Is transit rage "worse" than road rage?

I understand that people get concerned when they read about incidents on transit, such as "AC Transit bus brawler has video past" from the Oakland Tribune or this commentary from Mass Transit, "Moms and Transit," which states:

Transit has many issues it has to deal with on any given day. Funding. Timeliness. Sustainability. Safety. Security. And along with those comes a host of stereotypes that transit has to overcome to just do what it does best — provide the public a reliable means of transportation. That’s why it doesn’t need to deal with the image of being unsafe.

I saw this article yesterday. It is the latest in a series of high-profile events relating to transit security in the Bay Area. And it’s starting to (if it hasn’t already) give transit there a black eye — no pun intended. ...

For transit to be successful in many cases it has to get the moms on board. That means moms going to work, taking their kids to and from school/daycare, moms shopping and everything else involved in that. And if Mom doesn’t think transit isn’t safe, she isn’t going to let her kids on board.

And don’t forget the power of word of mouth. Moms have a network — I’ve seen it in action with my wife, it’s amazing — and through that network they will determine what is safe and not safe in their communities.

While I do agree with this, for urban revitalization ("Great architecture, clean streets, culture -- it must be Minneapolis" by John King from the San Francisco Chronicle and this article, "Splendor in the Grass," from the New York Times about Bryant Park) and past writings of my own on "The "soft side" of commercial district competition," plus this article from Scientific American about bicycling, "How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road: To boost urban bicycling, figure out what women want," I do have something to say about this...

People are completely ignoring the reality that road rage involving automobiles is 100 times worse and more frequent than incidents on transit.

But we don't hear calls for banning automobiles and closing down streets, because a bank robber used a car, or because there was a car jacking at a suburban shopping mall...

Instead, we hear about "loot rail" and complaints about how city people use transit to come out to the suburbs to steal and rob. This is about race and class, and perceptions, and fear.

I am not trying to belittle crime on transit, or assaults. Obviously, the 67 year old guy in the Oakland incident is a white wack job. But there are plenty of wack jobs of all races, ages, and ethnicities on the roads, in their cars, feeling powerful, independent, and immune, threatening far more people because of their rage and anger, than those of us on transit...