Whilst I was in Florida during the past two weeks, I spent a few days in West Palm Beach. On two occasions I took the train from West Palm Beach to Metrorail Transfer, where I caught the light rail train to Miami.
The TriRail trains ran on time, and they were clean. The light rail connection was a different story. The trains were on time, but the cars that I rode in were anything but clean. Moreover, some of my fellow passengers were a bit scary. One person appeared to have just been released from a mental institution. She kept screaming at her reflection in the window. What really caught my attention, however, was the number of guns that I saw. Fortunately, they were being carried by the good guys, I presume.
All the TriRail ticket verifiers were armed with nine millimeter handguns. They certainly did not have a problem with the few riders who did not have a ticket. They agreed to buy at ticket at the next station without any fuss.
Every station had at least one or two guard with similar firepower. I felt like I was in a war zone. I have ridden public transit in most of America's major cities, as well as those in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK. I have never seen ticket checkers armed like those on TriRail.
I assume the large number of police (rent a cops) at the stations and on the trains speaks to a serious crime problem in Southeast Florida. Given the discussion in several other posts about the need to market passenger rail services, i.e. put a good spin on it, this does not appear to be a good signal.
In many parts of the world, what you observed is normal, and people go about their daily lives without a thought about any danger.
This is the enlightened response to mental health problems. Provide no funding to house and treat them, but spend billions on police forces to arrest them and incarcerate. We give the psychologically unstable the right to be thrown in jail.
As for the guns, it is far more politically popular to add police than fund schools and community centers. Welcome to the police state.
daveklepper In many parts of the world, what you observed is normal, and people go about their daily lives without a thought about any danger.
One of the reasons many if not most middle class people in my part of the country will not use public transport is because they perceive it as dangerous. Having a small army of gun toting security personnel on the trains and in the stations is not likely to assuage their fears.
Wow. i guess they're prepared for anything. they ought to do that on Amtrak to prevent people from bringing bombs onto the trains.
I ride the CTA (Chicago) occasionally these days and rode everyday back in the late 70's. Mentally ill folks were all around then as now, even though funding for CMH (community mental health) was at a higher level prior to 1981. But I don't recall ever seeing so many guns on board as sam1 describes in Miami.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
The Greater Miami area is probably one of the most culturally diverse areas of the country...Little Havana, Little Haiti and many other ethnic enclaves....all of which are existing at the lower levels of the economic ladder where crime is a way of life for many that feel society has put them at a disadvantage.
I don't know that guns are the answer, but where the locals pack heat, the security presence must also be armed.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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