Children on Public Transit

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Not to nitpick but this literally a common experience in Calgary. Change red wine for other boozy products.

Quite frankly: Who cares?

I find North American drinking laws draconian.

If someone wants to have a drink on the train on their way home its no skin off my ass. As long as they're not causing trouble I couldnt care less.

If more people had a glass of wine on the train on the way home from work it would probably make the entire process more enjoyable for everyone.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Locke

Quite frankly: Who cares?

I find North American drinking laws draconian.

If someone wants to have a drink on the train on their way home its no skin off my ass. As long as they're not causing trouble I couldnt care less.

If more people had a glass of wine on the train on the way home from work it would probably make the entire process more enjoyable for everyone.

Oh I agree was just saying its not really a bad thing.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Oh I agree was just saying its not really a bad thing.

Not at all, but at the time, for someone who was acquainted with Calgary Transit it was a hell of a surprise.

Most of the time in Calgary if someone were to so much as crack a can of pop they'd be tackled by Transit Cops to make sure its not booze.

This woman opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass and everyone in the train car was totally cool with it while I was not expecting that.

I dont know, I just find the criticism of Calgary Transit to be a bit over the top.

[JFK]

Calgary Ctrain after nine still pales to the NYC subway on a Sunday afternoon.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by JFK

How often do you?

It's not Mad Max: Ctrain Road out there, Cliff.

I'm not suggesting it is. I'm just commenting (as others have done) that it has gotten noticeably worse. And people who haven't taken the C-Train in years, or who only ride during the day or going to Flames games, may not have noticed.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by JFK

Calgary Ctrain after nine still pales to the NYC subway on a Sunday afternoon.

Thats just Anarchy. Getting off of the NYC subway is like Snake Plisken trying to escape from New York. Calgary Transit is a pleasant picnic in comparison.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'm not suggesting it is. I'm just commenting (as others have done) that it has gotten noticeably worse. And people who haven't taken the C-Train in years, or who only ride during the day or going to Flames games, may not have noticed.

So you still haven't answered the question, the same you asked Locke. How often do you take the train late at night?

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by JFK

So you still haven't answered the question, the same you asked Locke. How often do you take the train late at night?

8 or 9 times a year. How often do you?

[JFK]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

8 or 9 times a year. How often do you?

Couple three times a month.

The s/o takes it often (night shift nurse) and that petite thing, while having some funny stories, hasn't seen anything that would chill them to the bone.

[Oling_Roachinen]

It's pretty apparent in this thread the people who are taking the train late at night and those who don't.

No one is saying it's the Lord of the Flies out there, but last winter I had to disembark my train twice in a week due to "biohazards" in the form of the splattered blood from the fight/assault that took place.

As someone who frequently uses the NE train at all hours of the day, and have been for a decade, I've seen numerous incidents (fights, assaults, needles,) or near-incidents (threats, challenges, yelling, just weirdos). These aren't insignificant numbers, although I've been on the train literally thousands of times.

I think for children the good ol' playground zone rule of thumb would be fine for me. One hour after sunset, before looking or planning other transportation. I'm as far from a helicopter you'll get, especially as I have no children so I don't need to concern myself with hypothetical what-ifs, but it's not a negligible risk taking C-Train in the evening.

And yes, I would have no issue saying it has gotten worse over the last decade. I use to wear my headphones, zone out and even sleep without concern for my surroundings, but that's not quite the case when I'm taking it back at 1 AM any more.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by JFK

Couple three times a month.

The s/o takes it often (night shift nurse) and that petite thing, while having some funny stories, hasn't seen anything that would chill them to the bone.

For #####'s sake. Neither have I.

I simply commented in a thread where 90 per cent of my comments have been about how safe Calgary transit is that in my experience the C-Train late in the evening has become sketchier than it used to be.

I'm among a small fraction of parents in this city today who would let their 10 year olds kids ride the C-Train alone, but I'm a scare-monger

[GirlySports]

I think we've gotten off topic here.

Let's get back to kids taking transit to junior high at 8am and 4pm.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

...On somewhat of a tangent -- how many kids still walk to school these days? For the sake of argument I'll limit it to elementary and junior high school (i.e. under 12/13); are the suburbs that under-served that the need to bus kids is the now the majority and not the exception?

Sorry about refusing to stay on topic, Girly, but I wanted to get my two cents in here...

My kids all walked to school on their own for the duration of the time they attended elementary school here in Chilliwack. When we lived overseas they all took the city bus. My oldest graduated last year and my younger two are bussed to middle school at the bottom of the hill.

The elementary school is just under 1 km from my house, and is very centrally located in my neighbourhood. The thing is, the parking lot was always impossible to navigate for all the traffic. It astonishes me how many parents will drive their kids to and from school every day within a distance of less than 2 kms.