Northwest to Council: 'Retail and rail is just good business'

Area leaders make the case for SEPTA at Council hearing

by DENISE MAHER

With SEPTA rate hikes and service cuts looming in the air, the city's transportation council convened on Monday to compile testimony from city representatives to determine the need for dedicated state funding to close the transit agency's $62 million deficit.

Among those called to witness were two local representatives who testified that the Northwest's economy is inextricably tied to the services SEPTA provides, that more funding is needed to restore the Route 23 trolley line -- a feature advocates believe would revitalize the Northwest's public transit system -- and that SEPTA is extremely important, given massive roadway congestion.

Suzanne Biemiller, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Business Association and Farah Jimenez, executive director of Mt. Airy USA, provided committee overseer Councilman Michael Nutter with the history of public transit in the area as well as with a plea to revitalize services that impact everyday commuters in their quest to, in Jimenez's words, "move from point A to point B."

Jimenez said that Mt. Airy residents need SEPTA as a tool to get to work -- and that some lower income families spend up to 40 percent of their household income on transportation needs.

She argued that SEPTA would lose up to one out of five of its Mt. Airy customers with a rate hike and service cuts. Residents just wouldn't be able to afford to use SEPTA anymore, she said.

Biemiller testified that SEPTA would lose many riders who had cars but choose to take public transportation for other reasons: convenience, environmental friendliness, etc. She began with a history of Chestnut Hill, and how public transportation and rail lines -- particularly what are now the R7 and R8 lines -- built up both sides of Chestnut Hill in the late 1800s.

"Fixed rail transit plays an important role today. This is not a ride of last resort. If you elect to cut services, you will reduce elective services," Biemiller said.

"Chestnut Hill cannot be served by just one rail line," she continued, also saying that retail services like coffee shops near the train stations would go out of business.

"Retail and rail," Jimenez said, "is just good business."

Both agreed that for Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Germantown and East Falls, a cut in services and rate hikes would slowly erode the already declining vitality of public transit in those areas.

On weekends and off-peak hours, some train service is as infrequent as every 90 minutes, Biemiller said, a characteristic that SEPTA must change if they are to regain Northwest base. She proposed that waits change to 15-20 minutes during peak hours and no more than 30 minutes during off-peak hours.

SEPTA service changes "could destroy the fabric of the Northwest," Biemiller said, "We as a region cannot afford to go through these exercises every year."

Both also called for the Route 23 trolley line to be reinstalled to revitalize the local public transit system. The city has given away at little or no cost many of the trolley cars that carried up to 32,000 passengers a day, according to Biemiller. Those trolleys are now being utilized on a daily basis in San Francisco and are being stored in a streetcar museum in Allentown. Local daily ridership on the Route 23 bus route stands at 23,000 today.

According to Route 23 activist Scott Maits, "it would revitalize Germantown in a way no other thing could."

"[Trolleys] can run in traffic; they can work well even on narrow Germantown Avenue," he said.

Biemiller testified that the region has lost upwards of a quarter of daily riders since the trolleys disappeared off their tracks 12 years ago. Reinstalling the line would "double the transit usage. Easily," Maits said.

The then-struggling San Francisco trolley lines have increased their daily load of passengers 10-fold since the Route 23 trolleys arrived, according to Maits.

"It's an investment that's underutilized in Philadelphia," Jimenez said, "Even when we're talking about moving from point A to point B, it is an important tool in the welfare toolbox."

Even without the Route 23 trolley cars being reinstated, there is an apparent need to ensure SEPTA's vitality in the landlocked Northwest. Neighborhood road burdens on Lincoln Drive and the swelling of local traffic since the closure of Cresheim Valley Drive have pushed local lawmakers to put in more four-way stop signs and devise solutions for backed up roadways like Germantown Avenue.

"For local ... employees and students, these are overwhelming problems," Biemiller said.

After local testimony finished, 8th District Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller thanked the witnesses for coming to testify about the gravity of this issue.

"Thank you for stating the importance of maintenance of good service. We already have a problem ... because of the need for additional cars to be on our roadways, there are traffic jams. We don't need any more [cars] on the road," Miller said.

According to SEPTA board chairman Pasquale Deon, SEPTA has done all it can to streamline services and human resources, but now it is time for the state to step up and fund part of the cost of running public transportation.

Various other witnesses, including SEPTA general manager Faye Moore, cited the difference in funding between Philadelphia and other large cities. SEPTA receives just under 14 percent of its dedicated funding from the state; Boston and New York City receive about half; and San Francisco receives 33 percent.

Moore proposed that part of the state sales tax be allocated to fund SEPTA on a yearly basis, providing a large enough monetary base for SEPTA to thrive.

Seven years ago, SEPTA laid off 1,800 workers, and has "cut the fat," according to Deon. He said he does not want to cut back any more of his 9,000 workers, or else services would suffer. Up to 1,400 employees would be displaced by cutbacks.

"As unions, management, a region, we have to make transit in Pennsylvania a priority," Deon said.

If the state does not fund SEPTA's ailing budget, 25 percent fare increases will begin on New Year's Day, and service decreases, including the elimination of weekend and night services, would begin on Jan. 23.

The state legislature recesses Nov. 30.