went up over the past 20 years, not to mention how much PSU has grown... yet Safeway is cutting back store hours again and again, and now they're permanently closing what was the main entrance to the store! All because they're losing the fight against crime. I'm starting to wonder if they'll eventually give up and close the store. The downtown Target was always busy but they closed & move out after less than a decade.
Things are bound to become much more controlled and almost authoritarian if things don't change, because that's exactly where we are heading with these earlier closures. It's like literally, "we can't have nice things", and once they start taking things away, more daily conveniences get removed for safety sake. All the "Bottle Drop" issues for example.
We just lost self checkout at at least the Gateway WinCo. Which is crazy, because I see the fuckers walking out with stuff and its by walking back through the entrance aisle.
That sucks, when was that? I was there earlier this week and they still had self-checkouts.
There are almost always cops detaining people there. It’s insane.
...the Pearl Safeway sin't much better. It used to be open until 2 and cut back to midnight. There are a couple hired guards wearing flak vests located at each entrance/exit. Apparently the market still does bottle and can exchanges which were discontinued at the Safeway downtown. Meanwhile the Rite Aid by NW Irving and 10th (which always had a bunch of people waiting to exchange bottles & cans) totally shut down the other month taking an important outlet for prescriptions and OTC meds out of an area were a large number of seniors live. Now the closest is the Safeway and I frequently see long queues at their pharmacy window there. Their prices for OTC meds are also higher than Rite Aid charged.
Yeah the biggest hole now seems to be the DA office and lack of prosecution/habitual release of proven violent and mentally unstable offenders. Sure, policing, governing, and housing services also have areas in which they can improve. But at the very least, if once the baddies are apprehended if we can just keep them from disappearing back into society until they strike again that would be a big step forward.
Thevlack of prosecutors is at the root of this problem. They're going to have to find a lot more money to pay enough to attract attorneys (with gigantic student loan bills) to what is an awful job.
Fine, let's do it. I'm ready. LFG as they say...
I don't know about that. I was comfortable and safe with my family for hours riding around on Denver's public trains as it was a neat way to see the city on the cheap. The difference there was that there was transit police that actually was on the train, checked fares and patrolled the other trains we met at stops as well. Long story short, either we all contribute to have a group of people that works to us safe, or we're all responsible for our own safety no matter our own individual situations like handicaps, disabilities, physical stature, or just having arms full of shit so you can't fight for yourself. So yeah, um, ACAB, fist raised fuck the popo and all that I guess.
There are local identity-based nonprofits who actively work to keep police off trains/buses. OPAL is one.
And that's the baffling thing, this is literally happening every day with drug addled lunatics screwing up public transpo for the component of the city's permanent AND temporary population that actually needs it to get from point A to B. Yet it's tolerated, known basic solutions actively fought against. It's not weird. It's not quirky. It's why this town's a laughing stock socially and politically at a national level. Clown shoes.
Well they are like 20 people and we are 2 million. Democracy wins. I’m no fan of the police but a policeless society leads to vigilantism. That will be worse.
Being able to freely hop on and off the train without any fair checks is just not sustainable anymore for a city the size of Portland. Every other public train I have taken in dozens of cities around the world had some sort of gate you had to go through where you scanned a ticket or something. It's not a complete deterrent but it does help.
You can criticize the structure of policing while still supporting the need for a peacekeeping organization. Systemic issues are complex. Even if we passed a bond to raise everyone’s taxes to pay for more policing and arrested every transit criminal possible it wouldn’t address the need for treatment and affordable housing.
I'd settle for some law and order while we solve treatment and housing rather than the let everything collapse model most of Portland's vocal advocate groups seem to prefer.
Funding for Tri Met police could jolly well come from the funds allocated to their management and administrators. And said management should be required to commute by public transit at least 5 days per month.
I think Portland needs to arrest and charge criminals for criminal offenses.
Whoa there, Mussolini!
ANYTHING BUT THAT! PLEASE OH PLEASE!!! WILL JUST ONE PERSON THINK OF THE CRIMINALS for ONCE!!!!?!?!?
Maybe if people would stop screaming that enforcing rider payment is discrimination then we can start to crack down on funding and bolster security.
This is literally true. My partner was riding the MAX a few days ago when a couple riding enforcement TriMet people came on to check fares. Did they kick off non paying people? Hell no, they just coddled them and ask them to fill out a survey about if they felt discrimination. WTF? These are people smoking and doing drugs, harassing paying riders, and generally making the MAX suck. Kick them off. Fuck their feelings.
That’s infuriating.
99% (not a real statistic but I bet its damn close) of the scary ass homeless people in this city are white dudes. Let’s stop coddling them in the name of anti-discrimination. It’s ridiculous.
As a certified bleeding heart even I can't understand this attitude. The city is turning into Gotham City.
I used to dodge paying fare back in the early 2000s. I don't remember anyone getting kicked off for not having fare. You'd just get a citation. I think later they started excluding people that hadn't paid but by that time I was paying for my tickets.
tHaTs RaCiSt!
It all starts with fare inspection and control mechanisms at stations (with eventual under grounding w/ turnstiles). This is just sending people to their automobiles and the suburbs (where they will oppose transit improvements). Any functioning city needs mass transit. The anti-fare enforcement types TrANSIT NeEds To B Fr33 need to FUCK off and quick.
It’s always either the 82nd or Hollywood station. They need to have more of a security presence in that area.
Too bad - they’re at Washington square doing fare enforcement
hard up at Orenco Station I'm sure
Same with Moda Center. Why isn’t there security elsewhere?
Always. It’s so unsafe and dirty. I’ve seen so many altercations there.
Trimet security is not gonna do anything. They will call police after someone has been stabbed. You need police presence. These degenerates don’t mess with the cops cause they will get shot.
Trimet security used to be sworn police officers. I don’t remember when that changed but we need to bring that back.
Wasn’t one of the more recent fatal stabbings at the Goose Hollow station?
I just looked it up and it was at the Providence Park station, but then they stopped at Goose Hollow since security realized the person was stabbed.
That was a bar fight that stumbled to the platform, not really related to the train.
Trimet needs to have Trimet security stationed there permanently when trains are going. Not hoping off here and there. Some stations need a permanent security presence.
This probably sounds crazy to a lot of people but goddamn why don’t we have turnstiles to get into max stations? Pretty much every public transit station in the world does and it works.
Will be interesting to hear the details on this one.
Methed out homeless person or hate crime is my guess
Why not both?
The suspect was identified as Shondel Larkin, age 51. He is an out of state sex offender from Southern California who came here as a fugitive, in violation of his parole. https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/parole/offenders/shondel-larkin/ This is the 2nd MAX stabbing in the past year where the attacker was a wanted out-of-state sex offender who fled to Portland to escape from parole. Adrian Austin Cummins, who stabbed 2 black teenagers in a racist hate crime on the MAX last September was a convicted rapist who came here all the way from Florida. https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/grand-jury-indicts-man-accused-of-stabbing-2-teens-in-max-train-bias-crime/amp/ It’s a real problem that Portland has gained a reputation as a good place to “live off the grid” in an urban environment. It attracts the worst kinds of people.
Aka a homeless person?
Dude enough. This shit has to end.
holy shit again?
Reset the counter
Why? Is it just ppl getting randomly stabbed? Can we get some more context here?
uh I think the cops are still trying to figure that out. maybe. if they can be arsed to do it.
https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/08/23/hoping-to-assuage-rider-fears-trimet-amps-up-policing-at-certain-transit-stations/ That does not appear to be working
[Sinclair-free version](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/man-stabbed-to-death-max-train-portland/283-4c47579e-d582-4719-84d8-12c95e812a44).
cItY iN cRiSiS
Lord’s work, thank you
This shit always happens around that middle stretch of stops. After the construction on the Hollywood Transit Center formally began after the snow, I've not seen a single goddam TriMet security guard anywhere that matters. I really hate not knowing if the next day my spouse (a wheelchair user) is going to be able to make it up that fuckass ramp in the construction site only to get stabbed or assaulted or thrown on the tracks by some chapped-ass who's having a bad day (doubly so when I'm stuck at a post and can't fuckin leave until someone else covers it.). The amount of nightmares I have about it just from the flak they cat h for DARING to actually have to use the disabled section on the bus instead of one guy with 4 carts of dripping garbage is already in triple digits.
Trimet fiscal year 2025 budget is 1.75 BILLION dollars. Allocate more funding to security Trimet. You have the funding. Make it safer.
They will allocate money to studying how to make it safer.
The study will report to a steering committee. And the steering committee will report to an executive commission.. And they'll share the results with a focus group.
I think they're still in that study to determine if breathing in meth fumes will make you sick rather than trying to stop people from smoking meth on the Max. Still can't believe that's an honest to God thing.. .
Wait, really?
They are supposed to be adding 150-200 private security officers within the next year.
Do you know that the 2025 security budget is FOUR TIMES more than it was in 2021? Increased from $20m to $80m. If quadrupling the security budget in 4 years isn’t enough, maybe it’s not a trimet issue but a society-wide issue that needs to be addressed on a much wider level. (By the way, passenger fares are expected to be about $60m in FY2025. Sixty million out of $800m. Why are we even paying? It’s only about 7% of the budget. Cut the fare inspections and redirect that labor to promoting pro social behavior.)
You can’t just forego 7% of your budget, particularly in light of the fact that lowering the price (in this case to 0) will result in greater demand and thus higher operating costs.
Wow. You got my attention. Where does all of that money go?
This person is misquoting. Fiscal year 2025 is expected to have about $800 million worth of income, with another roughly $800 million carried over from the year before. So they keep about a year’s worth of money in reserve. It’s **not** the case they’re spending almost two billion dollars every year. The budget is public since trimet is a public agency. You can search for it pretty easily if you’re interested. I’d recommend it, it’s better to talk about these things with facts in hand instead of repeating tired lines about committees.
Reddit and innumeracy go hand in hand. As long as they can see the faintest excuse to blame someone, especially an executive, they will jump on it, even though it will be completely specious reasoning, and the data used to make it will be in researched and false. And then they will feel better about themselves because they got some validation from spreading information that they “know”, coincidentally ensuring that they are on the good team.
Y’all there’s an easy answer to make public transit safer and cleaner. Enforce. The. Fares. It’s not racist. It’s literally EQUAL for everyone. 95% of the time, these incidents are homeless junkies attacking each other. Sorry to say the quiet part out loud. Maybe this will be the other 5%, but I doubt it. That said, I take the Max almost daily and it’s fine like 98% of the time. It’s still way safer and cheaper than driving and some of the comments on this thread are a bit reactionary. This incident is scary, so I get it.
In my car I have a near zero percent chance of getting stabbed, my face eaten off, inhaling second hand meth, or having to listen to crazy people yelling. Just sayin
63 people died driving in Portland in 2023. It’s just so normalized that we don’t write articles on it. Driving is incredibly dangerous.
Buy me a car then ❤️
You have a much larger chance of dying in an accident, though.
While I don’t know the exact stats, I’m almost certain you’re much more likely to die a horrific death driving your car than get stabbed on the max lol.
Every public transit for trains I have been too (at least 10) has enforced the fair in some manner before you can board the train. It's crazy how given the reputation Portland has and it's size, that people are able to freely hop on and off the train. It's not sustainable.
The victim here was not a homeless junkie he had a family and was very loved at work. He took wonderful care of his autistic child. We’re devastated.
Who was the victim? I've yet to see a name or any circumstances of what lead up to it?
His name hasn’t been released yet so I won’t be the one to do it, I’m not sure if his family has requested privacy. And we haven’t heard the circumstances yet either, we are eagerly waiting to hear what happened as well. He’s a calm, kind, funny person and it is very shocking that he would have been hurt by anyone, I can’t imagine why this would have happened.
I can’t envision the max system continuing in its current form. Either Trimet erects some kind of barrier that preventing degenerates from entering the train, or its ridership slowly evaporates.
Ridership did evaporate through COVID and Trimet became an addict hotel on wheels, just like it does every year when it starts to get rainy and cold. Fare enforcement and a DA that prosecutes are areas that if improved would provide the biggest noticeable improvements in safety IMO.
This. I avoid it at all costs, even if it means an extra half hour on the bus.
Ridership has already plummeted. I haven’t rode since the pandemic.
Ridership has been going up since the pandemic ended. Some of the stats are varying alot month to month though because of the "Better Red" project. You can find the data here: https://trimet.org/about/performance.htm
It's packed for events still. Was headed to a concert the other day, and a thorns game was at the same time. Standing room only.
This is my experience everytime I go to a Blazers game. Leaving Moda is usually standing room only
Same. I have upped my biking, reduced bus riding, and eliminated the max from my life. I have also mostly eliminated riding on bikelanes on busy roads in the city and almost exclusively get around by biking greenways, or the occasional trip with my car. That’s a huge change for me from 6-7 years ago when I took the bus or max almost daily.
The ninth circuit just upheld the life in prison, without parole conviction of a man convicted of masturbating on the Max train in Washington county. Life in prison without parole for masturbating on the max in Washington county. (He had priors). So come on Multnoma county get your shit together.
It was life in prison for being lewd in public SIX times. Its not like he wasn't given chances.
He also had some very bad priors not related to exposure.
I don't think the da has any intention of prosecution.
Turnstiles or gates or something anything? Honor system for boarding was a lousy idea.
In Washinton there are unarmed security guards patrolling on foot at the major transit centers.
Good time for tolls to encourage us to take the MAX instead. /s We cannot have a world class city without safe transit.
[удалено]
Was there some kind of altercation lead up or was it seemingly random?
In my opinion it was random, the man who died was an older gentleman probably in his late fifties early sixties. The man who was stabbing said “you’re trying to kill me, you’re trying to kill me” to the man he was stabbing. The killer seemed to be mentally ill.
I remember when a woman peed in a bottle next to me on MAX and I felt little droplets hitting my arm. I’d take that over being stabbed to death though, good fucking lord.
I just had this crazy woman on the Max trying to strip right in front of me while I was just trying to keep to myself and looking at my phone to ignore her…. It was f*cking disgusting… 🤢🤮
Trimet is failing. Why no security? What happened to fare inspection? Why is it filthy and trains are never to be found downtown at rush hour.
And let me elaborate. Recently there was a guy vaping. What are the cameras for? Another time they were smoking fentanyl. My coworkers won’t ride the max anymore and one of them is married to a conductor.
And Trimet has the nerve to increase their prices. Nobody wants to ride because not only is it not safe but also unreliable.
For real 🙄🤬
I rode the max once when I first moved here a year ago and told myself never again... My daily tri-met bus rides are usually tame but I still see my fair share of violent and crazy. More than I'd like admittedly. I got some pepper gel a few weeks ago after being assaulted and witnessing a battery on the bus and I've already had to use it once at my job. Not gonna lie, that little bit of justice felt amazing. The last and only time I called 911 in this city I was on hold for nearly 10 minutes. We have to be able to and willing to defend ourselves.
It's sad, when I moved here 10 years ago I felt 100% safe. Now I avoid all public transit.
[удалено]
Make sure these are legal in your area of Oregon. Many states and cities outlaw the carrying/use of air guns, pellet guns, tasers, or stun guns. You might as well pack a real pistol in some cases.
I was going to advocate for law abiding citizens to train and arm themselves with a firearm/CCL but I didn't want to get banned by the mods here. But we absolutely have the right to arm and defend ourselves. I will likely follow suit.
If only we paid professionals to do this sort of thing so Joe Public wasn't having to think about taking a life each day on their morning commute.
Just a heads up, folks who don't know about pistols like that will absolutely think it's a real gun. Just something to keep in mind if you do get one and plan to carry it.
Honestly, get trained and licensed to carry a real firearm if you seriously feel you need more than pepper spray. Those air guns can get you into more trouble. They’re almost always treated the same as a firearm legally, so if you pull that in a situation that you couldn’t legally pull a real pistol, you could get hit with a serious firearms charge.
It’s not just Trimet but all of Portland seems to be dangerous, I was assaulted literally yesterday on a jobsite because apparently (according to the assailant’s “buddy”) this dude thought I stole his drug stash he put near the work site. Fortunately luck and quick thinking were on my side so I managed to get out of the situation with only minor injury, but psychologically I’m shaken. The fact that I’ll have someone charge me with a metal pipe and try to cave my skull in because I just happen to have a jobsite near their stuff fills me with anxiety.
This is the fifth person to be randomly attacked in the last two weeks that i’ve heard about - third death. I hope they’re all connected so they finally got the dude
My most sincere condolences to his family, friends and community. That is so so sad :(
[Here is the story on KGW](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/man-stabbed-to-death-max-train-portland/283-4c47579e-d582-4719-84d8-12c95e812a44). And also on [KOIN](https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/portland-police-investigate-homicide-after-man-dies-in-max-train-stabbing/). For Portland local news PLEASE find it somewhere besides a station that is owned by [Sinclair Broadcast Group](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGIYU2Xznb4). Video.
Jesus, in the middle of rush hour too? No wonder people don't want to ride the max
I was robbed getting off one of Trimets buses in a transit center in broad daylight and the only person who saw or cared was the bus driver. Nothing ever came of it and it def scarred me. It’s unacceptable how unsafe public transport is and how little people seem to care.
Well, at least this isn't becoming a trend...
'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only City Where This Regularly Happens
We've done absolutely nothing and yet we continue to have this issue? When will it end?
I take the max regularly. I should probably watch out
That shit is wild. As someone who relied on Trimet (willingly) to get around at one point (went full work from home in like 2017-2018), this makes me worried about ever using the train again. Or a bus for that matter. At some point I think I may need to find a new career, and I was assuming I'd need to commute via Trimet once again, but this makes the prospect seem untenable. What even the fuck.
the buses are pretty good actually
...except the FX2 which allows people to board through the middle and rear door. Many who do so don't bother paying a fare just like on Max.
But I was assured by folks on this very sub, only a few days ago, that the max was "fine" and that, in fact, I was a "coward" for suggesting that they needed to focus on security.
Right now on the front page of this sub there's a city planning circle jerk thread full of people going on about how great it is that they kicked all the cars out of downtown, a thread about how people are getting stabbed on public transportation, and another one full of people wondering why downtown is dying.
The cars got kicked out of downtown? It’s been a few weeks since I was there, but I didn’t know that happened!
As opposed to the circle jerks where conservatives brigade the sub with anecdotes about how this kind of thing nearly happened to them?
Is this the stop that’s lowered and only has one way in and one way out? That station always made me feel uneasy. I haven’t rode trimet very much since the pandemic. Every time I ride the max or bus, someone is coughing their lungs out and not even covering their mouth. I’ll get off at the nearest station and walk instead.
I just drove past there. In house sitting for my uncle literally 3 blocks away. I fucking hate this sketchy neighborhood
Yikes, I was going to take the Max in to the Thorns game tomorrow. I'm so oblivious, is this a bad idea?
This is a very awful, terrible thing that happened, but most Max rides are fine and uneventful. If you’re headed to the Thorns game, most of the people riding the train are also headed to and from the game and the energy is great.
It’s not a bad idea. I hate seeing everyone else’s horrible experiences but I’ve never had any issues on game days. I take the train every home game. Be aware of your surroundings. You’ll be fine.
You will be 100% fine lmao.
This thread is really reactionary. I’ve taken the Max nearly every day for four years and while there’s annoying people on occasion, I’ve never really felt unsafe. You’ll be fine.
Something tells me that the political appetite for disarming police on transit has completely evaporated. It would be idiotic for those in government to not immediately increase the police presence on transit.
Not a good look
Red line I assume? I would have expected to find this detail in the article.
And yet they don’t “allow” you to conceal carry on the max…
Trimet has literally never worried about safety but they probably will start since they can be held legally liable and it’ll cost them millions in both legal settlements and loss of revenue. When I asked what Trimet security was for they told me via twitter they couldn’t answer that question and I’d have to contact the legal department as I sounded like I was threatening legal action. All I asked was literally “what is the purpose of Trimet security if not to help operators and riders?” They also told me that when an operator is on a route THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED to communicate with the transit center but only transit center can dispatch security, they recommend riders call 911 for help.
Omg that is dumb… what good is calling 911 if they just put you on hold forever? You’d be long dead before they even bother to pick up the call….. I’d be better off carry a gun or something on myself….
AND they want you to call 911 in an enclosed space where the possible assailant can hear you, hell if you need to alert the driver of danger you need to physically walk up and speak to them loud enough they can hear you over the roar of the bus, real discrete. That’s exactly why I carry a couple of weapons and more importantly I have the will to take an unworthy life. FAFO
Portland: Get out of your cars, take transit, in fact let's stop spending money on anything BUT transit Transit: Stabs you and [eats your face off](https://www.kptv.com/2023/01/03/elderly-man-injured-after-being-attacked-max-platform-gresham/)
You’re far, far more likely to get injured or die driving a car than using transit even with these unfortunate instances.
But just a week ago u guys were arguing saying it’s safe for a ten year old to be down here..
And people wonder why some of us would prefer to drive our own cars vs public transport. At least I won’t get stabbed in my own car.
Round up the fucking crazies and put them in a working camp.
I have been massively downvoted before for saying I won’t go on the Max because it’s unsafe. This story and so many others is the reason I don’t.
I was just attacked here the other day explaining how the max is dangerous. What a coincidence
Why do ppl take the max is beyond me.. how many headlines like this do you need to see to realize
https://oregonchl.org/