SEPTA gives tour of crumbling infrastructure to Federal Transit Administration

Federal officials came to Philadelphia to take a look at the city’s crumbling mass transit infrastructure. 

Federal Transit Administration head Peter Rogoff toured City Hall Station and other SEPTA facilities for a first hand view of SEPTA’s aging infrastructure. Rogoff says the FTA estimates billions are needed nationwide just to keep the system safe for passengers.

“When you see gasoline going to four dollars and beyond, the president has committed himself to lowering the consumption of gas and if we are going to do that using transit which is center to his agenda, we need to keep transit a reliable option for folks,” said Rogoff. “Otherwise we are just pushing more people onto the highway and they are spending more of their paycheck at the gas pump.”

US Senator Bob Casey wants to spend more for mass transit.

“What SEPTA’s challenged with is emblematic of challenges we face across the country, not only in transit but more broadly in major infrastructure challenges and we’ve got to get to work in making the investments first and foremost on safety and after that in terms of having reliability that we hoped for,” said Casey.

However Senator Casey says reaching an agreement on the debt limit is priority one for now.