I know I’m late, but I feel compelled to weigh in on the bus safety issue everyone’s been buzzing about for the last couple of days. According to this Seattlepi.com article, “incidents” (which can range from theft to disruptive behavior to actual fights between passengers) reported by Metro drivers have doubled in the last ten years and have risen faster than ridership.

Despite the article’s rather provocative introduction, its basic conclusion is that KC Metro buses are extremely safe. There were fewer than five incidents per million rides in 2008, and less than half of those involved violence. Believe me, driving a car is a lot more likely to result in an injury (or, for that matter, a death) than riding the bus. I digress.

Just for fun, here’s the list* of routes with the most driver-reported incidents:

174 (ahem): 60
7: 52
358 (a-hem!): 34
106: 21
36: 18
120: 16
150: 15
14: 15
18: 11
2: 11

I’ve ridden all of these routes–a few of them I ride regularly–and yes, they have more than their fair share of trife. But for what it’s worth, I’ve never felt unsafe on a bus in Seattle.** Annoyed? Frequently. Bothered? Sometimes. Harassed? On occasion. Unsafe? Not even on the 174.

* I’m surprised there weren’t more trolleys on the list (3 and 4 are conspicuously absent). No disrespect, but those things are slow as all get-out, usually crowded, and hot in the summer.

** OK, except for that time on the 2 when I was in 4th grade.