Bloomington, IN Open About 3 hours

Unsafe Buildings

Subject: Urgent Safety, CPTED Failures, and Operational Chaos at Downtown Bloomington Transit Station As someone who has relied on Bloomington Transit for decades, I am watching the new station rapidly deteriorate and fall into a severe state of decline. I am submitting this ongoing safety report regarding the downtown station during early morning, late evening, and weekend transfer times, where paying riders face persistent threats, intimidation, and sexual harassment from non-riding groups who have become territorial over seating and facilities. Key Issues Requiring Immediate Action: Environmental & Operational Failures (CPTED Violations): The station completely fails basic Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles. Even while active bus operating hours are underway, the main building is locked and supervision is nonexistent. Furthermore, because the station doubles as an unmanaged heating and cooling shelter, it creates severe crowding and confusion; during extreme weather, paying bus riders are left with nowhere to sit or shelter. This is all compounded by surrounding darkness, physical decay, hidden alcoves, and dark alleys. The Circular "Pass-the-Buck" Bureaucracy: Bloomington Transit instructs riders to call 911, while 911 dispatch tells us to "just keep calling." When police are involved, they dismiss ongoing daily harassment as a "civil matter." When I took this up the chain, the deputy mayor gave me a cowardly shrug and passed the buck right back to Transit, ignoring the fact that I had already tried the police route with zero results. The Irony of the "Unskilled" Workforce & Taxpayer Betrayal: Groups of non-riding men are growing larger, visibly outnumbering women in the mornings, evenings, and weekends. Because low-income hospitality workers and working women have predictable schedules, they are easily targeted. There is profound irony in expecting workers in low-wage, "unskilled" jobs to act as the city's default, crisis-trained 911 buffer. The city has abandoned both transit riders and individuals desperately needing mental health services onto the exact same unmonitored platform—forcing two competing, incompatible services onto city-owned property that I am both taxed for and paying bus fare to use. Transit users are here to ride the bus safely, not to manage the fallout of unaddressed social service deficits or a "we can't arrest" policy. Bloomington Transit was not designed to double as an unsupported social services hub without oversight. I expect a concrete safety plan for this station, not another bureaucratic deflection. The police were there again this morning for non bus commuters, and I will not stop reporting this.