You know what we could use more of in this world?
Well-trained public safety officials. Seriously. The world is a dangerous place, and we rely on police, firefighters, and other dedicated public safety workers to, well, keep us safe.
For example…here in the Boston area…the MBTA is going bankrupt. I think that more and more people are afraid to use this public transit system these days, and with good reason. In addition to the buses and trains themselves being broken down and potentially dangerous, there’s also the issue of crime. People are getting mugged, stabbed, and even shot at T stations and on T buses. Yet little is done about it, as the T is crying poverty.
Well, you have to spend money to make money. Maybe if the T rounded up its best police officers, and gave them financial assistance in obtaining a public safety degree, it might go a long way. Once these people get their degrees, they will be qualified to supervise and train other T cops and security guards. And then, in the long run, people would feel safer riding the T, ridership will go up, and therefore, more money will come in.
An online school like Lewis University is ideal for these workers. They’d still be able to work at their jobs, and attend online classes in the comfort of their own homes, during their spare time.
In addition to the violence on the T, many people are put off by minor things they see in stations and on vehicles, which would be eliminated if they had enough cops and security people. Public drinking. Public urination. Kids on skateboards/scooters/heelys on the subway platforms. Aggressive panhandling. And, last, but most certainly not least, fare evasion. That last thing alone, if they did anything about it, would reap in enough lost revenue to pay for the extra cops and security that the T needs.
Yeah, we rode the T to an event in Boston, and it was not pleasant…the event was great, the train rides back and forth were not. No wonder more and more people just choose to drive, rather than taking the T.
Maybe if they offered their best staffers some good training, hired additional staff for them to supervise, they might gain ridership and dig themselves out of the mess they are in.
