Presentation on looming SEPTA crisis

Posted by on August 27, 2004

Dear Community Leader,

As you may know, SEPTA is facing a budget crisis. Everyone agrees that unless something is done, SEPTA will run out of money later this year. The questions are: What will happen next? Will SEPTA receive the funding it needs? Will they eliminate service in your neighborhood? Raise fares? Or both raise fares and cut services?

We are a coalition of neighborhood, environmental and consumer activists who are working together to help ensure that SEPTA receives the money it needs so that we may have the service we need, at an affordable price. We know, that SEPTA is far from perfect, from the dirty smelly subway stops, to the overcrowding and badly planned interconnections, we know that SEPTA needs to improve. But we also know that it cannot improve if it runs out of money.

Many people believe that SEPTA?s financial crisis has been caused by SEPTA?s mismanagement. In some ways, it is a shame that this isn?t true. If SEPTA?s problems were caused by SEPTA?s mismanagement, it could be solved by SEPTA alone. Unfortunately, most of SEPTA?s financial problem is caused by its lack of predictable funding.

Unlike mass transit systems in other cities, SEPTA does not have a dedicated funding source on which it can rely. As a result, year after year SEPTA has to ask for handouts from Harrisburg and the local counties. Some years SEPTA does better than others, but overall, SEPTA?s funding from the state has been drastically cut.

That is why we would like to speak to you and your group. We would like to show your members how SEPTA?s funding has been cut and speak with them about what we can do to ensure that the system keeps running.

If you think your group would be interested in receiving a brief presentation, (approximately 10 minutes) please call us at (215) 843 4256 and we will send one of our speakers to your meeting . It may seem unbelievable, but unless we act, your neighborhood could see service cuts as large as 30 to 40%

For the Philadelphia Transit Campaign,

Lance Haver,Director,
Mayor?s Office of Consumer Affairs

Philadelphia Transit Campaign
6703 Germantown Avenue ? Philadelphia, PA 19119 ? (215) 843-4256 ? info@phillytransit.com ? http://www.phillytransit.com