Throughout the last four years during SEPTA’s cost-neutral bus network redesign, members of the Philly TRU have consistently witnessed conceptual and process issues throughout each stage of the project. Awareness that a redesign was taking place was low and the mostly online outreach only reached a small fraction of riders. And even then, they lacked the resources to sufficiently serve the small group of riders they did reach. The Zoom meetings where feedback was solicited had capacity limits set lower than one car on the Broad Street Line.
On December 14, 2023, Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law Act 40, legislation designed by Republicans to disenfranchise Philly voters.
The law allows PA Attorney General Michelle Henry to appoint a “special prosecutor for mass transit” for crimes occurring on SEPTA, only within the city of Philadelphia. This law effectively denies Philly voters of their right to elect their prosecutor. The members of the PA Senate and the PA House who voted for this legislation do not believe that Philadelphians should have that right.
Union Station Bus Terminal in Toronto, ON In June 2023, as part of a cost-cutting measure, Greyhound closed the Philadelphia Bus Terminal, the third-busiest bus terminal in the county. Riders were forced to wait outside on 6th and Market, with no bathrooms and no waiting room. After the Bus Terminal was relocated for the second time this year, to the Spring Garden MFL station, the Philly TRU co-authored a report with the city’s disability and transit advocates highlighting the accessibility issues of the new terminal.
SEPTA Hearing Examiner,
On behalf of the Philly Transit Riders Union we are writing about SEPTA’s cost-neutral bus network redesign, marketed as “bus revolution.” According to SEPTA’s website, the public comment period will close at the end of this week. This is premature.
Many many many riders who will see a SIGNIFICANT CHANGE in service under the “Revolution” are still unaware of changes that will be made to their ride. We continue to hear from riders who are just learning about the proposed changes for the first time.
What the El!?! There’s no way in El you’re going to enjoy this!
SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line (MFL) is SEPTA’s busiest route. In 2022, the MFL carried over 54,000 riders daily. And yet, recent tweets from SEPTA show that the reliability of the equipment on the MFL has plummeted. There are daily reports of service delays due to equipment problems.
The research committee of the Philly Transit Riders Union has learned that these subway cars date back to the mid- to late ‘90s.
KOP Rail had a very hard life. Growing up, it has always been the victim of bullying from transit advocates, being called names like “an exemplar of bad planning” and “the worst rail project in the US”. KOP Rail was never felt like it could measure up to its rail extension peers, like the Maryland Purple Line or the Boston Green Line Extension. While those extensions would have only cost their agencies around $70,000 per rider, KOP Rail’s much higher cost of over $333,000 per rider always made it feel like a burden.
SEPTA’s proposed bus revolution is another example of the national trend of cities doing cost-neutral redesigns of their bus network. In earlier stages of outreach, the Bus Revolution staff championed about how much of an improvement the new bus network will be to riders, and, in their defense, we have seen a lot of good things being proposed. A higher number of routes will run every 15 minutes or less on all days of the week, overnight service is being proposed on more corridors throughout the city and suburbs, and some corridors, like Cheltenham Avenue, are finally getting bus service that they’ve asked for years.
It’s been a little over a year since SEPTA started “Bus Revolution,” their cost-neutral bus network redesign. The “Bus Revolution” is proposing many changes, including frequency changes, splitting up and merging routes, consolidating bus stops, and cutting some routes and even eliminating transit service to some parts of Greater Philadelphia.
A cost neutral redesign means no increase in overall service, just a reorganization of existing resources. Any changes proposed will involve “trade offs”– some areas get more service, some get less.
Lance Haver breaks down the FY 2023 SEPTA budget on Philly Hall Monitor
SEPTA’s budget and the organization as a whole can be strange and confusing. In the video below, Lance Haver explains the FY2023 SEPTA budget, the SEPTA board and more on Philadelphia Hall Monitor.
Proposed fare changes For more information: FY 2023 Capital Budget proposal (highlights) FY 2023 Operating Budget proposal (highlights) Reporting from Tom Fitzgerald in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “It’s the biggest capital budget in the agency’s 58-year history.” Public hearings for the SEPTA Operating Budget: May 16, 2022 – 10:00 am & 4:00 pm May 18, 2022 – 11:00 am & 6:00 pm Public hearings for the SEPTA Capital Budget: May 23, 2022 – 10:00 am & 4:00 pm Want to organize for public transit?