Don't Take Your Safe Commute for Granted

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.