Only a few people showed up at SEPTA’s budget hearing on Monday. Two asked for more regional rail lines, and one asked the budget be rejected because it included funding for the “Bus Revolution.” And Hall Monitor’s reporter, Lance Haver, asked questions.
Despite only four people attending, the Hearing Examiner limited each person to three minutes. The hearing examiner was asked if it was her intent to change the public hearing, where the public could ask questions and receive answers, to a public input session, where the public could say what it wanted, but SEPTA would not be required to answer.
The hearing examiner never gave a clear answer. Lance asked questions after the three others spoke despite the 3-minute limit.
What is clear is the proposed budget responded to the riders and City Council Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson’s concerns expressed during the “Bus Revolution meetings.”
To make SEPTA safer, SEPTA’s budget projects hiring 40 additional Transit police, and to double the size of the System Safety Department. It is unclear what that means, but it’s included in the budget.
SEPTA addressed one of the other major complaints voiced: the system’s filth. SEPTA projects it will “restructure its cleaning operation” and add 100 positions to support that effort. Like with the “System Safety Dept restructuring,” it is unclear what this means.
Other good news in the budget is that no fare hike is projected. Those who use key cards or “contactless fares” will be able to get two free transfers and an increase in the amount of time allowed to make the transfer. The age limit for children to ride free will increase from 5 to 12, and there will be a discounted three-day pass.
The budget makes the situation worse for riders who don’t have credit or key cards. A person with a credit or key card pays $4 for a round trip that includes two transfers. For those who pay cash, that same ride costs $15.00, a very steep penalty. SEPTA refuses to sell a transfer to a cash rider, in direct violation of the City of Philadelphia’s law that prohibits discriminating against people who pay with cash.
SEPTA claims not to know the demographic breakdown of riders with credit cards and who pay cash. In an exchange, a SEPTA witness claimed SEPTS knew the demogaphics of those using the key card, because the key card is registered with SEPTA. When it was pointed out that registering a Key card doesn’t require providing income level, age, race, or gender, which SEPTA claims to have for its overall riders, another witness corrected SEPTA’s statement saying they developed the demographics of SEPTA riders from customer service surveys. SEPTA did not know the demographics of those paying cash. In an attempt to diminish the issue of forcing people with low incomes to pay more, SEPTA’s witness said SEPTA will be re-doing the fare structure at some point in the future.
SEPTA’s exhibits show that, as of June of last year, it had over half a billion dollars, $539.2 million, in a fare stabilization fund. When asked how much is in it now, SEPTA did not provide an answer, claiming the amount in the fund could not be known until June 2024. Extrapolating, in two weeks, SEPTA will have over $650 million in a bank account.
SEPTA states the money is kept in a money market account at PNC bank but doesn’t know how much interest it earns. SEPTA does not know if PNC offers mortgages or small business loans in SEPTA’s service area. SEPTA does not attempt to leverage the half-billion dollar bank account for the good of the residents living in its service area. Despite having over a half-billion dollars in PNC bank, SEPTA has taken a “line of credit” from PNC, for which it pays a fee so it can borrow money.
The most revealing portion was SEPTA’s acknowledgment that the “Bus Revolution” would not solve riders’ wait times or frustration. From the Senior Director of Budgets & Transformation, “The proposal features an incremental reduction in service levels of nurses and SEPTA metro to better align schedules with operator availability.”
SEPTA’s operating managers have not found a way to hire a sufficient number of bus drivers to cover the existing routes. The managers’ solution is to cut the bus service and try to hire more drivers.
The hearing examiner will make a nonbinding recommendation to the SEPTA board without the benefit of real hearings. The SEPTA board will then vote to accept the service cuts, the transfer’s cash discriminatory policies, and the investments in safety, cleanliness, and worker recruitment.
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