There are also no shortage of fates on the Subway, short of being murdered, that are way more likely to occur than driving. You aren’t likely to be groped while driving. Your kids also aren’t likely to be groped while driving.
Concern about public order is fair. But instead of fighting for the privilege to avoid it cheaply, why not fight to actually fix it. Triple the prison population, or whatever your solution is.
This cannot be solved. To force women on transit is to flip a coin whether they will be assaulted. You’re not going to beat a car culture with that strategy.
I heavily doubt that New York City has the appetite for incarceration that would be necessary, for even a remote chance, to turn public transit into a merely neutral option versus a car.
What about bikes? I thought they were great too, until someone was careless with their dog and left me bleeding and weighing the probabilities of serious disease. Just like that, the dream was dead and I realized we will never escape car culture.
Cars are bad. The alternatives are too flawed and dangerous in their own ways, to have any serious chance at unseating the incumbent.
As for “it doesn’t apply universally,” that’s not an argument because almost nothing applies universally - not even a sunrise and sunset, if you’re at the North Pole. My point can still be valid in almost all metro areas.
Finally, let’s say I did use these systems (and, sometimes, I do use public transit). I’m a man, you are 90% likely here to be a man, we’re not the ones getting groped, therefore our personal opinions on the likelihood are obviously irrelevant. You should be asking your wife and your 15 year old daughter to ride for a year and rate their comfort level.
> What about bikes? I thought they were great too, until someone was careless with their dog and left me bleeding and weighing the probabilities of serious disease.
You know you can trip, fall, hit your head and die on the spot anytime you walk anywhere right? A piano can randomly fall on your head too. Nothing is 100% safe; it's unfortunate you had an accident, but that's just anecdotal evidence, which is worthless.
As with so many other things about NYC, salacious stories are given a funhouse mirror effect: you wouldn't want to fill your car's gas tank next to someone who has a victim in their trunk, but that person isn't being given national news coverage like the corpse abuser was.
[1]: https://nypost.com/2025/04/03/us-news/nyc-subway-crime-drops...
https://nypost.com/2025/05/14/us-news/nyc-subway-musicians-f...
New York Times in March:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/nyregion/subway-crime-nyc...
The Times article doesn't mention this year's stats. Last year's were definitely worse, so it's not surprising they mention that.
In any other metro area, which the commentator specifically called for these fees to spread to, there absolutely is not.
Felony assault on the Subway is also up 55% since 2019, 9% so far this year. It’s not like it was pretty in 2019 either.
Pay $180 a month, or risk being next to the guy indicted 3 hours ago (literally) for sexually abusing a corpse. On the subway.