I think it's important with discussions like these to include the city or area, and time period.

I can say for sure that the subway in DC was better and safer than cars for the most part, when I was there many moons ago -

However if you look at the people who are riding the bus in my current city, or at the times when I was in Vegas.. and I've heard the NY subway at night is nothing like the DC subway..

These discussions can have all people right and all people wrong when they are discussing how they view their apples to others oranges.