SEPTA fare increases, service cuts still on hold

Proposed measures to raise fares and cut services on SEPTA in response to its $62 million deficit have been fended off, at least for the time being.

During a special meeting of SEPTA's board of directors last week, two Philadelphia board members used their veto power to stave off impending cuts until a revote on December 16. By law, the board must balance the budget by the end of the year, forcing them to make decisions quickly.

To level the debt, the SEPTA board is considering raising cash fares from $2 to $2.50 on Jan. 23 and then from $2.50 to $3 on March 1.

The state subsidies that many hoped would bail out the system have failed to materialize.

Transit services would also be reduced by 20 percent on Jan. 23. This plan would keep weekend services largely in tact, despite previous talk of eliminating them.

The possible cuts will "drag people away from the system," Engineering senior James Aslaksen said. "It will keep students from exploring the city as much. I don't want to be crammed onto a bus, I don't want to be crammed onto a trolley."

Part of the problem, according to public transportation advocates, is Pennsylvania's state constitutional ban on using gas tax funds to pay for transit, a move motivated by lobbyists from oil and automobile interests, among others.

Members of the Philadelphia Transit Campaign and a representative from Mayor John Street's office lobbied the board to delay the vote.

These dissenters successfully argued that voting for this drastic plan would take all the pressure off of the state government to come up with the funds to save SEPTA.

"My fear is if we ever get state funding it's going to be state funding that keeps a shrunken, inadequate transit system alive," Philadelphia Transit Campaign member Mark Stier said.

SEPTA officials say the situation is dire, but postponing the vote will not help.

"It's a delay of a very hard decision that the board has to make," SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said. "And they'll be coming back on the 16th and most likely be asked to make the same decision again."

The difference this time, however, is that a majority of the board will have the power to override the veto on a second vote.

Every member of the SEPTA board voted in favor of the proposal this week, aside from Jettie Newkirk and Christian DiCicco, the Philadelphia representatives.

Seemingly between a rock and a hard place, pro-transit advocates insisted the delay was prudent, and could help produce some funding from the state.

Lance Haver, Street's Director of Consumer Affairs, said that earlier this year Gov. Ed Rendell's representatives had pledged to fully fund SEPTA.

Haver said the Republican leadership "went home early because they got their feelings insulted" instead of staying on to solve the budget dilemma. He cited Rendell's refusal to raise the salaries of state representatives as the impetus for the early exit.

He said he hoped the representatives will turn around in the next nine days to fund the system.

"It's counterintuitive for the board to vote for a proposal that everyone acknowledges is wrong," Haver said.

Maloney is less hopeful.

"We haven't heard a word from Harrisburg," he said, adding that "they certainly recognize fully the ramifications without action."

Legislators have furiously debated how best to address SEPTA's $62 million deficit.

Sept. 9: SEPTA announced an 25-percent average fare hike, the discontinuation of all weekend services and the elimination of 1,400 jobs. Oct. 5: Gov. Ed Rendell pledged to rescue SEPTA and other struggling transit agencies. Nov. 16: State Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Phila.) and Rendell proposed increases in vehicle-related fees to raise $110 million. Nov. 22: Several hundred pink slips indicating imminent job loss were mailed to SEPTA employees. Nov. 22: The state legislative session ended without resolving the issue. Dec. 2: In a rare use of its veto power, the City of Philadelphia halted the SEPTA Board of Directors' plan to raise fares and eliminate 20 percent of weekday services.

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