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Winter‽
@wintergaiwan.bsky.social
38 followers 151 following 43 posts
🏳️⚧️ She/her Tea head Video games F1 Interrobang enthusiast
![the body of a letter.
Re: SEPTA Funding and Service
I am a relatively recent transplant to the City of Philadelphia from its southern neighbor Baltimore City and a registered Democrat. My better half uses the Market Frankford Line (“MFL”) every day to commute, and we regularly take advantage of the MFL, Broad Street Line, bus system, and regional rail, all operated by SEPTA, to explore Philadelphia and everything it has to offer. The quality of these transportation systems stand in stark contrast to those in Baltimore City, which were chronically underfunded and poorly maintained by Republican Governor Larry Hogan and a legislature that chose to neglect Baltimore City. The neglect of Baltimore City’s public transportation systems have only kneecapped the economic viability of the city and should serve as a cautionary tale for both the City of Philadelphia and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The ongoing failure to adequately fund SEPTA has placed it on a fiscal cliff. Without funding from the legislature or the diversion of Federal-Aid Highway Program funding to SEPTA, SEPTA will be forced to raise fares by a cumulative percentage increase of 29% at the start of 2025 while slashing services by 20%. As SEPTA COO Scott Sauer noted, "[w]ith major service cuts and fare increases, this is the beginning of what we've been saying is the 'transit death spiral’ . . . Service cuts and fare increases resulting from fewer riders, lead to more service cuts and more fare increases, resulting in fewer riders. Until ultimately public transit is no longer relevant." While the idea of adequately funding SEPTA to maintain its current level of service may appear to be expensive, the economic costs to the entire region resulting from SEPTA entering a transit death spiral are far greater.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:a4swkolk5ekpq47di3yfwkcw/bafkreie2khox7lcpmdnkvu2z3c6dnmsu7wxkdedb6bbaocvqmd22moims4)
