Why Does the Wilbur Theatre Suck? Better Rock Shows in 5 Steps
Photo of the Day, November 24, 2009: Hook, Line, and Sinker
Photo of the Day, November 25, 2009: Boston as seen from the harbor
Cheap Eats: Burtons Grill
Sports Redux: Nobody Puts Bergey In the Corner
In his appearance last week on Radio Boston, Dan Grabauskas didn't discuss the issue of violence on the T. No one else asked him about it, either. But he has a lot to do now that a 15-year-old named Tiara Amarante documented the perils of riding the 23 bus. People riding the 23 are living in fear of thugs who pack heat, fight and intimidate riders on a daily basis.
Amarante is a freshman at the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, and she describes how she gets through her bus ride. From the Globe:
She sits close to one of the two exits, so she can get out quickly if a passenger pulls out a gun or knife. When other riders begin to scream or argue, she casts her eyes downward: to stare is to ask for trouble. At night, when she is coming home from her civic issues meeting after school, she waits for the bus at the stops with the brightest street lighting or where police cars usually idle.
Does a student need to go through this? Really? Amarante was smart and started taking notes on everything she saw. The MBTA wields statistics to show the bus is safe. They also started installing cameras on the buses after a teenager was shot in the head on the 23, but nothing is going to work better than a human presence. A camera will work only after the fact. Frankly, Amarante has proven herself smarter than an army of stat-massagers by tracking her experience and taking it public.
The MBTA isn't causing this violence--the thugs are. But how hard could it be for the T to employ a member of the transit police to ride the bus so people can reach their destinations without getting shot by boneheads? If they can bring out loads of officers for No Pants 2K8, surely they can help protect riders of the 23. Bostonist was amazed at the number of officers who were on hand for No Pants 2K8--those officers should be on the 23.
Image of the 23 line from the MBTA.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
The standard MBTA line (this from the dogeared "Master Book of MBTA Excuses") reads: "Rest easy. The [insert conveyance mode here] are safe".
A former head of the T police invoked this after a string of violence in stations and on trains and buses a few years ago.
Pathetic, sad, and inexcusable that 15 year old children need to be concerned with survival while being transported by our illustrious transit "authority".
Am I missing something here? According to the story, there were only 3 incidents in all of 2007.
Three! And how many rode that bus route in all of 2007? Well over a million. That's why the Globe came up with a map that shows crime NEAR the bus route. They had to. The actual stats don't support the claims being made about the route itself.
I think the news this week is that the O'Bryant kids are kinda badass.
There were 3 incedents that were *reported.* That doesn't include the daily incidents of scuffles, arguments, drug deals, etc. that go unreported. That's why the high school students are working on doing their own documentation, to show that there are many MORE than 3 incidents.
Cant' wait to see the "results" of the students' study. I'm sure it won't be biased at all.
Yeah, Jer, just a little crime hardens the kids up! Good for 'em!