Edit topic

Updated your discussion topic below.

Subject
Enter a subject for your topic. Maximum 150 characters.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
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.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
E-mail Subscribe
Check the box below if you want to receive e-mail notifications when replies are made to this thread.

Receive notifications