The Budget For The Bus Goes Round and Round, Round and Round

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:

–Transfers will be eliminated, with the price of a token and transfer going up from $1.90 to $2.80, while a weekly transpass will rise from $18.75 to $25, and a monthly transpass will go up from $70 to $105.

–Zones 1 and 2 on the regional rail will be merged. A monthly combined zone 1/2 pass will go up from $70 (zone 1) or $106 (zone 2) to $143.50, an increase of 105 percent and 35 percent respectively.

Plus, service is set to be reduced by about 20 percent. Which means:

–Many buses that now run every 30 minutes will now run every 60 (route 27) or 70 minutes (route 22). Standing room only will soon be the rule.

–Many trips will be eliminated.

–Saturday service will follow the Sunday schedule on many routes.

–Sunday service on many routes will be heavily reduced or discontinued.

These proposals are likely to send SEPTA into a death spiral, in which sharply declining ridership and revenues lead to further fare increases and service reductions until little or nothing is left.

Even if we limp along, this will undermine one of Philadelphia’s few economic advantages. A good transit system enables businesses to find the workers best suited to fill particular jobs and encourages the dense development that saves us time commuting. With slow growth throughout the region, and high poverty rates in the city, we should be examining proposals for expanding transit, not developing a triage plan for SEPTA.

Public transit is also critical to creating an equitable society. SEPTA is the school bus for many high school and college students. Without SEPTA, working people cannot get to their jobs. The disabled count on SEPTA to make their way around the city. And SEPTA enables senior citizens to be self-reliant.

A sustainable, environmentally friendly city is also impossible without public transit. One bus removes 40 cars from the roads, while one train removes 120 cars. Public transit uses about half the fuel of cars. And public transit vehicles produce 95 percent less carbon monoxide, 92 percent fewer volatile organic compounds, and about half as much carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

So why are we facing this crisis? Our legislators–and many of their constituents–fail to recognize that public transit, like every other form of transportation, must be publicly subsidized. This is true for one simple reason: Whether we use it or not, we all benefit, so some part of the cost has to come from taxes, not the fare box.

Pennsylvania, however, provides less public subsidy for transit than most states. SEPTA has its own problems–its lack of vision and unresponsiveness to rider complaints. But these have much more to do with SEPTA’s perpetual funding crisis than with agency inefficiencies. The Governor’s Transit Reform Commission has shown that SEPTA’s day-to-day operations are reasonably efficient. So if we want to keep hope for a better future alive, we have to demand that Rendell and the General Assembly save public transit in our region.

Go to the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition Web site www.patransit.org to learn what you can do. And start by signing an online petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ptc1/, that demands that our legislators give up their free transit until they solve our transit problem.

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