Thursday, September 14, 2017

The danger of being a pedestrian and a bus rider in the City of Albuquerque



This is my rant on this issue. I am trying to get a healthy amount of walking in during the day. I also decided to try our bus system within the city. I want to be environmentally proactive.

The major issues with this are: 

  1. The dangers of walking to the bus stop are many. Especially when you are a handicapped old woman. Nothing prepares you for the fact that even when you have the light to cross a major streets such as Gibson and San Mateo that cars will keep turning right on red. People who work at the military base feel entitled to run walkers down if you dare to step off the curb at an intersection. Just this morning I had a hard time crossing the street even though the crossing light was clearly on. Drivers don’t think they have to follow the traffic laws because there is no one to enforce them. The police are far too busy guarding the local Wal-Mart to be bothered with enforcing traffic laws in this city. 
  2. Now once you get to the bus stop then you have to deal with the homeless who have taken up living on the benches at the bus stops. Drug deals are only too common at those benches and out in the open in most cases. Drunks are not even pretending to be sober.  Again no police present whatsoever. The criminals and homeless think it is OK to drive normal working people away from the area. Why would any women feel safe at a bus stop when homeless people are asking to use their phones or asking for money or even offering them a beer? 
  3.  After you get on the bus then you have to deal with the drug addicts and the criminals that have been released from jail. People are often talking about what crime that they have committed on their phones. They tell the drive that they are going to see their parole office. They share stories about their crimes with other people on the bus. And the mentally ill and homeless that can get enough money to ride the bus are only too willing to take up five or six seats with their personal belongs. They are very on guard to protect their belongings and won’t allow anyone near them. They will attack for no reason if you get too close so you end up having to stand and hold on to a strap.  Perfectly healthy people will take up the front seats designed for handicapped and the elderly.You got to be a fool if you think they are going to move.

So my question to the people running for mayor is what are you going to do to change these issues and make it safe for working people to ride the bus system in this city?  If things don't change in a major way then why are you spending our hard earned taxpayer dollars on a system to transport criminals, the mentally ill and homeless people?