Riders discuss possibilities, shortfalls of public transit at Bridging Blocks event

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Safe, reliable service –– that’s what participants of a conversation hosted by WHYY News Tuesday hope to see from the public transportation in the region.

The discussion was the second of a three-part Bridging Blocks series regarding public transit, and Eric Marsh, WHYY News’ manager of community and engagement, said the feedback wasn’t far from what attendees brought up last week.

Participants were asked to consider questions such as the challenges of public transit, what people get wrong about it and who is getting left out of the transit conversation. Marsh encouraged them to think beyond SEPTA and reflect on pedestrian and cyclist accessibility as well.

Many participants expressed the potential of Philadelphia’s public transit system to be a “gold standard” for similarly sized cities. Philadelphia has the capacity to transport hundreds of thousands more people each day than it actively does, according to Robert Previdi of the Save the Train coalition, and Media resident Steve Laarkamp said it has all the right infrastructure to do so.

“Philly’s got the old fabric that facilitates walking places, taking the bus, taking the train, riding a bike. But it’s not being exploited to its fullest,” Laarkamp said.

While there were positive acknowledgements of the convenience of the system’s connectivity and the benefits for city workers to ride for free or discounted rates, common issues like safety and cleanliness were not lost on the group.

Van Waring was born and raised in West Philly and was completely dependent on SEPTA from her childhood, not learning to drive until her thirties. Now, however, Waring has seen such a significant change in SEPTA’s safety that she will only bring her 5-year-old daughter on it on a rare occasion.

SEPTA announced a commitment to additional safety measures after the Federal Transit Administration concluded a seven-month investigation and found “a deteriorating safety record.” The transportation authority plans to fill staffing vacancies, invest in retaining transit police and is exploring bulletproof shields for operators, it said in a news release last Monday.

Previdi said that before these issues can even be dealt with, SEPTA must be properly funded.

“Safety, cost, access, frequency –– SEPTA can’t begin to address these. Their head is barely above water! And we’re asking them to do more. They’re barely breathing,” he said.

SEPTA is dealing with significant financial deficits as federal COVID-19 relief runs out and ridership is only about 75% of 2019 levels.

Some attendees concluded that funding for SEPTA was not prioritized because the people making decisions about the system are not dependent upon it. Several of the agency’s board members commute from the suburbs and are appointed by county officials in Delaware, Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties, meaning they don’t rely on the system for daily transport.

And while SEPTA largely serves Philadelphians, the agency is state-run.

“Probably what [the city] needs to do is take control of the city portion of our system if we want to get true change that’s balanced and fair,” Previdi said.

SEPTA, PennDot, Amtrak and NJTransit officials were invited to the conversation. Only a SEPTA representative showed up, but left before the conversation really began.

The final discussion of the public transit series will be held July 30 at the Ramonita G. de Rodriguez Library from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.