Is this the Beginning of the End for Philadelphia?

AKA - Rethuglicans are Nitwits

SEPTA is the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. The map above shows red lines for train lines that are going to be closed this coming January if nothing is done to close the funding shortfall. SEPTA faces a $213 million budget deficit starting July 1, 2025. You can see cuts to the bus routes at this link.

Here’s an overview of SEPTA’s plans if there is no additional state funding:

Not mentioned in the graphic, but is is also a disaster for students who use buses, trolleys and rail to get to school. Full listing here.

If you’re not from the Philly area, the map at the top of this post may not make much sense to you, but understand that it’s not just the city of Philadelphia¹ itself, but rail and bus routes into the surrounding Pennsylvania collar counties, with connections to New Jersey and Delaware.

Governor Shapiro has funding for SEPTA in his upcoming budget, and the State Assembly will certainly allocate funding. But the PA State Senate, run by idiot Rethuglicans, is the stopper, because (and this is why they’re stupid) they don’t believe that Pennsylvanians outside of the service area should contribute to SEPTA.

As an aside, for context, SEPTA is not the only urban transportation system with funding problems. Like Washington, DC, New York, and Chicago. Both San Francisco and Boston have the same problems, but they have some good plans to close the gaps.

Back to the morons.

Southeastern Pennsylvania is comprised of Philadelphia, and the collar counties of Bucks, Delaware, Chester and Montgomery. Nearly a third of the state’s population lives in the region, generating 41 percent of Pennsylvania’s economic activity on just five percent of its land. The region generates over $355 billion in annual output. That’s a lot of income taxes, sales taxes, and other taxes remunerated to the state. You’d think that the morons wouldn’t want to give up those dollars if all of a sudden there was a huge decrease in the ability of people to get to their jobs, thus generating income, which leads to taxes paid, yada yada yada. In addition, overall the region is gaining population², while most of the rest of the state is losing population. Source.

Below are some of the impacts that the Rethuglican imbeciles are losing for the state: (Source)

Especially look at the green-coloured data on the lower right of the graphic, and think what it means for the Commonwealth if those revenue sources are suddenly gone.

You may wonder why mass transit is so important for a city, since lots of newer cities (e.g. Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, etc.) do just fine without robust systems. It’s because, in part, older cities are more dense and compact, and their systems were designed so, initially, people could live and work in a reasonable area³.

Phoenix, for example, has ONE rail line. Here is how it is described on their website:

• Need to get from the airport to your downtown hotel? It will cost you $2 if you take Valley Metro Rail. The cost of an 1-day pass is $4.

• But getting from the airport to downtown affordably is just one of rail’s perks. The 30-mile line connects Phoenix to the neighboring communities of Tempe and Mesa, and includes stops at attractions such as Phoenix Art Museum , Heard Museum , Chase Field , Footprint Center and Tempe's Mill Avenue.

Notice: their system is NOT designed for locals who would use the system for commuting to work or school, it’s for visitors! It’s for rich people!

SEPTA is critical for people to commute within the city, from the suburbs to the city, and from the city out to the suburbs. If you live in the area, and you’ve ever tried to get to a game or an event, you know how important the rails are to avoid the traffic!

But it’s especially important because the region desperately needs more jobs (source) and a lack of transportation options definitely cuts into the willingness of business to locate to the area, or expand their current organizations.

Losing SEPTA service is a disaster for residents, workers, students, businesses, the city, the region and the state writ large. It could easily lead to companies leaving, and taking their workforces with them. Not to mention a decrease in attendance at games, plays, museums, restaurants, and all the rest the city has to offer.

The question is whether or not the region can survive if SEPTA implements their cuts. Remember, the deficit amount is for Fiscal 2026, there will be further financial deficits that the fare increases cannot cover without outside help. The likelihood is that eventually, SEPTA would implode and cease to exist. Can an urban area survive with only cars, bicycles and pedestrians?

What Can I Do?

Write your state assemblyperson and state senator. If you don’t know who they are (no judgement, most people don’t) use this link. Note: click on the name to be directed to contact information.

Contact the media (tv, newspapers, radio) to ensure they keep this in the public consciousness.

Leverage social media to reach Pennsylvanians to write THEIR reps and contact THEIR local media.

A Bit of History

If you look at the map at the top of the post, and notice the red line on the far left, headed northwest from the city, that is currently the Paoli-Thorndale line. It used to be the R-5, and originally, it was the Main Line.

In the mid-to-late 1800’s and early 1900’s, stops were added to the nationwide rail lines that ran along the route. Each stop on the Main Line was set at 2 minutes apart, and the names of the stations dictated the neighborhoods around them⁴.

Initially, the towns on the Main Line were filled with mansions, and the fathers used the rail to get to their offices in the city, while their kids attended local schools and their wives formed all sorts of groups. In addition, city residents who worked on the estates and in businesses that supported the suburbs used the trains to get to work. To get a sense of the Main Line, read about the movies that were based and/or filmed there. Or TV shows. The Philadelphia Story! American Bandstand!

The predominantly Black community of Mount Pleasant grew just north of Wayne, on the Main Line, comprised predominantly of people who had emigrated from the South. Many men in that neighborhood worked on the railroad and in the local quarries (accessible by train) and both men and women worked on the estates. That neighborhood exists to today.

In their background information, SEPTA indicated that in determining which cuts to make, it endeavored to spare those most dependent on SEPTA services, especially those of limited economic means. Since the Main Line has a median income more than double the median income of the rest of the state, it was number one on the hit list, with the assumption that the fewest people who needed public transport for economic reasons would be impacted. That’s true as far as it goes for residents, but there are still the people who commute out of the city to jobs in the western suburbs.

The Main Line will survive without the Paoli-Thorndale line. But it will not be the same.

1. 6th largest city in the nation by population.

2. Except the city of Philadelphia.

3. One of my degrees is in Urban Planning, and I could literally write a book on what matters for cities, where each lies in a hierarchy, all sorts of information about transit and traffic, and the impacts on residents and businesses, but I’m going to spare you. Just trust me, Philadelphia and the surrounding region NEED mass transit.

4. If you don’t live on the Main Line, this won’t make sense to you, but honest - on the Main Line you live near a train station with a certain name, which is independent of the municipality in which you live, your zip code, potentially your school district, and when there used to be copper-wire phones, your telephone exchange. If you live on the Main Line, you get it.