Op-Ed: Penn. GOP Needs to Take SEPTA Seriously

Streetsblog’s coverage of the Pennsylvania transit crisis with today’s op-ed. For prior coverage, click here.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Joe Picozzi’s recent Op-ed in the South Philly Review begins with an assertion and a question: “Everybody wants to fund SEPTA, so why hasn’t it gotten done?” The answer lies in Picozzi’s misleading assertion: in fact, not everyone in the state legislature wants to fund SEPTA, least of all his Republican colleagues in the Senate.

As supposed proof of bipartisan support, Sen. Picozzi points to the only SEPTA funding bill that was passed by the Republican-controlled Senate, where he admits that the funding will be contingent on raiding the Public Transportation Trust Fund. He claims that there is just $2.4 billion in funding sitting in this account. What he does not explain is that over half of this fund, $1.3 billion, is already earmarked for specific infrastructure projects. The remaining $1.1 billion in the trust is expected to be used for immediate and long-term repairs and operations essential to safety and service improvements that are crucially needed.

SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer has outlined a $10-billion backlog of required repairs that the transit agency is facing, and that it relies on the $1 billion in the fund to help pay for these projects on an annual basis. PennDot Secretary Michael Carroll explained that of available funds in the trust “every single dollar has an expected use … tomorrow, a month from now, and a year from now.” It is disingenuous to frame this fund as free money up for grabs, when without it SEPTA cannot maintain its infrastructure or plan for inevitable future repairs. SEPTA operates the oldest rail fleet in the country, with most cars needing replacement within the next decade. Forcing SEPTA to choose between sustaining already inadequate service levels and making critical repairs is not funding, it is bleeding the entire system dry. 

Earlier this month, Republican Majority Leader Senator Joe Pittman framed the funding of public transportation in Pennsylvania as an opportunity for retribution against regions outside of his own, bemoaning that “I don’t ever get any help for my region…Why should I do anything to help the southeast part of the state?” If the leader of Senator Picozzi’s own party in the Senate is speaking in such antagonistic terms, how does he expect Philadelphia residents like myself to believe they are truly interested in funding SEPTA? 

Regardless of any personal vendettas, for all the talk of fiscal responsibility Picozzi and his party should genuinely want to see SEPTA thriving if they care about the economic wellbeing of our commonwealth. ESI’s economic impact analysis estimates that Pennsylvania will lose nearly $700 million in state and local tax revenue annually as a result of the cuts, “equating to a loss of $11.4 billion in Net Present Value for state and local governments.” Despite comprising only 32% of the state’s population, the Southeast contributes 40 percent of the total General Fund, supporting essential services in all regions; even those represented by Republican senators. Southeast Pennsylvania is an economic engine for the commonwealth, and SEPTA is the motor that keeps it running.  

As a South Philly resident who commutes on SEPTA every week to my job in Center City, I know first hand how many jobs are at stake and how much potential talent Pennsylvania will lose out on if SEPTA is forced to collapse. We deserve leaders who will fight for our economic interests statewide. It is time for Sen. Picozzi and his party to prove they want what is best for all Pennsylvanians by putting forward a serious plan to fund SEPTA that does not rely on its own destruction.