Robert Lange, an 80-year-old Mt. Airy resident, takes the 23 bus to Chestnut Hill to either the 97 or 51 bus. He then rides to the top of the Wissahickon trail at Northwestern Avenue, walks 5.3 miles down to Lincoln Drive, and finally, takes the Tulpehocken train the rest of the way home. For Lange, these SEPTA excursions — free with a 65+ card — keep his mind and body active, allow him to explore Philadelphia, and connect him with others.

“It becomes a strategy, that card, of staying interested and involved with intellectual challenges, emotionally with what a beautiful city this is, and physically staying healthy.” 

Seniors at risk 

This fall, looming SEPTA cuts would remove five train lines, cut bus and metro schedules, and end service after 9 p.m. Older city residents will lose access to healthcare, food, community, entertainment and family. Many can no longer safely drive or do not have access to a car. In the northwest, where the Chestnut Hill West line is at risk, the appeal of walkable neighborhoods, which draw many to the area, will vanish. 

Chestnut Hill’s Norine Berenz moved to Philadelphia in 2018 to support her grandchildren. She taught them numbers using SEPTA bus routes, hoping to also instill a love of public transportation. Berenz hasn’t driven in 50 years, and uses SEPTA to access crucial healthcare providers, food, and to see friends who have moved into assisted living. 

“It helps me to be able to get to where I need to go independently. But it also helps those folks in those places, in the sense that I'm bringing community along with me, which is important,” Berenz said. 

Lange and Berenz travel together on the “El” line to see trendy areas such as Fishtown and Northern Liberties. Both belong to the Northwest Village Network, which aims to help seniors “age well and retain control of [their] lives,” according to the group website. The group offers limited community-supported ride service. SEPTA also offers SEPTA Access, formerly known as CCT Connect, which provides American Disabilities Act-mandated (ADA) paratransit for those who can’t use fixed routes, and small bus transit for seniors. 

Limited alternatives 

SEPTA invested in paratransit two decades before the ADA’s passage, according to Assistant Chief Operating Officer for SEPTA Access Cassandra West. Rides require a reservation at least a day in advance, and the ADA requires them to be scheduled within an hour of a requested time and no more than 30 minutes late. West said rides are booked for any purpose, with no constraints on frequency or use.

SEPTA Access is heavily regulated by the ADA. The service cannot have capacity constraints and must mirror available fixed-route service within three-quarters of a mile. Paratransit may be cut by 45%, the same as fixed-route; suburban regional rail will feel the greatest impact.  

West and her team are working to inform riders about alternative routes, such as Persons with Disabilities transit in suburban counties (not available in Philadelphia County because of extensive, ADA-compliant fixed-route service). 

“It's really a full-court press right now to identify who's going to be impacted and make sure that they're looking at what their alternate options are,” West told the Local.

Berenz and West both raised concerns about home healthcare workers who may have a harder time travelling to clients after service cuts. Additionally, more riders may qualify for ADA paratransit if their closest route is removed and they are not able to walk to another stop. 

Berenz says SEPTA is crucial for filling the gap between what seniors can do and can afford to do. She also worries more seniors driving may cause accidents. She has tried to encourage friends to learn SEPTA routes by hosting what she calls “Cafe Society” meetings at cafes with personalized instructions for how to get there. She said technological improvements such as navigation apps help, but that many seniors don’t know how to use them.

In the SEPTA Access office, staff occupational therapists are trained to help make routes more accessible. Riders can visit PennDOT’s Find My Ride website at apply.findmyride.penndot.pa.gov to apply for programs and reduced fare. Staff have also been visiting senior day centers to share new technology. West said SEPTA is seeing increased use of paratransit booking apps. Ridership is also busy, though below pre-pandemic numbers, with about 4,000 daily trips on paratransit alone. 

Cultural, economic and regional ripples

Some prefer the train to private transportation regardless of vehicle access, citing environmental, community, and financial factors. Lawrence Souder, a retired Drexel University professor who took the train to work for 20 years from Richard Allen Lane Station, feels a “esprit de corps” when boarding the train with neighbors. 

“When you're on the highway going to work, it's very isolating,” Souder said. “You're by yourself in a steel cage. Worse than that, you feel like you're in competition with people on the highway. You want to get to where you wanna go and, and of course the worst part about driving a car to work or anywhere is road rage. I think it's just a horrible thing and it's only possible because of the automobile.”

Souder worries what will happen to High Point Cafe, located at Richard Allen Station. He believes lawmakers in suburban counties voting on funding see SEPTA as a distant urban blight, rather than mattering to communities. “When I'm sitting there drinking my coffee, I see the trains coming in and going out. There's a certain rhythm to it. It's almost like a heartbeat for the neighborhood, hearing these trains come in, go out.”

Berenz, who takes a 77 bus to the Warminster train line to get hearing aids in Bucks County, says those collar counties and rural and suburban lawmakers are stakeholders and impacted by cuts: “SEPTA is regional. It’s not just people here in the city.” 

Marlene Sider, a 75-year-old Wyndmoor resident who depends on the train for groceries, social life, and medical care, also worries about the impact of SEPTA cuts on the arts. Sider frequently uses public transportation to see shows in Center City. With the proposed 9 p.m. service cutoff,  she would be stranded after curtain, forced to pay cab fare, or forgo tickets. 

“For the arts, for seniors, for parking, for availability or accessibility to goods and services, we need SEPTA, and we need a well-functioning SEPTA so that we know if we're waiting, the bus is actually going to come,” Sider said, pointing to already struggling service. “The 77 runs every hour, and I've taken it at times where two in a row didn't come. That means a senior is out there for three hours waiting for a bus.”

Sider moved to Philadelphia believing she wouldn’t need a car. She estimates she has been on 75% of the bus lines. She remembers previous threats to SEPTA cuts, which happen nearly annually due to a $213 million structural budget deficit. However, this year’s cuts are the most substantial she can recall. 

West agrees: “These service reductions are not something we want to see and we recognize how hard this is on the riders we serve, especially vulnerable populations, like our older adults and our people with disabilities. We're working really, really hard to try to minimize that impact and work cooperatively with other agencies, just to make sure that everybody is still getting where they need to go.”