Published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 9, 2003
The villain in this transit drama could be state officials or the “heroine.”
Philadelphia-area residents are watching the theatrical melodrama “Saving SEPTA, 2003,” and Act IV has begun. The scene is set in Harrisburg, with Gov. Rendell, House Speaker John Perzel (R., Phila.), and Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill (R., Lebanon) in starring roles. Perched at the edge of our seats, we are waiting to see whether these three characters will redeem themselves, rescuing our flawed heroine, SEPTA, and saving the communities she serves.
Act I began when the trio threatened our heroine by passing a budget that cut appropriations by $11 million. We were left wondering whether Rendell, Perzel and Brightbill were black-caped villains who wanted to force workers, widows and children from jobs and schools accessible only by public transit. Or were they good men who, in a moment reminiscent of Ionesco and the Theater of the Absurd, were caught up in a maelstrom beyond their control?
Either way, SEPTA suffers. Of course, our heroine’s position also was morally ambiguous. She already was $41 million in debt, and it was whispered that her addiction to giving her friends jobs and contracts had distracted her from giving us good bus and rail service.
Heroines in a typical melodrama cry out for help. But in an unusual plot twist, Act II began when SEPTA tied herself to the rails and put her head in the path of an oncoming train. She proposed draconian cuts in service, including discontinuing the C bus in Philadelphia and the R8 Chestnut Hill West line. This was an attempt to appeal to contemporary tastes for sadomasochism. If these cuts were adopted, SEPTA would lose so much ridership and support that the agency would spiral toward its death.
The sadomasochistic theme was heightened when, instead of coming to her aid, the community blamed our poor heroine for her plight.
This was Act III of our play. As some in the audience already had suspected, this is precisely what our heroine wanted. SEPTA believed she needed to do something self-lacerating to gain our attention, and many of us recognized that this plot had been recycled from earlier dramas.
The train bearing down on SEPTA was one of the transit agency’s own, so it was slow and late. There was plenty of time for the community to get going. Residents organized, collected petitions and sent letters. We told everyone how disastrous SEPTA’s proposed cuts would be. The cuts would not just harm the riders of the threatened transit lines – city and suburban residents who would suffer, too, from increased traffic congestion and degraded air quality caused by more cars on the road.
We talked about the devastating impact SEPTA cuts would have on business activity, on property values, and on Philadelphia’s population. We protested the unfair burden that would be placed on seniors, schoolchildren, and the working poor. We even held rallies on an R8 train and at SEPTA hearings.
At those hearings, a play within a play developed; this one was a farce. Members of SEPTA’s board of directors did not show up. Instead, they sent “independent” hearing examiners – ones with longstanding ties to SEPTA. The examiners’ report said they were shocked – shocked! – at the projected disastrous consequences of the proposed cuts.
SEPTA definitely got our attention and, she hopes, Harrisburg’s as well. Expecting a $41 million appropriation from the state, she lifted her head from the tracks. But her legs still could be mangled by the oncoming train. She would not die, but she, and we, could slowly bleed to death. Even worse, without the $41 million, her head could end up back on the tracks.
Now, we are in Harrisburg with our three characters. Rendell previously has been spotted riding our heroine, SEPTA. He has been hinting that he wants to help, provided some issues left over from an earlier, strained relationship with her are settled. But, as the train bears down, Perzel and Brightbill are struggling with Rendell over the state budget, seemingly ignoring our heroine.
As dramatic music begins playing, we begin wondering: What will be the result? We can only wait and hope. One of our chief hopes is that Rendell, Perzel and Brightbill will decide to cancel this long-running drama by finding a dedicated source of funding for our heroine.
And if that does not happen? Then “Saving SEPTA, 2004” will open as scheduled next year.
Marc Stier is president of the community group West Mount Airy Neighbors and founder of the Northwest Campaign for Public Transportation.