Jason Rantz describes ‘surreal’ scenes of homeless people smoking meth on Seattle city buses
Travelers, metro workers alarmed by drug use on public transit
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Radio host Jason Rantz said Thursday it's "surreal" to see homeless people smoking meth on Seattle’s public transit, as transportation workers in the area sound the alarm.
Rantz told "Fox & Friends about the regular occurrence of riding a city bus and noticing the "weird smell" coming from the back of the vehicle.
"Weirdly enough, you kind of get used to seeing these kinds of things. But we shouldn’t. This is 2022. We live in supposedly a world-class city. And you probably shouldn’t have to experience this almost daily for a lot of people," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Seattle Police officers confer after taking part in a public roll call at Hing Hay Park in Seattle's Chinatown-International District Thursday, March 18, 2021. Seattle's police department is having detectives and non-patrol staff respond to emergency calls because of a shortage of officers union leaders fear will be made worse by COVID-19 vaccine mandates. ((AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File))
Seattle-area transit workers say drug use on buses has become an everyday hazard. Bus and train operators are complaining that the drug fumes and volatile behavior create a hazardous work environment that discourages people from riding the bus, according to The Seattle Times.
King County Metro Transit workers filed 44 security incident reports regarding drug use in 2019, then 73 in 2020 and an unprecedented 398 reports in 2021, according to the report.
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Rantz said homeless people have carte blanche over the bus system.
"You have homeless people who are allowed to ride the bus for free. There is no fare enforcement because fare enforcement, according to the county, is racist."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Even before you get onto the bus, good luck finding one of the bus routes that isn’t just occupied by a whole bunch of homeless people."