SEPTA warns of ‘catastrophic’ cuts

Without state aid, the agency says it would be forced to increase fares, eliminate weekend service and lay off workers to remedy a deficit. For the Northwest’s weekday riders, the proposal will mean longer waits and no express trains.

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK

Drowning in $62 million of red ink, SEPTA announced the steepest cuts in its 36-year history last week as part of an emergency contingency plan that would keep the transit agency afloat if the state fails to provide dedicated funding by November.

The plan, which would take effect Jan. 1, includes raising the base fare from $2 to $2.50, cutting all weekday service by 20 percent, eliminating all weekend service and laying off approximately 1,400 workers.

“This is the worst action that SEPTA has ever had to propose,” said SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney. “There is not a bright side to this. It is absolutely catastrophic.”

SEPTA passed a $920 million budget in June, but did so with a $62 million deficit. Hopeful that the state legislature would deliver reliable relief, the agency watched state budget negotiations come and go, receiving just $8 million from the largest boost in mass transit funding since 1999.

The financial crisis attracted little interest from state lawmakers, with the exception of State Sen. Stuart Greenleaf (R., Montgomery) and State Rep. John Taylor (R., Phila.). The two proposed legislation that would dedicate a higher percentage of the existing state sales tax for public transit, but their respective bills were not taken up before the legislature recessed. According to the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association, which represents more than 70 transit agencies, the measure would generate approximately $262 million.

Though the legislature reconvenes Sept. 27, many lawmakers have indicated the issue will not be addressed until after the November general election. With a little more than a week between Nov. 2 and the Thanksgiving recess, lawmakers have a short window to avert measures that SEPTA’s Maloney said would signal “the systematic dismantling of public transit in the region.”

The contingency plan is “not set in stone,” Maloney said, and the SEPTA board has the authority to make changes. Preparing for the worst-case scenario, the agency announced the plan last Thursday in compliance with state law, which requires the agency adopt a balanced budget.

While shortfalls are nothing new to SEPTA, the severity of this year’s crisis is unprecedented. The agency has faced escalating deficits for three consecutive years, but managed to close budget gaps through a series of one-time legislative fixes. Without dedicated state funding, it expects a shortfall of more than $90 million in fiscal 2006.

Last year, riders were threatened with fare hikes and service cuts, including the abandonment of the R8 Chestnut Hill West and three other regional rail lines, to close a $55 million hole.

While SEPTA did not cut the R8, it did reduce midday and Sunday service on the line last fall, cutting stops from every half hour to every hour.

Under its new proposal, SEPTA would eliminate 20 percent of regional rail trips. Most of the cuts would affect midday service and trips after 8 p.m. On rail lines like the R7 and R8, riders who already face hour-long waits may see even greater headways and a loss of express service.

Also, the cost of weekly and monthly passes for both transit and rail service would increase more than 20 percent. Off-peak rail users would absorb the highest increase, nearly 47 percent.

SEPTA has raised its fares three times since 1990. The agency last hiked fares in 2002. It anticipates a 22 percent ridership loss (225,000 daily passenger trips) under the new plan.

According to SEPTA’s Maloney, the state has failed to do its part in providing sufficient subsidies for transit in general.

SEPTA, the state’s largest transit agency, is already as lean as possible in terms of its workforce, having eliminated more than 1,200 positions, Maloney said. Independent audits, he said, have shown the agency to be efficiently managed as well. A dedicated, predictable funding formula from Harrisburg is the only solution, he said.

“We feel confident that most people now understand what the real problem is,” Maloney said. “The credibility of our numbers is no longer being questioned. We’re not crying wolf.”

Still, skeptics like Janet Potter, of Chestnut Hill, believe SEPTA needs to be restructured, if not dissolved. Dedicated funding will do little for a transit agency whose board and executive management lack public transportation credentials, said Potter, who chaired the transportation committee of Philadelphia’s Historic Northwest Coalition from the mid 1990s until last June.

Potter takes issue with SEPTA’s 15-member board, which has just two representatives from Philadelphia. Board positions, she contends, are little more than political favors.

Formerly a devoted R8 rider, Potter stopped using SEPTA last fall when service on the line was reduced. Now, she drives her car into Center City.

The Philadelphia Transit Campaign (PTC) — an activist coalition that includes the Northwest Campaign for Public Transportation, Green Party of Philadelphia, Pennsylvanians for Transportation Solutions (PenTrans), Northwest Greens and the city's Office of Consumer Affairs — has scheduled a meeting at the central branch of the Free Library on Sept. 20 and plans to lobby for dedicated transit funding in Harrisburg on Oct. 5 during its "Ticket to Ride" event.

Marc Stier, West Mt. Airy Neighbors president and PTC steering committee member, said a similar trip to the state capitol made the difference in last year's transit crisis. "The people have to demand public transportation and demand it be funded," he said.

Despite the claims of many detractors, SEPTA cannot survive without state aid, Stier said. "We're looked at [SEPTA's] budget closely. The truth is they need the money," he said.

Riders who were interviewed on the R8 Chestnut Hill West platform said fare increases, while unfortunate, would not discourage them from taking SEPTA to their Center City jobs. For all, parking fees made commuting in their cars too costly.

"Parking downtown is so expensive," said Darlene Heep, of Chestnut Hill. Not surprised by the cuts, she also blamed SEPTA management.

Parking costs also drive John Cella, of Chestnut Hill, and Bahram Nabet, of Erdenheim, to use SEPTA. "I feel guilty about driving and parking downtown when we have a great thing like public transit," Nabet said. But if SEPTA fares outpaced parking fees, Nabet, a professor at Drexel University, said he would consider driving.