Ralph Ortiz, the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation’s youth programs coordinator and project supervisor, said the group will urge the T to work with the community by broadcasting riders’ rights and when buses are running late over the PA system. “The cops can’t prevent all the crimes,” Ortiz said. “But people could.”
DORCHESTER. A group of youths who spent weeks surveying MBTA riders on the Route 23 bus will tell officials tonight that an overwhelming majority feel at risk and that creating a “culture of courtesy” will help stem violence and fear.
After polling 157 people, the group found that 80 percent of riders reported feeling unsafe. The teens will present their full findings to the MBTA and transit police officials tonight at 6 p.m. at the Erie Ellington Home in Dorchester.
“Give me a gun, and I’ll feel safe,” one rider told 14-year-old Desrianna Clary. The youths also say many incidents go unreported that occur on packed buses or after school lets out.
The bus runs between Ruggles and Ashmont stations through some areas in Roxbury and Dorchester where police have targeted increased gang activity. Transit police have added cameras on the route’s vehicles after a gunman boarded a bus and killed 18-year-old Dwayne Graham in March 2007.
This year, police also beefed up their bus presence, but MBTA Police Lt. Commander Joseph O’Connor said that crime is down overall on the Route 23 bus and hopes added cameras and police officers will continue to curtail incidents. He said he was eager to hear the youths’ presentation tonight.