Philadelphia deserves transit investment, not just survival

When I moved to Philadelphia for my doctorate in city planning at the University of Pennsylvania, I was struck by how a city with so much potential could settle for survival-mode transit funding. When PATCO reopened its Franklin Square station in April, it was the first new station built in the city since Spring Garden opened on May 16, 1977.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s recent SEPTA proposal keeps the trains running, but it’s damage control, not vision. Philadelphia deserves the transformative transit investment that other cities are building while we fight just to maintain what we have. The blueprint for that transformation already exists, we just need the courage to build it.

The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway represents the most transformative piece of this vision. This isn’t a pipe dream; it’s a necessity with proven demand. PennDot’s recent Boulevard Reimagined study found that 62,000 daily riders would use this line, demonstrating the enormous unmet transit need in Northeast Philadelphia.

When State Rep. Jared Solomon and I organized town halls in 2023, standing-room-only crowds made their needs clear: They feel disconnected from economic opportunities and see the Boulevard subway as their bridge to a better future.

This Metro line would transform the 15-mile corridor from Hunting Park to Neshaminy Mall, providing fast, reliable connections to Center City. But the Boulevard subway is just one piece of a larger regional transformation that Philadelphia could achieve with proper investment.

An extension of PATCO from Rittenhouse to University City would complement the SEPTA Metro by creating unprecedented regional connectivity. This project would serve Penn, Drexel, and the broader University City innovation district, providing South Jersey residents with direct access to West Philadelphia’s knowledge economy.

The city also desperately needs a subway station at the Navy Yard. The transformation of this area from an abandoned shipbuilding facility to an innovation hub and residential community, with hundreds of new apartments under construction, demands direct subway access. This extension would do more than serve one employment center — it would create a true, rapid-transit network connecting Northeast Philadelphia to South Philadelphia via Center City, with seamless connections to University City.

The suburbs also can benefit. The Schuylkill Valley Metro project, if revived, could spur redevelopment in Norristown, Pottstown, and Reading. Upgrading our Regional Rail stations could facilitate faster and more frequent service for commuters, allowing more workers to choose transit.

These projects work together to create something greater than the sum of their parts: a transit system that truly connects Philadelphia’s communities to one another and to opportunities. Seattle, Los Angeles, and Denver understand this; they’re reaping the benefits of major transit investment through economic development, improved air quality, and enhanced quality of life.

While SEPTA makes do with a $1.7 billion budget to provide service for roughly 800,000 daily riders, these cities are spending much more to serve far fewer people. We don’t need SEPTA to spend $9 billion a year, like LA Metro; it would take substantially less to deliver the service and coverage this region needs ... and wants.

When I organized those Boulevard subway town halls, people told me I was being unrealistic. Then I watched Northeast residents fill every seat and line the walls, speaking about feeling disconnected from their own city. They didn’t need studies or ridership projections; they knew from daily experience that reliable transit opens opportunities. That response wasn’t unrealistic. It was long overdue.

Shapiro’s funding keeps SEPTA afloat, but Philadelphia needs more leaders like Solomon, who are willing to champion transformative infrastructure investment.

We have the blueprints, community support, and economic case. Now, we need the will to build a world-class transit system that Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania deserve.

Jay Arzu, a doctoral student in city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, is the cofounder of the Collective Form.