Marc Stier at Large

I’m going to try live blogging from the courtroom where the SEPTA hearing is going on. The highlight so far has been the introduction of a letter from the federal transportation administration to SEPTA telling it that it is inappropriate to raise fares without a study of the possible disparate impact on the poor and racial minorities. Chris Zearfoss, of the city’SEPTA strategic planning team, has been explaining why SEPTA’s estimates of the percentage of riders who use transfers is absurdly low (8%). SEPTA uses as the denominator in its calculations what the industry jargon calls “unlinked trips.” If you transfer twice to get to your destination, you take 3 unlinked trips. If you want to know how many PEOPLE are affected by the elimination of transfers the proper denominator is linked trips. By that calculation, Zearfoss concluded that 19% of riders use transfer. Last week SEPTA estimated the cost… Continue reading

Another Hearing on SEPTA Transfers Last week, after a day-long hearing, Judge Gary DeVito issued a temporary injunction blocking SEPTA from eliminating transfers. (See stories in the Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer.) Judge DeVito had planned to issue a final ruling tomorrow. But he now has called for another hearing on the transfer issue on Monday. It will be at 10:00 in his courtroom, City Hall, Room 232. Come join transit activists from around the city to express your support for transfers. You can join us for a few minutes or all day. Continue reading

This promises to be a good week for riders of public transit in our region and throughout the state. It appears that the predictable, dedicated funding that our transit agencies so badly need—and for which we transit advocates have been fighting for years—is to be part of the state budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. If that comes to pass—and if the amount of dedicated funding is sufficient to both keep SEPTA alive and to allow for some modernization and expansion of the system—we will have to thank Governor Rendell and the General Assembly and, in particular, the legislative leaders in this effort, Senator Vincent Fumo and Representative Dwight Evans. But, for all our happiness, one thing sticks in the craw of advocates for public transit, SEPTA’s short sighted and unfair decision to eliminate transfers. And, when that policy goes into effect on August 1, it should,… Continue reading

Join us as the SEPTA Board meeting today, Thursday July 26 to protest SEPTA’s decision to eliminate transfer as of August 1. The SEPTA Board meets at 3:00 PM on the mezzanine level at 1234 Market Street. No one is exactly sure why SEPTA is so determined to eliminate transfers since, once we factor in the loss of ridership that will inevitably when transfers are eliminated, it is very hard to believe that they will save much money. After all, anyone who needs a transfer to travel on SEPTA to work five days a week and to take one other round trip on the weekend will find that it makes more sense to buy a pass. The only ones, in other words, for whom the pass makes no sense, are occasional SEPTA riders.  Their fares will rise by 36% if they use one transfer and 55% if they use two.… Continue reading

Originally appeared in The City Paper, May 30, 2007 After an election that, for all its turmoil, actually wound up giving us some hope for the future of Philadelphia, we are facing a transit crisis that, more than anything besides our murder rate, threatens to dash our prospects for economic growth, equity and sustainability in the city and region. Unless Gov. Rendell and the General Assembly take action to provide adequate, dedicated funding for public transit in the next few months, SEPTA will be forced to adopt a doomsday budget in early September. Fares will increase by an average of 30 percent. In addition to the cash fare going up from $2 to $2.50: Continue reading