The crime line

Jeez… and all this time I thought it was a myth that Amherst didn’t want the MetroRail extended to it’s town because it would bring the crime to it from the city. Turns out, that’s actually a fact in places like “idyllic” Portland.

When TriMet opened the light-rail line in 1986, it eliminated its transit police because it did not have enough money to both operate light rail and offer passenger security. The light rail gave drug dealers and other inner-city criminals easy access to the suburbs, and soon they were intimidating and assaulting riders.

If you can’t afford to make it safe, there’s no point in having it because the only ones who will end up riding it will be the criminals.