The region’s public transit agency is facing a fiscal cliff. General Manager and CEO Leslie Richards said the agency’s COVID relief funds have dried up and SEPTA is facing a $240 million deficit. The agency was counting on an additional $140 million in state funds. Instead, SEPTA will receive $53 million of the one-time transfer of $80 million to the Public Transit Trust Fund passed by the Pennsylvania legislature on July 11.
SEPTA does not have money to keep the buses, subway, trolleys and trains running, but they have money to pay outside lawyers to fight the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records’ order to produce records related to the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build a basketball arena atop Jefferson Station. The public has a right to know the impact of six years of demolition and construction on SEPTA’s operations and budget.
SEPTA officials and employees have been meeting and consulting about 76 Place since April 2022. Records obtained via my Right-To-Know Law requests to local agencies show that 76 Place representatives embedded themselves in the agency’s operations. SEPTA employees frequently met about 76 Place. Richards and Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer led SEPTA Board members on “site visits” to 76 Place. The SEPTA Board has a 76 Place subcommittee.
While SEPTA officials and employees huddle with representatives of the 76ers billionaire owners, the agency wants more taxpayers’ money. The beleaguered transit agency should get their money where their employees and officials spend their time.
UPDATE: In a report released on July 15, the Federal Transit Administration ordered SEPTA to fix the “escalating pattern” of safety incidents. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
Citing a “deteriorating safety record” with a higher-than-average accident rate, the Federal Transit Administration has ordered SEPTA to better protect transit operators from assaults, improve employee training, and tighten bus and rail procedures to prevent injuries and fatalities.
The regulatory agency found 16 problems that it said make the regional public transit system potentially more dangerous for riders and workers — including staffing shortages in key jobs. In all, it required 24 corrective actions in its exhaustive Safety Management Inspection of SEPTA’s bus, trolley and subway operations, according to a report released Monday.
FTA launched its investigation in August 2023 after a rash of Philadelphia bus and trolley crashes, including five major collisions during a single week in late July of last year that killed one person and injured at least 25.
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Improvements will require new spending, especially for hiring, even as SEPTA confronts a $240 million operating deficit, Richards and other executives said. It is not yet clear how much compliance will cost.
PHL Watchdog 
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