Pennsylvania House approves SEPTA new mass transit bill
Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives voted Monday to pass legislation that would provide SEPTA with the funding it needs to avoid the looming “doomsday” service cuts, just three days ahead of the transit agency’s deadline.
“The bill passed in the House today with bipartisan support. So we think that’s key, and we think we have similar support in the Senate,” Andrew Busch, SEPTA’s director of media relations, said. “It’s got a number of changes that add accountability on SEPTA’s part, and those were things that some Republican legislators said they wanted to see. We’re fully supportive of that.”
The nearly $1 billion bill has the support of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and includes funding for highways and bridge projects in all 67 counties.
The bill still faces an uncertain future however, as the majority has resisted increasing aid for transit in a Republican-controlled state Senate.
“I don’t think that the votes will be there in the Senate for that,” said GOP state Sen. Frank Farry, who serves Bucks County. “We still come back to the same, original problem of they are funding SEPTA with existing revenue.”
“That re-occurring revenue probably comes from bringing the skill games fully under the Gaming Control Act and treating it like any other gaming machine, which would generate the re-occurring revenue year in and year out,” he said.
Before the vote, Rep. Sean Dougherty, who represents Northeast Philadelphia and made the bill, warned his fellow lawmakers about some of the repercussions this would have on the City of Brotherly Love.
“These cuts will be devastating to my neighbors who rely on SEPTA every single day to get to work, school and medical appointments. These cuts will also impact my neighbors who do not use SEPTA by adding 275,000 more vehicles to our already congested roads,” Dougherty said. “One hundred thousand people commute into Center City, Philadelphia, each day, but there are only 45,000 parking spaces. I don’t know about you all, but I hate traffic.”
SEPTA riders on Monday expressed concern about losing service.
“Especially for a lot of lesser fortunate people, it’s going to be harder for them to get around, and I feel like that is what public transportation is for, so I feel like if we lose that we’re losing a part of the city,” Moustapha Doumbia said.
State senators will return to session Tuesday afternoon to begin initial consideration of the bill.
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Pennsylvania House approves SEPTA new mass transit bill was originally published on rnbphilly.com
