Can SEPTA Survive without Funding? Lets talk about it

[@Token_Nerd]

It’s honestly ridiculous that it’s come to this. Septa is the least invested in transit agency in the country already and they have the infrastructure available to them to do some excellent stuff.

[@DiamondKingStudios]

At least SEPTA gets state funding; Georgia politicians are too stubborn to entertain the thought of giving proper funding to Atlanta’s public transportation system.

[@cubersanonymous5180]

​​@DiamondKingStudios I was about to say, MARTA would kill for SEPTA funding.

[@Wewwers]

SE PA pays almost 3x in taxes what it gets back from Harrisburg Unironically they could fully fund SEPTA at $5-6 billion and we'd still be net positive on taxes We've been getting ripped-off this entire time to fund the rural counties of those state reps who think OUR tax dollars would go to waste being used in the most economically-productive region in the commonwealth. It's actual exploitation.

[@snowless456]

Ok I have a plan: we get a bunch of KZbinrs on a livestream and we do a fundraiser for septa. I think we could put a dent in the budget

[@SwirlyTrainz]

Oh god no! Using private capital for once?!?!?

[@MetroChamp]

inb4 "SEP-TUAH! Fund that thang"

[@epicsnake21]

Fund. SEPTA. Full. Stop.

[@BrennanZeigler]

Metra was basically in the same situation for a bit, but not so much anymore. Since federal funding was about to run out, Metra did a complete overhaul on their fare structure by reducing the number of fare zones from 10 to 4. People in the more far flung suburbs used to pay upwards of $11.50 to ride the train, definitely not ideal. Now it doesn’t matter if you’re in Elgin, Geneva, Aurora, Joliet, Harvard, Kenosha, etc. you only pay $6.50 now. Metra still isn’t without its problems, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Illinois is also trying to get rid of their rule of where transit in the state needs to have a 50% fare recovery in order to stay funded which worked pre-pandemic when ridership was higher, but now since ridership is lower, 50% fare recovery doesn’t work anymore

[@Sanginius23]

without public money, no public transport

[@SneakySquid344]

Same thing is happening in Vancouver with the translink funding gap

[@johngorman6641]

The state senate is equal population per district. The supreme court ruled that it is illegal for a state senate to be apportioned in a similar manner to the federal senate.

[@alanthefisher]

I didn't realize that they made that change, good to know

[@DiamondKingStudios]

My own state (GA) has a bicameral legislature (like every state except Nebraska), and the state districts are also shaped by population, so we sometimes get some rather odd shapes. Georgia used to have a county unit system between 1917 and 1962 to determine who won in statewide primary elections, which became criticized for disproportionately affecting rural voters. The 1946 Democratic gubernatorial primary (which may as well have been the real election back then) is one egregious example. Once _Baker v. Carr_ shut down a similar system in Tennessee, some guy from around Atlanta sued the district court concerning the county unit system and won, but one of the state party bosses appealed to the Supreme Court, which in _Grey v. Sanders_ on 8 March 1963 declared the county unit system unconstitutional in an eight-to-one vote. The majority opinion was written by probably your favorite Supreme Court justice in US history (Douglas) and established a precedent of “one person, one vote”.

[@timothystamm3200]

If the Republicans got a hand in the last map, they probably gerrymandered the map to hell.

[@HSullivan]

@@timothystamm3200 It was gerrymandered before 2022 but the new maps are actually decent for Ds, who have a shot at flipping the chamber this year. New districts drawn by the supreme court are also why dems won the state house in '22 for the first time in a decade

[@timothystamm3200]

@@HSullivan I hadn't heard that.

[@mattcouse1]

I visited Philly last week and I’m so used to WMATA fares that SEPTA seemed so cheap. Even compared to NYC MTA fares. Given these peer transit agencies with more expensive fares, I think there could be room to grow revenue by that means. Or incentivize more fare evaders and reduce revenue 😂.

[@tonytwostep_]

such a sad situation man, thanks for making these videos that I can share with my neighbors

[@jfmezei]

Underfunding for one or 2 years means maintenance work, fleet upgrades don't happen for one or two years and when funding comes back, there is such a huge backlong that bring ing the system to "state of good repair" becomes next to impossible without a huge infusion of capital which government don't like to do.

[@adambubble73]

Man do I feel for Philly and SEPTA. Shit up here is tough enough in Mass for the MBTA but Pennsylvania’s state political make-up is even more fucked somehow

[@theonlynovus]

SEPTA is and always has been historically underfunded and it makes me sick to my stomach! It is the 6th largest transit agency in the country and it gets absolutely no attention. They run so many different modes of transit such as trains, commuter rail, buses, subway-surface trolleys, even a inter-urban rail line (Norristown High Speed Line); and yet, SEPTA has been running those with bare minimum funding and I find it impressive but also so irritating. People complain "we need better trains", "these trains are so old", "we need more security", but what they don't understand is that SEPTA is and always has been doing their best to provide us with transportation with barely any funding. People are asking and demanding so much that SEPTA doesn't even have the funding to provide. Something seriously needs to be done. SEPTA has so much potential but barely any resources to get these beautiful plans going. I see SEPTA becoming if it isn't already, the best transit agency in the country. It's heavily underrated, barely gets any attention, and *deserves so much more* than what they get!

[@GeorgeP-uj8xc]

We should make SEPTA merch a trend in Philly and fund it that way

[@blackman7437]

I went to a rally with TWU in Harrisburg pushing for more funding, and one of the bus drivers was disappointed you weren't there.

[@bano363]

More videos is always good Alan! Regardless of the format

[@isaacliu896]

How can any transit system in a swing state get to this, why are the Feds not dumping buckets of money in

[@EuropeanMapping]

Sad to see SEPTA in this state. I hope they're successful in getting more funding.

[@johnbarnett8209]

Dead on arrival

[@davidrand1264]

I believe the state has a budget surplus. Why don't we just use some of that for SEPTA and public transit. I realize there would be hoops to jump through to use it but I'm sure it's doable

[@ny2phillyholloway592]

From 2.25 to 2.50. Enjoyed this format🚌

[@parkerotto846]

I'm going to cry. I'm literally moving there next year BECAUSE the transit is so good. What do I do now

[@PhillyBagel]

I’m so sorry. But if I knew you were considering moving here I could have warned you. SEPTA has always had the most precarious funding situation of the country’s 20 largest transit agencies and it will never get any better.

[@crazyplasmaman5198]

What you do is JOIN US IN THE FIGHT! Pay attention to local politics and get people in Harrisburg who will fund our transit!

[@VoxelDemon77]

They should do Congestion Pricing.

[@GeneralLiuofBoston1911]

Thank you for this. I honestly feel a bit better about the situation, but also more level headed. I'm up in Boston, so funding is an issue for us as well since so much has to be done, but the money is starting to run dry. I wish the best for SEPTA because it's up there among the better US transit systems, and I'd hate to drop multiple pegs down simply because they can't afford to operate.

[@ericbruun9020]

Blame the City of Phila too since they still do not enforce a Transit First policy. The free medical care benefit is extremely costly and not fair to other workers in other districts.

[@timolson4809]

Only 3 of the 17 senate districts with any septa service are controlled by republicans, it really feels like the city is held hostage by the state. Those three districts are from Pottstown and nw montco (which has bus routes 93 and 139), nw bucks (routes 94, 96, 132 and north wales station), and southern bucks (warminster, Trevose, neshaminy falls, langhorne, woodbourne, and croydon stations, routes 1, 14, 20, 22, 24, 50, 55, 58, 127, 128, 129, 130, 150, and the boulevard direct bus.) Unfortunately all three of these senators are not up for reelection until 2026. The margins for districts 24, 16, and 6 were R+5, R+9, and R+9, respectively in 2022.

[@LIRRFAN426]

*Riders complain about $2.50 fare* Meanwhile NYC..

[@kevinmcneill1074]

Regional rail ridership has only recovered to 61% of pre-covid levels. Seems like a permanent drop at this point.

[@Somethingaweful]

Whelp…

[@jonathanstensberg]

Don’t worry; PA enjoys screwing Septa too much to actually let it die.

[@alexisdespland4939]

how dose a $2:50 bus fare compare to local bus fares in similar sized cities.

[@timolson4809]

More expensive than most but not by a ton, cheaper than New York but more expensive than la, dc, Chicago, and Boston. 2.50 for the subway though is on the average side, a little cheaper than New York, and lot cheaper than dc or Bay Area, and on par with Chicago and Boston.

[@bahnspotterEU]

pretty cheap compared to other developed nations

[@grahamturner2640]

It’s slightly more expensive than Phoenix ($2 per ride, capped at $4 per day).

[@mrvwbug4423]

RTD in Denver is 2.25 for a single trip, 3.50 daily cap for any bus or train, unless you're taking the A-line to the airport then it's 10.00 daily cap.

[@MilliBlom]

Chiming in from the west coast - most transit agencies here in the bay do $2-2.50 fares with free transfers within 2 hours. BART (which is more of a regional system) charges by distance, with local fares generally between 2 to 3 dollars, and long-distance rides costing upwards of $10-15 depending on how far you go (there are surcharges for trips to/from the airports, as well as for trips going across the Transbay Tube). Some agencies have daily caps/automatically convert to a day pass when the threshold is reached. Caltrain, the regional train between San Francisco, San Jose, and Gilroy, charges by zone, with fares costing between 3 to 10 dollars between SF and SJ, with fares between SF and Gilroy being 15 dollars.

[@TheOfficialArcadeKevin]

Well well well i ❤septa🎉🎉🎉

[@ttp9936]

is the new sixers arena in center city, assuming it passes the council (it will), could that be a lifeline? harris/blitzer could garner some goodwill by helping here. septa expansion and improvements will be needed for a center city arena

[@odangoatama98]

oh god. don’t let SEPTA become MARTA.

[@jfmezei]

I do not know how "aligned" your state "republicans" are with their federal counterparts, but if they are, they want to prepare for project 2025 which favors fossil fueled cars so can see reluctance to fund transit. The problem is that handle population growth and climate change require modal shift to transit and bike/walk unless you are willing to rebuild your downtown core with half the buildings (since rhe rest of space taken by parking and wider streets). In these situations, we shoudl never be in a situation where they is warning of underfunding for transit since transit should be THE priority. Car throughput goes up until it reaches the street system capacity, and then if you add more cars, the actual throughput diminishes due to gridlock. You add one more lane to a mahor street? the gridlock gets worse on all the side streets that remain the destination (since the main street is no longer a destination when it is treated as a highway to get to a destination). Only transit, bikes, walking can increase capacity in a city that is already build and whose streets were built for a capacity for when the city had much lower population.

[@89volvowithlazers]

what? how can philly be stuck like this? does not make sense though I do see a transport funding mechanism to fill the gaps in the out years

[@FullLengthInterstates]

Can the city push for more development to replace some row homes along key transit corridors with mega apartments?

[@davidsixtwo]

That's a believable Trump era transit map unfortunately

[@captalec389]

Shapiro waiting until after the election to make a move on this?

[@mrvwbug4423]

Yup, can't risk the state going red because a bunch of pasty suburbanites got triggered over transit funding.

[@Merle1987]

Doesn't Pennsylvania have a Democratic Governor?

[@DiamondKingStudios]

Even if a state has a governor of one party, that doesn’t necessarily mean their legislature will align with the governor. Kentucky has a Democratic governor; both houses of the General Assembly are majority Republican, though. As for PA, of the fifty Senate members, twenty-eight are Republicans, twenty are Democrats, and I don’t know what the deal is with Williams of Philadelphia or Boscola of Bethlehem. The House (203 seats) is a bit more even (102 Democrats and 101 Republicans following some elections last month). Divided governments aren’t really the best at getting legislation through.

[@Wewwers]

Pennsylvania politics is incredibly milquetoast basically PA dems are massive pushovers

[@captainjake7417]

@@DiamondKingStudiosThank you this is a point a lot of people don’t understand.

[@DiamondKingStudios]

@@captainjake7417 We can extend this further into the federal government. Sure, Biden is a Democratic president, and this extends to the executive branch, but the Senate has forty-nine Republicans and forty-seven Democrats (plus four independents who have at least some association with the Democrats). As for the House, there is a slight Republican majority (220-212), but there are also three vacancies (two Democratic congressmen died and one Republican congressman voted against impeaching Mayorkas and ended up resigning). Not to mention that Biden has only appointed one Supreme Court justice, and Obama gave us only two for the bench, where they sit with three Trump appointments, two Bush (younger) appointments, and one Bush (elder) appointment who somehow managed to outlast whoever Clinton appointed. Biden being President while the Supreme Court overturned _Roe v. Wade_ seems absurd unless you factor in the divided government and effects of prior administrations.

[@johnbarnett8209]

Why can't septa show responsibility on the operation and cost of transit system operation and definitely not the taxpayers and residents of Pennsylvania sir

[@alexisdespland4939]

all transit destroyed by helle or mitch in the south-est have to be rebuilt first.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Well, transit is virtually non-existent south of the mason-dixon line. The odd token light rail system, a few "there we did a transit" commuter rail systems, and a bunch of very subpar bus services. Southerners hate transit because "those people" use it.

[@alexisdespland4939]

washigton dc, arlanta, miami and baltomore have subways and dc is trying to extended it large sysrem.

[@TheSalamander5678]

Denver RTD has a similar impending fiscal cliff. Vote yes on issue 7A if you're in the district

[@mrvwbug4423]

Definitely voted yes on 7A. Because of how COs idiotic TABOR law works if 7A is voted down RTD ceases to exist, which is what the GOP wants. CO GOP wants to "unleash the potential of rideshare companies and kill RTD forever". It's already bad enough that Boulder voted to get a rail line in 2009 and still doesn't have it, the B line was only built to Westminster.

[@mrvwbug4423]

The other irony is that the heavily rural based CO GOP wants to kill RTD, but their rural counties don't fund it at all. The only people paying taxes for RTD are those who live in the service area. But those same people will benefit from the FRPR once it's built and will run through Co Springs, the megachurch capitol of the world, and it will be federal taxpayers funding that system.

[@nolantherailfan5048]

How about septa sells merchandise

[@ianhomerpura8937]

I don't get why they don't though

[@onetwothreeabc]

Increase fare.

[@alexisdespland4939]

video crashed

[@history_leisure]

Even with better funding, it would still make sense to close some stations (mostly on the trollies, routes 15/101/102, and then hopefully get back to finish the job later but don't like with Center City Tunnel)

[@alexisdespland4939]

sound like philly needs a massive ad on bus drive how many ad spaces are empty fill the on bus or train spaces first before you doanything rlse.

[@adambubble73]

Oh sweet, and what about the other $239.5M?

[@alexisdespland4939]

@@adambubble73 million for what.

[@josemiguelbaez8112]

Make SEPTA private, raise fares and establish a stronger police force and protection of the employees and try if Philadelphians can afford to pay as much as they pay in NYC and transfers, you have to pay something, it can’t be free interchange all the times SEPTA management needs people skills, I ask them where’s the trolley because it hasn’t passed in 45 minutes and they look at me like if I am talking rubbish, they act as if they don’t care or they don’t know The trolley drivers are always talking when they see each others on the road and the Frankfort Market line, the EL, is filled with homeless and drug addicts who hold the doors and certain stations and elevators are dirty with human fecal waste SEPTA Police nowhere to be found!!! How can you have to different Police departments in Philadelphia, unite both of them in one and make Philadelphia a Police run city, “A POLICE STATE”

[@ianhomerpura8937]

Privatization would make things even worse. Stop your daydreaming, crazy libertarian.

[@jfungsf882]

Vote 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦 at the top of the ticket and down ballot all the way! 😀👍💯🙏