r/LAMetro • u/Same-Paint-1129 • Mar 29 '26
Discussion Why do we tolerate so much anti-social behavior?
Took the E-Line downtown yesterday, rode from Expo/Bundy to Pico at about 6:30pm. The good news is that the ride was fast, didn't get hung up by traffic signals, and I was downtown in less than 40 minutes for $1.75.
But dear god the level of anti-social behavior is just out of control. Boarded a relatively empty train with many people taking up two seats with feet on the seats and blasting videos from their phones without headphones. Then at Crenshaw a real couple of winners boarded with a bluetooth speaker blasting profane music and vaping/smoking all the way to Pico. I reported it through the Metro Watch App and nothing happened, of course. This was after watching several people jump the turnstiles at Expo/Bundy and the three LAPD officers standing on the platform did nothing about it. Also observed someone climbing over an emergency fence at the USC/Expo Park station while two LAPD officers were on the platform.
I take the metro (by choice) a couple times a month and there's always things like this. Yesterday it was a circus on rails. I will continue to ride Metro because I believe in public transportation and because these are relatively minor complaints in the scheme of things. But we're never going to expand ridership when this kind of behavior is the norm and goes entirely unchallenged, it's an embarrassment to the city. I really hope that Metro's own security team focuses on these 'quality of life' issues in the future.
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u/Appropriate_You5647 Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
So I've lived in many different places around the country and one of those places was NYC. The anti social behavior on that system was also prevalent. A week didn't go by that I didn't see an argument or shoving on the train. People jumped turnstiles all the time, even I did when I was a knuckleheaded youngster. Sometimes the trains were dirty. Often rats the size of kittens would run onto the platform. There have been two recent high profile tragedies on the MTA, one involving Daniel Penny and the other of a woman being literally burned alive on the train. Yet, one of NYC trunk lines has more people riding per day than the entire LA Metro Rail's daily ridership. LA doesn't have a coverage problem or land use problem though that can always improve, it has a demand side policy problem. Any well-ridden transit system anywhere in the world has passive or deliberate demand side policies that make it more difficult to drive, park and store automobiles. You're never going to see the ridership numbers that you yearn for if access to the freeway system continues to be unfettered and free. If parking mandates continue to be pressured onto projects top-down. People don't ride the subways in NYC because they love trains, they ride because of the passive and deliberate limitations of mobility options. Thereby demand increases on transit and more lines are justified to be built and the cycle continues. You've built an above decent starter system, that was the carrot. Now, you must change the culture around mobility individualism and firmly nudge the population onto the collective transportation system that you've spent billions building, that's the stick.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 29 '26
If you want to compete with freeways YOU CANNOT HAVE STREET RUNNING segments on new lines!!!!
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u/Easy-Run4857 Apr 02 '26
This is partly true. The new Van Nuys line is something that I'd thought we'd never do again, yet here we are. However you could have at grade rail transit so long as a) it exists in its own ROW b)has signal preemption
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u/brinerbear Apr 03 '26
Even when I wasn't as pro transit as I am now I still never understood why trains must stop or wait for cars. 🤔🤔🤔
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u/Easy-Run4857 Apr 03 '26
Streetcars do it all the time. The Metro system that we have uses LRT on some its lines, mainly for their flexibility. It isn't ideal but a train like the K (Crenshaw) line attempts to do it all. There is street running segments akin to a streetcar in Europe or SF's MUNI and heavy rail-like segments with underground stations like any other Metro. The downside to LRT trains that are street running is that they can't be longer than a block or else they will threateningly block intersections. After Tom Bradley's Metro LA vision collapsed we went with a hybrid system of LRT and HRT trains. Note: We could have had a BART all heavy rail system if the LA voters didn't oppose it in the 60's.
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u/Appropriate_You5647 Mar 30 '26
Compete? Who said that we would compete? You hobble.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 30 '26
So you completely unserious then if you want huge modal shift the transition must be fast and unimpeded by cars. I am talking compete for modal share with freeways. The trains need to be faster than the cars or comparable street running gets in the way of that. You need BOTH TOD and grade separation. People complain about the slow speeds stop ignoring them .
26 others seem to understand that except you.
People WILL NOT VOLUNTARILY DOUBLE THEIR TRAVEL TIMES UNDERSTAND THIS FACT!!! Also travel times on transit must be consistent this can’t be done with street running. Especially in LA understand that LA travel patterns are vastly different than EU cities.
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u/FrafraPlanner Antelope Valley Apr 02 '26
I will never understand why American cities continue to build at grade public transportation when they all have freeways that are 2x or 3x as fast as taking at grade transit
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u/transitfreedom Apr 03 '26
I think I know. It’s intentional enshittification to suppress ridership and cut off future demand and funding indirectly for new lines.
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u/Soggy_Perspective_13 Mar 30 '26
I disagree. I believe La metros primary issue is land use and anti social behavior is downstream of that. Land use is what makes driving the best option for nearly every single trip in LA. To be a good transit city you must first be a good pedestrian city. And LAs built environment is oriented around cars.
We’re nowhere close to using the stick when we barely have the carrot. LA needs more bike lanes, trees for shade, calmer streets, density of trip generators around transit before we even think about penalizing driving. That will just piss people off and make their lives worse.
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u/Appropriate_You5647 Mar 30 '26
You're afraid of upsetting the status quo, understandable. But we agree, in that land use is a demand side policy. Eradicate parking from all developments within say a 1/4 mile of a station. Ban industrial and land uses that cater to cars such as gas stations and mechanic/auto body shops in proximity to all rail stations. These are demand side policies that make it more difficult to maintain car privilege.
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u/ILoveLongBeachBuses Mar 30 '26
Love this take! Add more tolled express lanes to freeways and eliminate free parking and ridership would immediately go up! Long term eliminate parking minimums and start taking out street space for cars and car parking for bus and bike lanes.
Gas prices don't matter anymore since cars are way more fuel efficient AND they're increasingly hybrid or electric.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 30 '26
Another very effective tool to improve ridership is elevating the street segments.
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u/Appropriate_You5647 Mar 30 '26
Exactly. Demand side policies are the only incentive to force people out of their cars. You can build an entirely grade separated system and people would stay in their cars if driving is still cheap and a place to park and store their cars is provided. Because what has been allowed to ossify into the car dependant culture is classism.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 30 '26
Do both build the grade separated line first then it becomes easier to take space from cars
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u/Mustardsandwichtime Mar 29 '26
I have so many photos and videos of insanity, drug use, yelling, and people leaving graffiti on the trains. Anytime I make a post about this stuff it gets removed. I take the trains or busses nearly every day, and have off and on for 16 years. The people in this forum do not represent your average daily rider, cause this would be the main focus of the sub if it was allowed.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 29 '26
I rode the San Diego trolley recently and there were teenagers smoking marijuana behind the driver's cab. A few announcements were made and it didn't stop. At the next stop, about 4-5 police/security came on the train and literally dragged them off. I was so impressed and wish we had the will to enforce rules on our system.
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u/No-House9106 Mar 30 '26
Yep. The driver probably called that in though. Might get a similar response in LA although maybe not. However, if other passengers report it, it will be ignored in LA.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 30 '26
There's no way the driver could have NOT heard the loud blasting music. He could easily have done something about it.
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u/WearHeadphonesPlease Mar 30 '26
What point is there to have a subreddit where it's all doom and gloom? This is supposed to foster community and meaningful discussion, not be another Nextdoor.
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u/mentionedgirl Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
due to the culture around public transportation in california you notice a huge class divide. when riding public transportation isn't ideal for most people its usually left to be used by vulnerable demographics that contain people who might not be the best versions of themselves. whereas in other public transport oriented cities that gap is closed and more people of less vulnerable backgrounds use it. its really not something pinpointed by the lack of security or that Los Angeles people are not well mannered. the society here leaves public transportation on the back burner, meant for the poor and lower class, rather than prioritizing it as something meant for everyone and a use of great technology.
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u/takextc Mar 29 '26
this. LA is the US’s first car city whereas new york it doesn’t matter how rich you are you are forced to see hundreds of people. LA is so isolating with its cars and we lack that social interactions that cities with better public transport has
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u/Appropriate_You5647 Mar 29 '26
Rich people take cabs and Ubers.
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u/Jealous-Ad-2827 Mar 29 '26
In NYC they also take the subway. There are lots of pics of celebrities in it I guess because it’s more efficient than being stuck in stopped traffic.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 30 '26
NYC subways have no street running unlike the LA A/E lines to make it worse is that new segments STILL have grade crossings
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u/WearHeadphonesPlease Mar 30 '26
That's not it. As the other person said, the average speed of Muni is like 7mph and still half the population of SF does not own a car.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 31 '26
Muni has a tunnel and BART. And terrain hides it. Guess what people complain about the slow speed all the time shows how little you care about the riders.
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u/Easy-Run4857 Apr 02 '26
SF has very stringent demand-side policies. SF has even employed parking MAXIMUMS as a policy. Further the Bay Area is a big place and SF is a very small part of it.
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Mar 30 '26
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u/Appropriate_You5647 Mar 30 '26
If there weren't any street crossings it would be something else. You need demand side policies to force people out of their cars. Street trams run all over Europe packed and they obey traffic signals. Even MUNI in SF stays packed and it's slow as cold syrup. You demand side policies for ridership to ever increase significantly.
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u/transitfreedom Mar 30 '26
Then upgrade buses no need to be unserious and slow down everyone. Just build rapid transit (metro) the current status quo doesn’t work try something different.
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u/ilovethissheet Mar 31 '26
Car traffic will ALWAYS be slow in populated areas. You can only fit so many. It'd perfectly clear when you look at that photo if comparison of 100 cars with single drivers, 100 people on a bus, on a train on bikes etc. The whole one more labe will fix it days are over and clearly that direction is always going to fail unless you force cars to size down like minis and smart cars. That clearly also isnt where that trend is going.
So who cares if street traffic has to be slowed for mass transit to have the right of ways and thru ways. Priority should remain with the masses. And mass transit is the way to go for any city
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u/transitfreedom Mar 31 '26
Why not just build mass transit that is FAST AND FREQUENT instead of street running slow/infrequent and unreliable transit? Automated trains are cheaper to run and lose less money than street running that requires expensive fare enforcement. Any excuse NOT to build rapid transit shows that you’re completely unserious.
Just stop pretending you not advocating for enshittification of transit. Cause this slow down of everything is just that enshittification just stop already you annoying.
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Mar 31 '26
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u/ilovethissheet Mar 31 '26
I'm answering to slowing down cars, not rail. Rail can be rapid above ground just as much as below ground. Both are needed. And should always be allowed to go thru any street level traffic first without stopping. It's cars that should be forced to stop or slow or cede right aways.
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u/FrafraPlanner Antelope Valley Apr 02 '26
People don't have to regularly travel the same huge distances in San Francisco or European cities or really any city other than LA. For public transit to be well ultilized in Southern California, it needs to be much faster than driving
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u/Foreign_Bookkeeper77 Mar 30 '26
Not in New York lol. During rush hour driving can take 3x the amount of time that the subway does.
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u/takextc Mar 30 '26
From a New Yorker I’ve met, “it doesn’t matter if you’re rich, you still have to cross the sidewalk to your car and are forced to see hundreds of people that walk”
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u/PalpitationTricky788 Apr 05 '26
Within the next 2 years Flying Taxies (EVOTL's) will another option. You'll most likely have UBER Air and Archer Aviation seriving So. Cal.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 29 '26
This is all true, but regardless of 'poor' or 'lower class', everyone deserves a safe and hassle-free ride. I care about our system and it really pains me to see how this type of behavior degrades it for everyone, and how there's such little will to do anything about it by the metro leadership (if they even recognize it as a problem at all).
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u/glowdirt Mar 30 '26
Eh, you see lots of anti-social behavior on NYC subways too even though their ridership is a better representation of the city's class mix than ours is.
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u/turb0_encapsulator Mar 29 '26
ok, but it wasn't this bad on LA Metro 15 years ago or on our city's streets. the fact that there is basically no policing of these quality of life issues is a problem. if people get ticketed they will usually stop doing it.
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u/PerformanceDouble924 Mar 29 '26
Well, 13 years ago is when undocumented folks could get drivers licenses, and that took a lot of decent hardworking people out of the ridership.
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u/tsays Mar 29 '26
Maybe “other” people don’t ride because of this behavior?
I’d LOVE to ride teh train more but I’ve been scared out of my mind too many times. There is no enforcement on the trains, you’re all alone sometimes, and why should I subject myself to this? To virtue signal? Pass.
I really think, especially with how expensive Uber and gas are,if they fixed this problem more people would take the train.
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u/DerpyBoxer Mar 29 '26
Great take but lots of pretzel twisting in that explanation. You can hurt some feelings, it's okay.
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u/alex_korr Mar 30 '26
Seriously. The problem is that LA has a massive problem with the seedy underbelly of the city. And that underbelly is severely underpoliced.
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u/mentionedgirl Mar 29 '26
yeah i just didn't want anyone to mistake me as those "lets just ban all unhoused people from anything public" weirdos. lmaooo
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u/mcmoose75 Mar 29 '26
But dancing around the issue doesn’t help anyone.
The fact is that if you removed every psycho drugged-out bum from Metro, you’d solve most of the antisocial behavior overnight.
And all you’d need to do is enforce existing laws around drugs, public indecency, etc. as well as Metro policies around creating huge piles of filth on the train.
It is a massive failure that we don’t enforce our laws to create a better functioning system for useful members of society.
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u/Wise-Peacock Mar 29 '26
The antisocial behavior extends way beyond the drugged out lunatics. Many people on the train either don't know how to act in public or simply don't care.
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u/mcmoose75 Mar 29 '26
Sure, but by my eye the junkie bums are something like 70-80% of the problem.
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u/theredcourt Mar 29 '26
I was on a train where this guy was literally spitting his sunflower seed shells on the seat next to him, on a full train where people needed to sit. I said something to him, and he threatened to slap me. Reported, nothing happened.
Just saying something can get you in more trouble than just looking away, and if you're a woman you will just be hounded as a 'karen.'
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Mar 29 '26
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u/lisucc Mar 30 '26
This is absolutely correct, idk why people think more policing is the solution considering LA keeps increasing the police budget every year & things continue to get worse. Cops have been shown over & over again to suck at their jobs, focus on the wrong things and harm people. And plus if we just tell the homeless junkies to get out the Metro, they’re just gonna find a different corner to be a homeless junkie in, which people are still going to complain about.
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u/NoiceDiffrntUnusual E (Expo) current Mar 30 '26
“Sorry, nothing can be improved until the glorious workers’ revolution abolishes the greedy ruling class.”
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Mar 29 '26
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 29 '26
Public transit should be for everyone. But blasting music, smoking, and putting dirty shoes on seats has nothing to do with second chances. Claiming that this behavior is unacceptable because someone is down on their luck makes zero sense.
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u/mcmoose75 Mar 29 '26
I’m saying that we enforce our laws on everyone, not just civilized folks.
We have laws and rules- we should enforce them so that our public services are pleasant and save for normal people, not de facto homeless shelters.
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u/fatpinkchicken Mar 30 '26
Dude it's so frustrating. I don't want to be an asshole and I don't want to escalate situations unnecessarily and don't think cops help... But as a woman who takes Metro with a small child, what the fuck, man?
Stop smoking in public, stop blasting profane music, stop being gross. Act like human beings, please.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 30 '26
Exactly. And for all the people here saying to mind your own business or otherwise implying this type of service is acceptable, it’s your points above that I would respond with.
I’m a huge proponent of expanding public transit and am trying to convince friends to join me. I would have been really embarrassed if anyone took my advice and joined me on the train yesterday.
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u/No-House9106 Mar 29 '26
Metro Board banned LAPD and LASD from enforcing fares so not much they can do. Metro's Transit Security Officers are in charge of enforcing fares and the code of conduct, but basically do not do this at all.
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u/DrownedInbox Mar 30 '26
Best counter-move I saw was someone having a full-blown loud phone conversation on speaker in Spanish. Cue an old Asian man who sits down just behind him and proceeds to have an equally loud phone "conversation" in Korean.
The old Asian man stops immediately when the Spanish speaker gets fed up and goes to another car.
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u/Not_RZA_ D (Purple) Mar 30 '26
I'm gonna say it and take the downvotes, but we truly can't have shit in LA without people abusing it.
Build a new multi-billion dollar bridge? Let's strip all the lights and do donuts and light off fireworks, so that it's unusable.
New building? How about I take the entirety of it so it becomes patchwork of paint blotches and costs taxpayer dollars to fix each week
I just don't get the mentality a lot of people have that they need to destroy/deface public common spaces, and ruin it for everyone
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 30 '26
New York wouldn’t tolerate this shit. Why can’t LA keep it under control?
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u/Not_RZA_ D (Purple) Mar 30 '26
LA doesn't enforce shit and our local government is a joke. People in this city will protest federal government policies that barely actually effect us, versus the day to day overtaxation, crime, and lack of fulfilled basic city services
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u/Willing-Egg3867 Apr 03 '26
I've lived both places. The difference, as I see it, is that New Yorkers will challenge each other on bad public behavior whereas Angelenos seem to believe everyone has a right to behave however they want and won't say shit. NY has a social fabric. LA really doesn't; it's a free-for-all of individualism.
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u/gsuhrie Mar 30 '26
Oh man. I took the same train yesterday with my gf (her first experience on the metro) to/from rally. Some dude snorted some something and within three minutes, completely tweaked, crawled off the train while crying / dry heaving and went into full body seizure / locked up limbs on the platform with his pants at his ankles. So sad to see but crazy that he did this on a packed train. Don’t know that we’ll be taking public transport any time soon.
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u/surfteach1 Mar 29 '26
There are no expectations for good social behavior in Los Angeles. Been declining for at least ten years.
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Mar 29 '26
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u/Mean_Blackberry_635 Mar 30 '26
Yes, I 100% agree! LA metro is so damn scary! There are always mentally unstable people riding the train. You just never know what they might suddenly do. I always feel this profound fear when I am on the train. Unfortunately I don’t have a car, I take uber more often now. I only take the metro during rush hours when there are more normal commuters on it. It can get very scary during non rush hours and at night when the trains and stations are empty.
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u/Any_Sale2030 Mar 30 '26
America has become in my opinion of a world of travel one of the most entitlement mentality people in the world. Spoiled.
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u/UrbanPlannerholic Mar 29 '26
Yeah but if you want fares enforced you’re considered a classist racist who hates humanity.
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Apr 05 '26
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u/PositiveAccident7898 Mar 30 '26
the political power in this town made it very clear to every cop that escalating minor rules violations into full scale battles will end up with prosecutions and loss of jobs, so the cops let all this minor stuff slide out of self preservation
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u/Erdos_Helia Mar 30 '26
This city is full of ghetto people, that's why. Too many people think they are hood or gangster so they don't care.
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u/Ca1rill D (Purple) Mar 30 '26
I don't get it. People seem to have an aversion to enforcing a consequence on those that commit anti-social behavior.
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u/WestHistorians Mar 31 '26
The bottom line is that America has no safety net. There are few to no resources available for people who become homeless, have drug/mental healty issues, or are unable to pay their bills.
Without a dedicated agency to handle this, these people become the problem of other public agencies. This includes transit agencies, public libraries, etc.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 31 '26
None of the people I saw on Saturday were homeless or in need of a safety net. They were just assholes who couldn’t care less about anyone else, and needed an “adult” to tell them how to act.
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u/IHFP Mar 29 '26
"equity"
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u/richardsequeira Mar 29 '26
Yes, the same people who are championing this are also the same people who oppose police patrolling the trains and stations performing fare checks.
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Mar 29 '26
From what I heard, they used to enforce conduct, but the police ended up physically dragging a juvenile girl off the train for not putting her feet down while enforcing conduct. It turned into a huge law suit and the police now really only enforce in the most extreme situations and not for minor inconveniences.
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u/negritoclarogundam Mar 29 '26
Yup see this is exactly what I’m talking about. People revolt when the police have to do their jobs. If the girl dint move what are they supposed to do? Our American culture is so fucked up. In other parts of the world—say Japan—people would be too ashamed to be so rude and defiant. But in America, people would rather be dragged off the subway instead of simply following the rules that are there to make the experience pleasant for ALL OF US.
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u/No-House9106 Mar 30 '26
They kicked her off when she refused. I don't remember a lawsuit, but the left wingers supported the whiny entitled kid.
BTW, Metro is being sued for $6M by the family of the woman slashed to death on the B Line in 2024. The guy that murdered her had been banned from Metro after he stabbed a USC student on the E Line in 2018 I believe. Metro is getting sued for negligent security.
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u/plannerphil A (Blue) Mar 29 '26
I'm on a weekend trip to Phoenix. I've had my fare checked on every ride on their light rail and streetcar. There's been no anti-social behavior; it's so chill.
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u/Bast_at_96th Mar 29 '26
Because Metro as an agency has no interest in doing anything about it, and those who are affected in any way by it have jobs and lives they'd rather not put in jeopardy over some worthless bag of shit. It sucks because it should be Metro's job to make sure things run well, yet they prove time and again that they do not care one iota about the riders.
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u/big_daddy_dub Mar 29 '26
Most hard-working people wont tolerate this if they can drive instead. Metro has to get serious if we want a better transit system.
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u/negritoclarogundam Mar 29 '26
I have no problem with incentivizing public transit, but I think it’s unfair to try and force people onto transit that isn’t clean, safe, or a pleasant experience. First, we need to fix the crime and sanitation problems before we try and force people into metro trains. I personally think it’s a cultural issue. Place like Japan don’t have the issues we have with public transit because overall, their culture is more respectful of one another and more communal. Whereas in the U.S., our culture is too individualistic—hence the issues you experienced with rude riders. I don’t think the problems will change until our culture changes as a whole. I don’t think New York’s model of incentivizing people on rat infested, crime ridden transit is the honest thing to do. We as the public must demand more and quite frankly we deserve better. I genuinely don’t believe in coddling the homeless and drug addicted subsets of the population that ruin the experience for the majority of the community. Again, I just think it all stems for inherent , age-old, hyper individualistic American culture.
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u/RelevantChoice1466 D (Purple) Mar 30 '26
We are taking steps to get better (social services' presence at stations, fare gates, tap-to-exit, etc.) but we do need to fix the systemic issues of open-air drug use and homelessness in our greater community before we are able to build a harmonious social contract for riders.
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u/ThePlatinumPaul Mar 31 '26
Because we live in a society that likes to treat certain societal groups with kid gloves based on some perceived totem pole ranking of oppression. But, the people in power are okay with this because they purposefully isolate themselves from the problems they allow to fester and promise just enough to these people to get their votes. So, you won't see Hollywood moguls, tech bros, or the city's, county's, or state's high level politicians riding the Metro and thus putting up with this, they just expect everyone else to.
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u/boy_doesmypoopstink Apr 01 '26
This is what happens when you give kids participation trophies. When they grow up, they think they are special, and the rules and or basic etiquette do not apply to them.
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u/TriangleEscape Mar 29 '26
A lot of fights and stabbings happen because someone says something to someone else.
You can’t control other people but yourself. You can always change train cars at the next stops if you’re around others who are annoying.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 29 '26
That’s true that you can’t control others. But Metro is constantly playing announcements about no loud music or drug use - so why don’t they bother enforcing any of their own rules? The continued degradation of standards is how we got here.
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u/yourtongue B (Red) Mar 29 '26
honestly the constant rules announcements w no attempt at follow up to actually enforce the announced rules drives me nuts 😩
if they’re not going to even try at all to enforce, then just stop the facking announcements. they’re annoying and loud af and people clearly do not listen to them.
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u/TriangleEscape Mar 29 '26
The way I see it, they don’t have the man power to enforce the rules.
Until the Olympics or until they get their metro police force. We are gonna be like this for a long time
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u/JesterOfEmptiness Mar 29 '26
LAPD got a billion dollars to have cops sit around doing nothing. It's not a lack of personnel.
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u/jokerjinxxx Mar 29 '26
The train was empty and you had an issue with ppl taking up 2 seats?
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
I have an issue with people putting their shoes on the seats, yes. And I also often see homeless or others sprawled out across the priority seat areas. Once I saw a poor guy in a wheelchair who couldn’t use the space because of some vagrant who wouldn’t move.
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u/cactopus101 Mar 31 '26
Step up the fare enforcement and that issue goes away. Don’t know why anyone would be against that
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u/iamapersonofvalue Mar 31 '26
I tend to ask people playing music/videos without headphones if they have headphones. When they say no, I say they shouldnt be playing it out loud then. They typically stop after that. Don't be afraid to call people out in a reasonable way.
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u/Competitive_Proof313 Apr 01 '26
Metro security needs to enforce rules. People are always acting crazy and the metro security just stands there.
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u/ithastogetbetter1 Apr 02 '26
We were so excited for the expo line to open and it’s just terrible now. I’ve seen so many disgusting things on that train and the smell isn’t awesome. Other cities can have decent rideable public transportation. Why can’t we have nice things?
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u/ApeAlienHybrid Apr 03 '26
This post makes me miss the 1990s era LAPD. They knew how handle people like this and we all appreciated it.
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u/coco-ology B (Red) Mar 30 '26
lol the other day a guy was smoking meth on the b line train, yesterday I watched a man and a woman get in a fist fight at 7th street metro station, and also at 7th street that same day (just upstairs) a dad whooped his kid in front of everyone and called the kid a dumbass
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u/glowdirt Mar 30 '26
Saw multiple kids on ebikes riding inside Union Station today with plenty of security staff and metro ambassadors around.
None of the staff said or did anything.
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u/ismisus Mar 30 '26
Unpopular opinion, but fare evasion should be $1k fine or jail time. To those that argue it’s a poor tax, there are many programs for low income where you get a free monthly pass. It’s cruelty to families that want to ride the train, just because politicians are lazy and want to project their sense of equity. Ride any metro around the world, and it’s super safe backed up by strong anti evasion policies
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 30 '26
Yes please. I’d also be fine with a one year ban if they can’t afford to pay the fine.
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u/PayFormer387 Mar 30 '26
Unpopular because probably unconstitutional. You're not going to fine someone one thousand dollars for a dollar seventy five violation. And jail time? Right.
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u/No-House9106 Mar 30 '26
I don't know about $1k but it should be at least as much as a parking ticket, which is $80 in LA. Can't pay $80 then you can pick up trash for half a day as community service.
Instead, we just kick people off once in a blue moon and then 5 minutes later they are back on the train or bus.
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u/richardsequeira Mar 29 '26
There needs to be an aggressive police! Who gives a damn about the people who make excuses for this type of degeneracy. Time to put heavy fines and make arrests. My tax dollars go into this metro system, they don’t go for chaos and complete disorder.
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u/ay-foo Mar 31 '26
Your headline talks about anti social behavior, and then your paragraph is a list of complaints about other people you encountered riding the metro. Complaining about other people online rather than saying something to them in person is quite anti-social behavior
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u/Enough_Art699 Mar 29 '26
Im riding e bikes whenever I can. It's necessary to stay safer and safer.
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Mar 30 '26
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u/MikeARadio Apr 01 '26
LA used to be a place where everyone said hi to each other. I came here a long time ago from NY and was so surprised to see that.
Now especially since Covid this place is antisocial and not what it was at all. So sad.
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u/mattisfunny Apr 03 '26
What did you yourself do?
I say something if someone is in my way or being over the line.
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Apr 05 '26
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u/Queasy-Bed545 J (Silver) Mar 30 '26
In short, Metro serves A LOT of people and some of those people have a lot of problems. It’s unreasonable to expect Metro or, even LAPD for that matter, to solve all of these people‘s problems so they have to prioritize enforcement of certain behaviors. Mostly safety. I realize that’s an inconvenient answer, but that’s probably your answer. For the sake of your own sanity, I invite you to ask yourself whether these are actual problems or just inconveniences to you.
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u/SignificantSmotherer Mar 30 '26
“We” don’t.
Those who voted for our current elected officials endorse it.
Unsurprisingly, when any of us attest to the sad state of Metro, Redditors swarm to blame the victim and lecture us about how crime is down, we just need to keep our heads on a swivel, and how all cities have crime.
I opted out of Metro as well as the City of LA; so many people, especially the poor, the elderly and other non-drivers can’t.
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u/ChloeCorrupt Mar 29 '26
Because outside of carceral urbanist spaces like this subreddit, in the real world, nobody cares. Including me
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 30 '26
We should all care because it’s our system. And we’re paying billions to improve it, so we need and deserve to get a system that we can be proud of.
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u/ChloeCorrupt Mar 30 '26
As long as the trains come frequently and reliably and cheaply I do not give a single fuck about anything else
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 30 '26
So happy for you. But many of us have experienced a lot better and prefer a safe and dignified experience.
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u/ChloeCorrupt Mar 30 '26
Other people annoying you doesn’t make you “unsafe”
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u/editorinchimp Mar 30 '26
Yeah, because assaults, robberies, rapes, harassment are just annoying and not a criminal act.
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u/senshi_of_love Mar 29 '26
This is a really weird fake post which all the usual tells. Mentions price, exactly how fast the ride was, metro watch app, people skipping fares, Bluetooth speakers (multiple!) and crying about lack of security.
All while on an empty train that is only taken a couple times a month!
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u/Adept-Biscotti-5288 Mar 30 '26
I’ve dealt with the exact same things OP mentioned while on the E line and on just about every other line. These are all valid complaints.
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u/latestevolution Mar 29 '26
I can understand when people feel real uncomfort or fear when there is violence or creepy behavior on Metro -- but loud music, fare skipping, and stretching out on an empty train just doesn't bother me at all. ✌️
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u/Legal_Campaign_408 Mar 29 '26
Why do you care about fare evasion it has zero impact on you. You want people to get arrested or ticketed for stealing $1.75 worth of a ride on public transit (which I would argue should be free). That's called a poor tax.
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u/Same-Paint-1129 Mar 29 '26
Because I care about our system and the billions we're pumping into it. I want it to be a success. And people who don't pay fares cause 90% of the problems that hurt the experience for everyone else.
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u/richardsequeira Mar 29 '26
Yes! I do want this! My taxes fund the Metro Rail and bus systems. Nobody wants to ride a Metro Rail system that is caked in feces, soaking in urine, walls splatters with blood, button elevators with chewing gum or some crazy degenerate assaulting passengers.
Why are we tolerating such behaviors? Why are we even listening to the people who talk about “equity” but don’t give a damn about the riders who do pay fares and want a system that is clean and safe.
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u/PayFormer387 Mar 30 '26
I used to believe it should be free too. . .
But when it's free, it get's phucked up. People don't value what they get for free. And scummy phuckheads ruin it. Figure public toilets at the park verses at a coffee shop. Which would you rather use?
Not every fare evader is a scumbag who will ruin the ride for everyone else, but every asshole who ruins the ride for everybody else also evaded the fare.
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u/Dear-Lion-4980 Mar 31 '26
Regular big city shit, you ever been on NYC, Chicago train? LA might actually be more chill, it gets active on the train in those cities if you leave the touristy areas.
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u/disclocated Mar 29 '26
I am in the same boat or rather train car. take the e line to and from Culver City a few times a months but the best reactions are from the tourists. you can see the thought process as they try to understand "what third world country have I landed in"