A recent article in The Suburban Times informed us of the City of Dupont’s desire to explore the possibility of providing the city with bus service.
Decades ago I voted to increase my tax bill in order to bring Pierce Transit buses to Lakewood. I did not personally plan to use bus service and all these years later, I still do not personally benefit from local bus service. It is doubtful I will ever ride the bus.
Cartoon by SWS.Why did I vote YES for the bus idea in Lakewood? I thought it was the right thing to do. I voted YES because I thought buses would help kids, senior citizens, disabled individuals and people who might not be able to afford a car and insurance. It seemed to me that a well functioning neighborhood or city should have bus service. I believe my thoughts were valid then, and I believe they are still valid to this day.
After bus service was extended to Lakewood, I soon discovered there were a couple of negative unintended consequences. I learned of these consequences the hard way.
The first hidden negative consequence of my YES vote did not take long to present itself. Once the buses started to roll into Lakewood, large numbers of homeless, drug abusers, criminals and prostitutes, who were formerly contained inside the City of Tacoma, moved from Tacoma to Lakewood. If they did not move to Lakewood, they commuted, by bus, back and forth between Tacoma and Lakewood, freely conducting their nefarious activities in Lakewood.
The second unintended consequence followed the first in the form of the eventual obvious need to establish a transit police force. The fact that we currently have full time police officers dedicated to eradicating crime and problematic behavior on buses, bus stops and bus routes is contemporary evidence supporting my earlier premise regarding the first unintended consequence — criminal behavior.
DuPont has always impressed me as a quiet, clean city where hard working people can live in peace without being victimized by the segment of the bus riding public who can be described as carless bus riding criminals.
I recognize DuPont may choose to establish bus service, regardless of cost and consequence, in order to become a city dedicated to helping those “Dupontites” needing bus service.
If Dupont decides to establish bus service, “Lakewoodites” will enjoy an immediate benefit by sharing some of our local mischief-makers with DuPont. In fact the next time I am accosted in a parking lot, in front of a store or freeway corner or I am victimized by a car prowler or burglar, I may give the rascal bus fare to DuPont.
As you mentioned, you haven’t ridden the bus. Perhaps you should. As for police being present at transit centers, they are also present at Seahawk games, a variety of Lakewood civic festivals, even the farmers markets. So clearly there must be criminal behavior at those events too. The police go where the people go. Blaming the bus for requiring police coverage is like blaming a hospital for the convergence of sick people.
Exactly what is your evidence that the extension of bus service to Lakewood caused an increase in criminal activity? How do you know that the activity you refer to is not caused by Lakewood’s indigenous population. I’m guessing your conclusions are based on anecdotal information: a common error for those who are looking to easy answers for complex problems. What saddens me most about your comments is that your original reasons for supporting bus service were both sound and altruistic (since you, yourself, were not planning to use the service). I’m afraid you went over to the dark side.
Pierce Transit also serves Steilacoom, University Place and Gig Harbor – not exactly hotbeds of criminal activity. I think the author is confusing correlation with causation. There must be other factors that lead to a criminal presence than the availability of a bus route.
I agree with Dave, Joe is comparing apple to oranges here. DuPont is indeed “a quiet, clean city” and is not a Lakewood. DuPont already has bus service through Sound Transit for the morning and evening commutes and I see no criminal element lurking around because of that. I also believe it is not economically viable for Pierce Transit to serve the DuPont citizens, this has already been shown. It would be nice to give it a shot and see what happens, both in terms of if it is viable and if Joe’s theory is correct!