This Tuesday, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority held a pair of public meetings at the Loews hotel in Center City to discuss a proposal to close the agency's $62 million budget deficit. These meetings, and whatever SEPTA ends up doing to meet its legally required balanced budget, will have a great impact on the Penn community. While many Penn students might not realize the degree to which SEPTA affects their lives here, now would be a good time to consider what public transit does for our school.
SEPTA's proposal has two parts: fare increases and service cuts. The cash fare to ride a bus or subway would rise from $2 to $2.50, and the cost of a token would rise from $1.30 to $1.70. A transfer would cost 75 cents instead of 60, a weekly pass would rise from $18.50 to $23.75 and a monthly TransPass would rise from $70 to $85. In addition, fares would rise on all the regional rail lines, and there would be no more discount for off-peak hours.
If you think that's pretty steep, the service cuts are even worse. Service on all lines would be cut by 20 percent, with the reductions taking place mostly at midday and after 8 p.m. And on top of that, all weekend service would be eliminated.
Yes, you read that right. All weekend SEPTA service would be eliminated. So if you want to go shopping in Rittenhouse Square, wander around the historic buildings in Old City or go to a 76ers game on a Saturday or Sunday, you won't be able to just walk to any of the trolley or Market-Frankford Blue Line stops on campus and be there in a matter of minutes. You also won't be able to get from the airport to campus when getting back from a weekend trip home unless you are willing to spend over $20 for a cab, instead of $5.50 for the train to 30th Street Station or University City.
I am sure this city's cab drivers would be overjoyed at the number of new -- and pretty substantial -- fares they'd pick up every day. But I'm willing to bet that a lot of commuters would abandon SEPTA altogether and drive into the city, which would make both the traffic and the air quality a lot worse. It already takes almost as much time to get from Broad Street to 20th Street on Walnut by bus as it does to get from 20th to 36th.
Penn's undergraduate population is not the only group here that would be affected by SEPTA's proposal. Many of the people you see every day who work in facilities, maintenance and the dining halls use SEPTA to get to work, as do professors who live in Chestnut Hill and the suburbs. Graduate students who live in Center City apartments ride the trolleys and busses to campus for class. To these people, public transit is more than just a nice way to get around the city -- it is an essential part of their everyday lives.
I'd like to see one person step up and take the lead in fighting for SEPTA on behalf of Penn: President Gutmann. I know she hasn't been here for all that long, but I suspect that, as the head of Philadelphia's largest private employer, she has already seen how vital public transit is to this school. It probably wouldn't take much more than a phone call from her to have a big impact. It could be to The Daily Pennsylvanian, The Philadelphia Inquirer or the Philadelphia Daily News. Or it could be to a Penn alumnus who also has a big stake in SEPTA's health: Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, whose state house can fix SEPTA's financial ills with a couple votes and the stroke of a pen. But regardless of who ends up leading the way, there is no doubt that now is the time for action. And if you believe in the importance of public transit in Philadelphia, go to savetransit.org and join the saveTransit Coalition.
If, like me, you grew up in a city with a great public transportation system, you know how it feels to not have to drive everywhere. While SEPTA may not be as clean as Washington, D.C.'s Metro, or as widespread as the New York subway, or as cheap as Boston's T, it's what we have, and we need it. So let's get Penn behind getting SEPTA the money it deserves from Harrisburg.
