By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE

Lifestyle Columnist

At first I thought last week's letter to the editor concerning public transportation in Fayette County was written in jest. The writer states her outrage, supports it with assertions that criminals will escape by bus, then predicts that MARTA will “force its way in,” bringing crime and the ruination of her hometown.

I called Michelle McClain, 26, and found her to be a very concerned, if somewhat misinformed, nursing student currently doing clinicals in ICU at Emory. She is the mother of a 3-year-old and lives with her parents who look after him while she's at school.

When she gets her R.N. degree, she wants to continue to live here for the county's good school system, and dreads the thought that with “mass transit... we are inviting criminal activity in.”

Michelle said her military family has lived all over the country. In Los Angeles, she blamed high crime rates on “interstate on-ramps every 50 feet, and differences in socio-economic levels.

“I heard Atlanta has a high number of illegal aliens,” she told me, “and they bring a lot of crime. With MARTA running from the north side to the airport, now they can get on the bus and come to Peachtree City.”

In her letter, she takes comfort in the fact that the Interstate escape route is far enough away to make it harder for miscreants to “commit an effective crime... It [crime] can, however, be accomplished by fleeing to the nearest departing bus.”

I didn't comment that some of us hear “differences in socio-economic levels” and “illegal aliens” as code words Michelle may not even be aware of.

But I asked her if she seriously believes a burglar would catch a bus to Peachtree City, get off and walk to a residential neighborhood (since the buses will likely depart central public places rather than subdivisions), then wait for the next bus and board it with a VCR and television under his arm.

“I see mass transit as a vehicle,” she insisted, “an easier way for people to get here, people who want to burglarize our homes and rape our children. They can get into our community by the bus system.”

Perhaps we should ban cars: I suspect most lawbreakers use motor vehicles to escape the scenes of their crimes. For corroboration, I called Peachtree City's police department and talked to Major Mike DuPree.

“Do we have statistics on how crooks make their getaway in Peachtree City,” I asked him.

No, actually we don't have such data, he said, but added: “It's logical to assume that escape is made on foot or in a motor vehicle of some kind. I've never policed where buses were an option, so I can't say that.”

Fair enough. So I called Atlanta PD and talked to Officer John Quigley, public information officer.

He too had “no way of verifying it, but I would expect by vehicle. You cannot get on a bus or MARTA train carrying a 26-inch television.”

In fact, Atlanta and MARTA police often trap thieves (assuming they are carrying something they can conceal on their person) on public transportation.

“A lookout is placed on radio to public transportation as well,” Quigley explained. “If it happens at Lenox, routinely that information is passed on to Lenox MARTA. It happens all the time and helps us make arrests.”

I asked Quigley if public transportation causes an increase in crime. He replied unequivocally: “This is not true.”

“You can't say MARTA brings crime because there's crime at Lenox — but why not in Doraville? The more folks at a location, the more there's apt to be an increase in crime. There's more crime in New York because there are more people in New York.

“Shoplifting takes place at large commercial areas regardless of what transportation there is if folks think they can get away with it. Does it happen? Yes. Is [public transportation] a leading contributor to crime? No.”

Now some may argue that no Atlanta PD spokesperson is going to criticize MARTA or suggest that security within the city or its transit system is, well, insecure. But numbers have been compiled by national statisticians that persuade me that my risk of being in a traffic accident or the victim of a carjacking vastly surpasses that of my being hurt, for any reason, on public transportation.

Michelle, who drives to Emory every day, should be a prime candidate for public transit for those very reasons.

Besides, we're not talking about MARTA here. Contrary to Michelle's belief, MARTA does not “force its way in,” and the transit system proposed in Fayette County consists of a locally owned bus or two.

As we talked, Michelle also mentioned what she views as the deterioration of life in this country, referring to the school shootings. I pointed out that almost all were committed by the same “kind” of young people that live in her upper middle-class neighborhood.

She finally conceded, “I may be grasping at straws.” She is indeed, but only because she is a loving parent whose ardor for her son's well-being has muddled her thinking.

Better she should be working for public transportation. For easy access (read commuter rail) to Atlanta's educational opportunities for her boy. For improved air quality possible if we reward carpooling or the use of trains and buses. For the comparative safety of public transit over motor vehicles — one-quarter or more of all deaths in the decade of life from 14 to 24 are related to motor vehicle accidents.

In the interests of objectivity, I need to report that I spoke to Major Bruce Jordan of the Sheriff's office. He believes public transportation will offer ingress to Fayette County of “the criminal element,” but admits he bases this belief on intuition.

He does agree, however, that getaways are nearly always by motor vehicle.

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