Harrisburg must properly fund public transportation — SEPTA is too important to fail | Editorial

Every day, about a million Pennsylvanians rely on public transit to take them wherever they need to go.

But in its recently released budget, SEPTA envisions a future where almost half those trips would disappear — that is, unless the General Assembly includes Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed statewide increase in transit spending in the commonwealth’s next budget.

Given the vital economic role public transportation plays in keeping the state moving, lawmakers must ensure proper funding is available.

SEPTA officials outlined draconian cuts and major fare increases as the only viable solutions without additional state support.

According to the agency’s proposed budget, fares will increase from $2.50 to $2.90. Most routes would also see fewer scheduled trips, and all train service would end at 9 p.m., five Regional Rail lines would be cut, and bus service would be eviscerated. Those reductions would take effect just months before millions of people are expected to begin visiting the region for the World Cup, the MLB All-Star Game, and America’s 250th birthday next year.

» READ MORE: Properly funding SEPTA is essential to Philadelphia’s economic future | Editorial

This board has written extensively on the need to fund public transportation, and of the benefits conferred on even those who never step foot on a SEPTA vehicle. Transit facilitates investment, boosts property values, and — especially in a city like Philadelphia, where roughly 30% of households do not own a car — can be an essential part of everyday life.

Without it, our city and suburbs would be flooded by the kind of traffic volume the region’s older roads and relatively narrow highways are not designed to handle.

While SEPTA has yet to fully recover from the drop in ridership during the pandemic, which has led to its budget shortfall, the agency is making progress in tackling issues that have discouraged some riders from using the system and suppressed revenue.

In February, the most recent month with available data, SEPTA provided more than 750,000 rides per day, an 8% increase over the year before, and a figure that represents more than the number of vehicles that use the city’s major highways.

SEPTA is also providing safer rides. After hiring more police, and a recent policy change that reinstated higher fines for fare evasion, smoking, and other offenses, SEPTA saw the largest decrease in violent crime in the agency’s history. While these changes are welcome, problematic behavior on transit continues to be one of the biggest factors driving both riders and operators away. But the way to change that is more funding, not less.

While Shapiro transferred some federal highway funds to SEPTA to stave off cuts last year, such a move is likely impossible under President Donald Trump.

Meantime, in Harrisburg, where Senate Republicans have refused to allow local counties to levy their own taxes to support SEPTA, most of the discussion around funding transit has focused on generating revenue by legalizing so-called games of skill — slot machine-like devices that have proliferated in bars and corner stores — and recreational marijuana.

The past two years, negotiators have agreed to a budget that left public transit behind. This year must be different. Philadelphia’s delegation should refuse to vote for any budget that lacks adequate funding for SEPTA. Given a quarter of Pennsylvania’s House Democrats represent the city, such an ultimatum would make passing a budget without SEPTA untenable.

» READ MORE: Gov. Shapiro gets it right with his public transit funding push. But more is needed. | Editorial

SEPTA’s critics often express concerns about what they perceive as the system’s wasteful spending. In reality, however, SEPTA officials have been thoughtful, and at times frugal, stewards of the system’s resources. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which are the most similar transit agencies in terms of ridership, each have significantly higher budgets.

This board has criticized SEPTA’s spending priorities when warranted, particularly the King of Prussia rail proposal, unnecessary and overpriced parking garages at Regional Rail stations, and the glacial and costly rollout of the agency’s Key cards, but none of these issues are the fault of the riders and frontline workers who would bear the brunt of the service reductions.

Pennsylvania is a commonwealth. At its heart, that means all its residents — urban, suburban, and rural — pool their resources to provide the essential services Pennsylvanians need. That includes SEPTA. Shapiro and the city’s delegation must make it happen.