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. In many cases, they do have yet have enough information to understand how proposed route cancellations, additions, and modifications will affect them. As a result, they cannot provide meaningful feedback.
SEPTA has made very little effort to inform riders about the proposed changes, even using extremely low-cost methods. In August 2022 we recommended playing audio announcements on the buses. SEPTA did finally employ this method less than two weeks before the first hearing. This leads us to believe that SEPTA leadership’s disregard of the riding public throughout this process is intentional.
Based on how hearing attendees have been treated, it appears that there is not a genuine interest in listening to concerns of riders and bus operators. At the extremely time-limited hearings SEPTA has held, SEPTA has given themselves half an hour to go on their standard PR spiel about the bus revolution, yet only gives riders 2 minutes to voice their concerns about changes affecting the entire bus system. People arriving well before the set end time of the event were told they would not be able to speak because they arrived after 6 or even 5:30 PM, and your officials moved to cut off speakers well before the set end time (8pm) of the hearing. You cannot move forward without making sure that riders of eliminated and substantially modified routes are made aware of the proposed changes, with an extended period for public comment.
We are concerned about the plethora of routes being eliminated, being significantly changed, or undergoing frequency reductions. One route of special concern is the 16, which provides ADA accessibility for riders along the Broad Street corridor from Cheltenham Avenue to Center City. Truncating this route and cutting service will force seniors and mobility dependent riders to transfer to reach educational, shopping, recreational activities, and medical appointments. It will also significantly increase their travel time, which goes against one of the policies of the revolution. We are also particularly concerned about the proposed elimination of routes, K, 32, and 73.
Through the entire “bus revolution” process, SEPTA has never shared their definition of a successful bus network redesign. Is it higher ridership? What is the process for revision if fewer people ride? How will SEPTA measure the impact of the proposed changes on riders who have disabilities, on elders, on people who travel with shopping bags or small children, or others who may find it difficult to walk longer distances or transfer buses? Without defined metrics of success and a clear process for correction, we may end up with a worse transit system than we have today.
We submit the following recommendations:
- The hearing examiner should extend the period for public comment by three months, with a concentrated, in person outreach effort aboard buses proposed for elimination.
- The hearing examiner should ask SEPTA to define the metrics of a successful bus network redesign, and compel SEPTA officials to report on these metrics at board meetings for 3 years.
Thank you, The Philly TRU