Press Release: SEPTA FY 2023 Capital Budget

5th Square members and volunteers submitted the following comments to SEPTA’s FY2023 Capital Budget Public Hearings.

 

Press Release: Comments to SEPTA’s FY2023 Capital Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, May 26, 2022

PHILADELPHIA —

5th Square members and volunteers submitted the following comments to SEPTA’s FY2023 Capital Budget Public Hearings.

Cameron Adamez, 5th Square Transit Committee Member from South Philly, says, “SEPTA’s promise of over $1 billion in transportation improvements to our region put in real terms the agency’s commitment to change and to growing its ridership.  SEPTA’s growth is absolutely crucial in ensuring a sustainable, more equitable future for this region as we grapple with the devastating effects of climate change, wealth inequality, and rising roadway violence.”

“Through transformative capital investments in Trolley Modernization, Bus Revolution, Wayfinding Improvements, and Reimagining Regional Rail we see SEPTA making the critical steps it needs to adjust to a true lifestyle network that accommodates all riders. While the agency still has a long way to go to catch up to our peer regions in terms of transit investment dollars, we are proud to see SEPTA making progress. 

“There are still a few projects that are long overdue and would like to see the agency prioritize further. If the 12-year capital program is predicated on a continued recovery of ridership and fare revenue, then SEPTA needs to prioritize projects that can better ensure ridership recovery, independent of politically convenient federal funding. SEPTA's Planning departments should be trusted to make these decisions in line with Engineering, Maintenance, and Construction.”

Ben She, 5th Square Transit Committee Member from Chinatown, says, “We are glad to see progress towards ADA accessibility for over 40 stations across the system, we want to see these projects hastened – with more effort devoted to shortening the gap between the design and construction of elevators and other ADA improvements, especially on our very busy rail transit network. Riders with disabilities have had to contend with a patchwork of stations with ADA access for decades, and these vital improvements cannot come fast enough.”

“Additionally, we want to see faster progress made towards real-time tracking and arrivals for SEPTA vehicles so that riders can be confident in knowing when their next bus, trolley or train will arrive.”

Steph Davis, 5th Square Transit Committee Member from South Philly, says, “Looking at Bus Revolution’s network tradeoff options, we see that SEPTA is trying to reorganize a bus network that will ultimately remain cost-neutral. We want to see more investment in anticipation of increased ridership.” 

“This is an equity issue, as bus riders constitute SEPTA’s largest customer base and are much more likely than any other mode to be low-income while seeing the lowest per-rider investment. We want SEPTA to take the Bus Revolution project as an opportunity to correct long-standing inequities by providing the best possible service for us riders.” 

5th Square is Philadelphia's urbanist political action committee. We're an all-volunteer grassroots organization advocating for safe and affordable transportation, abundant housing, and more and better public spaces.

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5th Square volunteers can be reached at [email protected]