Last month, public transit advocates from all across Philadelphia showed up to support Kensington community members protesting on behalf of their train station. SEPTA management had decided, without talking to residents, to close Somerset Station on the Market-Frankford Line to all riders. The rally was an inspiring example of the power of activism and solidarity, and it worked: Somerset reopened ahead of schedule, and community groups are continuing to hold SEPTA accountable to Kensington. This is just one example of how transit advocacy makes SEPTA better.
I love public transit, and I love seeing people come together to make institutions more responsive. That said, pressing agencies to do the right thing is just one part of fighting for public transit. We don’t just want great service for people who are already taking the trains, trolleys, and buses — we also want the transit system to attract new riders. And for all the cheerleading we do, the truth is that sometimes we can’t even persuade the people in our own lives to try public transit. No matter how much we repeat that transit is safer, greener, and more affordable than driving, we can’t always get our friends and family out from behind the wheel.
Some transit advocates have explained this problem by blaming “car culture.” They’re absolutely right to name the way that socialization and mass media shapes our beliefs and habits. At the same time, focusing on an abstract concept like “culture” instead of the responsibility of institutions comes with a danger.
Many people choose cars over transit for valid reasons. When we blame an abstract concept, we ignore the implicit call for change in their voices. We risk laying blame for problems we don’t understand at the feet of people we don’t know, for choices we haven’t had to make. That’s a pattern we’ve seen in conversations around public health, gender inequity at work, and even baseball.
As a transit advocate, my goal is to improve public transit and ensure that everyone has good alternatives to driving. We can’t begin by assuming that everyone who commutes by car is making a selfish or self-defeating decision. That process has to start with listening. With that in mind, I reached out to a friend, someone I’ve never seen eye-to-eye with about transit.