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Scumandvillany t1_j44rf6n wrote

I've said it before. There's no political will to do the ONLY thing that will work, and that is remove and exclude the zombies and shitbirds from the system. No need to ticket, just a yeah, buddy, you gotta go, bye. And then don't let them back into the system Of course you'll need manpower and the will to actually do so. Firm payment barriers would be a great start, and would do 90% of the work. Like a design that would make it really really difficult, if not impossible to not pay and get on the platforms, or even stairs going into the system.

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notnobodyspecial OP t1_j44v85p wrote

I don't think that's the only thing that would work and it definitely won't work unless the city treats this as a wider problem. Your suggestion just pushes these people into other corners of the city to terrorize. I'd much rather our city/country actually tackle the homeless/drug problem head on. With Kensington being the epicenter of the county's war on drugs, with people from all different states flocking here, this should be declared a federal emergency with funds to match.

And in the near term, the city should invest its current budget surplus in getting transit cops at the busiest stations / riding the trains. Deal with abusers in real time - If you're suggesting the police not allow people to use transit before they actually commit a crime/act unruly, I'm not a fan. I don't want a police state.

There also needs to be more personal responsibility and respect for the city. Littering on and off transit is out of control, but that starts with having adequate trash cans and with people taking pride in the city and just being decent. I don't know the best way to change this.

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Scumandvillany t1_j467viu wrote

I'm suggesting not letting people ride who are not riders and don't pay 2.50 to get on the system. Pretty simple. The transit system is not and should not be used as temp housing, an asylum, a toilet, an injection site, and a smoking room. Then I'm saying that if people are breaking rules actively, like smoking, pushing carts, panhandling, sleeping, using drugs, tenting up, they should be removed without citation or criminal charge.

Of course we have systemic issues that need to be dealt with. I'm not sure if declaring an "emergency" will do that, but if it brings resources and is followed by political action then sure, fine.

We clearly need a program like MANDATORY SHELTER AND TREATMENT, which is the obvious answer to a lot of issues.

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d-scan t1_j4cgcjd wrote

When I was in Paris they had teams of ticket gestapo, ahem, police, who would go to each passenger and ask to see their ticket. And if you don't have your ticket, they would issue a fine and pull out a card payment device. Honestly, I could not see SEPTA or the city going to such efficient lengths to deter the riff raff. But ANY kind of effort of enforcement would be better than what we have to put up with currently.

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scatterbrainedpast t1_j4giho9 wrote

All the federal funds would be given to useless, corrupt NGO's who all happen to be run by friends and family embers of CC members

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BigHmmEnergy t1_j45wn56 wrote

The problem with firm payment barriers is that they are also firm barriers to escaping in the event of a fire or violent incident. They’re easy to get through on purpose.

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Scumandvillany t1_j4683bm wrote

Easy to make a reverse hinge or whatever to allow passage from the paid area. It's not hard.

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Time_Definition_2143 t1_j488t34 wrote

What if the fire is on the other side?

Also, one person can pay and then let everyone else in for free.

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owenhinton98 t1_j47n392 wrote

Having worked with the fare payment hardware in an internship 5 years ago (when the current equipment was brand new), I can tell you that all of the gates have failsafes for this exact reason. They could easily put the full height vertical turnstiles into all stations, whenever there’s any emergency they all relax and allow free flow through. In the event of a power outage, or a fire alarm activation, this mode is triggered. And anyone can pull the fire alarm should a violent situation occur

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burrata-academy t1_j48rctr wrote

I don't think stairs would be a great idea because disabled and elderly people deserve to use SEPTA too. But yeah, the other things would be helpful. A solution that doesn't just throw people into jail which just perpetuates the problem, but actually could yield results

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Scumandvillany t1_j48xh90 wrote

You could design the entrance so that it could be ADA accessible. They're already doing something similar elsewhere

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_crapitalism t1_j4aejj3 wrote

all that does is make them go somewhere else, which in the end really helps nobody, especially not the people suffering from addiction. what we need are safe injection sites, which help everybody involved, from people worried about cleanliness on septa, to people who are going through addiction.

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UndercoverPhilly t1_j4b03qp wrote

It is a bandaid, but it would at least clean up SEPTA which is a start.

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[deleted] t1_j4gixf0 wrote

[deleted]

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_crapitalism t1_j4gudl0 wrote

do you think some sober guy walking down the street sees a safe injection site and says "Wow! This seems like a great time to take up heroin!" before walking inside?

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