Mortal Danger Riding On Greyhound Bus

One of the greatest things about America is the fact that there has been a diligent effort to build its transportation infrastructure. In particular, the development of public transportation across the United States in the bustling cities sets the standard world wide for countries to emulate. It is a testament to America's resolve to demonstrate its dedication to building a modern society capable of supporting its people and providing a capability for them to conduct their daily commutes.

But what happens when random senseless acts of violence take place on public transportation? On February 3rd, 2020 a Greyhound bus carrying 42 passengers was subjected to a gunman who killed a 51 year old woman and wounded 5 other individuals. It's not making sense. Somehow 42 people can't travel from Los Angeles, CA to San Francisco at 1 AM in the morning without enduring gunfire. People were asleep on the bus. There were children on the bus. And yeah, I guess there was a bad guy on the bus.

It's hard enough for a bus company to stay in business these days. Greyhound has been providing transportation for over 17 million people a year to approximately 2,400 sites in North America. It has endured this burden competently since 1914. Even with the advent of affordable personal ground transportation, air travel, taxis, and now Uber, Greyhound is still around. But this incident brings into focus the sordid history of Greyhound travel.

On July 30, 2008, a 22 year old Canadian man named Tim McLean was killed by decapitation, stabbing, and cannibalization while riding Greyhound Canada by a Chinese Canadian named Vincent Weiguang Li. McLean's killer was found "not to be criminally responsible" and was placed in a mental institution for seven years. Ten years after this heinous crime, individuals who witnessed the account are still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and unfortunately for Greyhound, the company became a target for a number of law suits from family members of the victim as well as other passengers aboard the bus...

And just two years after the 10 year anniversary of this crime, a man comes up and fatally shoots a woman and wounds five more in from of 41 other passengers. Someone's going to ask who's to blame in each of these cases. Some will emphatically say the criminals. Others will argue that Greyhound has some of the responsibility. Ultimately, these senseless random acts of violence occurring aboard public transportation erodes society and begans to destroy it's foundation. Whether violence occurs in an Uber, a bus, a subway, a plane, or a taxi, it's unacceptable and law makers may need to take a look at legislation that protects public transportation companies and the people who utilize them.