Do not form opinions about the city based on the subreddit. It is regularly brigaded by people who only watch crime news and the citizen app.

There is also a divide based on gender, and this I understand. What might be fine for a lone guy on the subway might not be safe/safe enough for a lady riding alone.

The El is the main public transit that has problems. It runs through Kensington and that means a lot of opioid addicts use it for both transit and somewhere to shoot up.

The rest of SEPTA is significantly more tame.

You will never hear someone say "oh my ride was so nice" because that's just not how public transit works. The best it can be is boring. You're not flying Qatar Airways.