This Thursday at 3 pm at 1234 Market Street, the SEPTA board will vote on a proposal to raise fares by 31%, cut 20% of all service, eliminate school transfers raising kids fares by over 50% and eliminating zone 1 stations for the rail lines.
There is no question that passing such a proposal will wreak havoc on our region. If passed it will burden the working poor who depend upon SEPTA to get to work and school, add another 20,000 cars to our roads, worsen the air quality, make our region less competitive for businesses, lower property values and make us more dependent on oil.
The question is who will show up at the board meeting? How many of us will make the time? How many will decide that fighting for our interests doesn’t end the day after the election?
Those who have raised concerns about process, will you also raise concerns about policy? Will you speak for the students, riders and environment?
all transfers to be eliminated (& more)
According to a SEPTA press release issued last week, the plan recommended to the board for Thursday includes the 11% increase effective July 1; the elimination of all transfers--not just school transfers--effective July 31; the rejiggering of regional rail zones; and the adoption of the Doomsday Plan in September if no state funding is forthcoming.
Boy, this is going to hurt.
http://septawatch.blogspot.com/
Well, it is all well and
Well, it is all well and good to complain about the rate hikes.
But what are the solutions being proposed?
Is the SEPTA board really the people that need screaming at?
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"yes adam gave some informative comments but he also seems to sprinkle a little adam dust on it." - merkin
Perhaps we should read something other than SEPTA's PR
to find out what is going on?
I have read the hearing examiner's report, the recommendation is an immediate 11% hike and to raise fares again in September for a total of 31%, cut service by 20% eliminate the transfers and the zone 1 stations.
It is the SEPTA board that will vote on the proposal. No one else can impose the fare hikes and service cuts.
The first thing we should do is stop the fare hikes and service cuts. The second is to get our elected officials to adequately fund public transit.
What we should not do, is nothing.
Lance
Lance Haver
I guess more of my point
I guess more of my point was, it seems protesting at the board member's meeting against the fare hikes seems a little late in the game. Obviously it sounds like it is a money issue right now.
Maybe planned protests at our state rep's houses six months ago when we knew SEPTA was in desperate need of funds would have been more helpful.
I am not discouraging the protest of the vote, just mentioning it seems late in the game and reactionary.
Again what is the plan? I have heard a lot of people say "get our elected officials to fund transit". What has been done? What is the plan? Last year state reps had elections. How much of an issue was public transit and how much was mobilized?
I assume you have spoken to Dwight Evans, being the Appropriations Chair and all. What has he said?
Rep Cohen posts here a lot. Has anyone made a thread and put him on the spot about what he has done to fight for transit funding?
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"yes adam gave some informative comments but he also seems to sprinkle a little adam dust on it." - merkin
...
Actually people have been organizing against these cuts since the last crisis. http://www.patransit.org/ In any case, I am certain that the answer is not "take no action, it's too late."
Did I say take no action? My
Did I say take no action?
My point is, I hear about a public gathering and protest against the people that are only working with what they are being given. I am just curious if there are any public and vocal attempts like this against the actual people that can increase the funding SEPTA needs?
It's like picketing a gas station owner for raising his rates because his wholesaler raised them on him.
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"yes adam gave some informative comments but he also seems to sprinkle a little adam dust on it." - merkin
The focus on SEPTA is meant to accomplish two things:
1. Buy time. When fare increaes and service cuts go into effect, SEPTA starts to go downwhill and the city and region begins to suffer. Historically it has been very hard for transit agencies to recover ridership after a fare increase and service cut, even if they are reversed.
2. Create a public event to get people agitated enough about the situation to lobby their Governor and legislature.
The PTC has been working to raise awareness about these issues for two and a half year I'm the webmaster and send out the emails and have done probably 30 of them in that time. For obvious reasons, I've been able to devote less time to the PTC this year. But I'll be updating our website and sending more emails soon.
http://www.patransit.org
The board meeting
It's true that only the board can impose fare hikes and service cuts. However, since they are required to have a balanced budget, it's my understanding that the board is essentially FORCED to impose these fare hikes and service cuts by the state; it isn't optional.
I will join the demonstration on Thursday, but I too am somewhat skeptical of the impact this will have. This is a problem that needs to be solved in Harrisburg, not in Septa's boardroom. Rendell will be at SEPTA's board meeting; I can only hope a massive demonstration inspires him to take this issue back to the legislature and bully them into doing something permanent about it (not another one-year bailout).
But I don't feel a great deal of optimism.
It's not what some one else has done, it's what we are doing
I would argue that the first thing we must do is bring people together to make sure our voice is heard.
We don’t lack good ideas; we lack the power to implement them. Unless we have power in a dynamic, whether that power come from organization or money, we must assume that the best of our ideas will only be implemented if some one else wants them as well.
As long as we look to others to do our work for us, we weaken and fool ourselves.
Does anyone really think that State Rep Evans doesn’t know about the crisis? Asking him what to do rather than attempting to mobilize people to fight for what we need is, I am arguing mis guided.
It is easy to criticize and point to what somewhat else should do. It is much harder and more important to do something for ourselves.
So again I ask will you come to the SEPTA board meeting?
Lance Haver
No, don't speak to Evans to
No, don't speak to Evans to get advice. Speak to him and put him on the record what he says HE will do.
You need the actual legislators to say "We are going to fight for funding!". They have an election in a year. SEPTA's board can not generate money. You're going after the wrong target, but again, it is getting to be too late, so I gather any publicity you can get will help.
It is about proper use of resources.
And no, I will not be at the meeting. Without looking into further issues, I would rather have SEPTA with hiked up fares and 20% less routes than a SEPTA with the same fares and 50% less routes and a busted union.
I have Thursday off for Shavout, so if you would have said "in protest of the SEPTA fare hike, we are all going to bus to Evans' state rep office and picket out front saying we need more money from the State" I might have actually been on board.
Give the Appropriations chair, that just had a disastrous showing in a local election, some bad/good press and way to come back out swinging for Philly.
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"yes adam gave some informative comments but he also seems to sprinkle a little adam dust on it." - merkin
I Am A Strong Supporter of Increased Mass Transit Aid
I am a strong supporter of increased mass transit aid. In Philadelphia, I have attended rallies and meetings with SEPTA officials and union leaders to show public support. Inside the legislature, I have been a strong advocate for public support for SEPTA.
I strongly believe that the comming months give us new opportunities. Highways in Pennsylvania are also short of funds, and I am one of those supporting the position that we must treat mass transit equal with highways in any funding solution.
There is some degree of business community support for increased funding for both highways and mass transit. What we need is to get agreement on fair taxes to pay for this increased support. I believe that is a genuine possiblity within the next few months. I strongly oppose selling or leasing the Pennsylvania turnpike to generate revenue, because this will lead to layoffs and far greater than necessary price increases in the long term.
And thank you Representative
And thank you Representative Cohen. There is one legislator we have on the list.
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"yes adam gave some informative comments but he also seems to sprinkle a little adam dust on it." - merkin
Rep Cohen-
Did you, by chance, see my post, either in my blog or in DUA's thread, re: effectively dividing SEPTA into 2 separate authorities, one of which would be specific to the city, + one of which would be specific to the counties? Given that the City owns the BSL + MFSE lines, this could be a workable solution which would effectively prevent the counties from having a veto over city transit issues.
I'm just sayin',
-Z
I Did Not See Your Post
I did not see your post. Could you give me a link?
Could you also tell me what the economic impact of the city is, what the positions of the Mayor and city councilmembers and unions are on this proposal? I would also like to know to what degree this proposal would hinder transportation across county lines.
Thannk you for calling this to my attention.
Here we are...
On the subject of SEPTA foo, I have an interesting suggestion. As most of you probably know, SEPTA as we know it today was cobbled together from the late '60s- when it was created to take over from the privately-owned Philadelphia Transportation Company- plus the former Reading Railroad + Penn Central (nee Pennsylvania) Railroad lines. Part of the aim of SEPTA was to create a strike-proof quasi-public authority. Clearly, the strike-proof goal was not met. And, due to the structure of the board effectively giving Philadelphia County equal representation w/every suburban county, the interests of city riders- the large majority of riders, I believe- are often over-ruled by suburban votes.
My suggestion: either re-organize SEPTA'a board so that representation on its board is proportional to ridership, or reorganize the system itself. I suggest dividing SEPTA into two:
Given that the City of Philadelphia owns the Broad Street Subway + Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated, and pays SEPTA to run them, an argument might be made that the City would get more for its money if it owned and operated these lines + all city buses on its own, via a new City Transportation Authority.
The Regional Rail lines, obviously, are not owned by the City- I believe that some combination of SEPTA + Amtrak owns the trackage, while SEPTA or the city own the cars. Plus, SEPTA itself owns all of the buses in its fleet (please correct me if this is not so). But perhaps a solution could be worked out w/the suburban counties where SEPTA could be reorganized to consist of Regional Rail + suburban buses, leaving purely City operations in the hand of the new City Transit Authority (clearly, the City would have to purchase SEPTA's bus fleet). In this way, the regional SEPTA board would have responsibility for only those routes which are truly regional; the new City Transportation Authority would run those routes which are within the City limits.
Ownership + operation of bus routes which run from the City to suburbs, could be divided up between the two organizations.
Thoughts? I'm hardly saying that I recommend this solution as the perfect one. But it could hardly be much worse than SEPTA is today. SEPTA's usefulness appears to be despite SEPTA management's best efforts to make it useless and/or infuriating.
PS: It has been pointed out elsewhere that the system as I describe it could leave City residents in outlying neighborhoods- like my own of Mount Airy- in somewhat of a lurch. Fair enough- perhaps the reconstituted SEPTA board can maintain City representation for Regional Rail issues.
-Z
SEPTA
Oh,come on. This is a zero sum game. If you can't cut expenses and raise fares, what is left? Increased state and local funding. And where does that come from? The taxpayers. And how do you increase tax payer support? You raise taxes. Stop pretending that there is a magic bullet.
raideradam in the time you have taken you to criticize what I
and others are doing you could have done what you thought was right.
And that is my frustration. Movement builders work with others and build. I believe following that course of action offers the greatest hope of building an organization that can fight for poor and working people.
Lance Haver
Septa
That's fine, as long as you admit "movement building"=tax increases. If not,where do you find the $$?
Lance, meet raideradam
Lance, raideradam is not an organizer, or someone willing to join, he is a gadfly who likes to pick apart what other people do.
Forget about him and in the meantime, thanks for posting this. i will help spread the word. I can't be there because my sister is graduating college in maryland, but it is really important to show the SEPTA board that real live riders care very much about the strategy SEPTA implements as it asks Harrisburg for help.
People in funny robes
I couldn't stop laughing at my graduation because all the professors wear really funny robes. You get different stripes for different degrees. It's sort of like the belts that they give out for kids karate.
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Check out my blog!
Also Different Insignias for Different Colleges Graduated
The robes and hats and tassels of faculty and others in graduating processions are also influenced by what college or university you graduated from. The older the college or university is, the more prestigious it is and the graduation robes reflect that.
You are supposed to wear the uniform reflecting the highest degree you have earned, but some times that might not be available. So, if you have more than one degree, you take the second highest.
These processions occur not only at graduations, but at swearing ins of new presidents of college and other special commemorative occasions. Anyone who would be interested in representing his or her alma mater at a ceremony for another college can contact the alma mater and seek to get appointed as the official representative. The less likely a college or university would normally be sending a representative to the ceremony, the more likely an an interested alumnus or an alumna will be appointed.
The symbolism of all this is interesting. College degree earners were traditionally members of the educated elite, and were recognized for their achievements. Earning college degrees is far more common than ever before, but the symbolism of the elite status of degree holders continues to march on, generation after generation.
Very few people fully understand the symbolism of all this, but, to those that do, it is quite important. I once participated in a graduation procession where it was not possible to get recognition for my highest degree, so I got recognition for a lower degree. The people in charge of the graduation procession were extremely apologetic that I had to undergo what seemed to them a gross indignity, but I doubt any significant number of people present even understood the elaborate system of status allocation involved.
Oh, I join and do things. I
Oh, I join and do things. I just tend to do things that don't get my name in the paper nor do I feel compelled to constantly remind people what I do.
As for SEPTA, I said if I thought the method of protest was more worthwhile, I would have participated. My time is more valuable than protesting for the sake of protesting. If other people want to, more power to them.
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"yes adam gave some informative comments but he also seems to sprinkle a little adam dust on it." - merkin
Let the record show
Nothing but silence.
I'll be there
As Lance says, SEPTA is the commuting option of no-other-choice for most of our members in the city. Head to any transfer point in the city between 2-4 p.m., and you'll see lots of folks in scrub tops, rushing to their jobs in nursing homes, or to take care of seniors in their homes. The cost of the rate increase will make it a lot more difficult for those folks to get to work. In addition, service cuts usually make life worse for our 2nd and 3rd shift workers, because it is invariably the late-hour routes that get cut or condensed.