Terrorism, Transit And Public Safety

Despite recent terrorist attacks, public transit is still an extremely safe form of travel, writes Todd Litman.

1 minute read

July 10, 2005, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"After a high-profile transit accident or attack news reporters often stick a microphone infront of transit riders and ask, “How can you continue using transit after what justhappened?” with the implication that riding transit is dangerous and foolish. This reflectsthe myopic view of the news media, which generally only considers one issue at a time.But people and policy makers must balance many factors, including overall safety,comfort and affordability. It would be foolish for travelers to stop using transit inresponse to a terrorist attack, despite the fact that transit is still safer than other mode andprovides other benefits to users and society."

[Editor's note: The link below is to a 300KB PDF.]

Thanks to Todd Alexander Litman

Saturday, July 9, 2005 in Victoria Transport Policy Institute

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