Comments and Testimonies

OCTOBER 19, 2004

TESTIMONY OF CLEAN AIR COUNCIL ON
SEPTA'S CONTINGENCY FARE PROPOSAL AND
PROPOSED SERVICE REDUCTIONS

My name is Joe Minott and I am the Executive Director of Clean Air Council. I am here today to 1.) state the Council's opposition to the proposed service cuts and fare hikes announced by SEPTA in its contingency plan and 2.) to call on state elected officials to provide SEPTA and all transit authorities across the state with the dedicated and predictable funding required to run efficient transit systems. Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment here today.

I cannot begin to describe all of the economic, social, environmental, and public health benefits that a strong public transportation system brings to any metropolitan area. For the past thirty-five years or so, Clean Air Council has worked specifically to promote public transportation as an important solution to the region's air quality and public health problems, and to ensure that citizens have a voice in public transit decisions. In urban areas such as the Greater Philadelphia Area, automobile emissions are the largest source of ozone pollution, otherwise known as smog. The Philadelphia area is in non-attainment for ground-level ozone, recording 300 exceedances of the ozone health standard during the summer of 2002 alone.

SEPTA plays an important role in curbing automobile emissions, thus improving air quality and public health. One bus has the potential to remove 40 cars from area roadways, while one train can remove 120 cars. The availability of a comprehensive and reliable public transportation system is crucial to meeting the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act, the state Air Pollution Control Act, and the city's Air Management Code.

However, despite these and other obvious benefits that public transportation brings to the Greater Philadelphia Area, I still stand here today needing to defend against system-wide service cuts and drastic fare hikes, and seeking a yet-to-be-secured dedicated, predictable funding source for public transportation. Last month, SEPTA proposed an average 25% hike in all transit fares, an "across the board" 20% system-wide service reduction, an elimination of all weekend transit service, and a workforce reduction of approximately 1,400 SEPTA jobs. The recently proposed SEPTA fare hikes and service cuts have been offered as a solution to the $62 million budget deficit the Authority currently faces. However, steep fare increases and wide-ranging service reductions are, under no circumstances, acceptable solutions to SEPTA's budget shortfalls.

For six of the past nine years, the state has neglected to increase subsidies for public transportation. The current budget deficit comes as a result of the lack of a dedicated and predictable funding source at the state level. Beyond this year, SEPTA is projecting greater than a $100 million budget shortfall in Fiscal Year 2006 and for that number to grow by annual increments of more than $30 million per year if no long-term funding solution can be implemented.

The need for a dedicated funding source for SEPTA and other transit authorities across the state could not be more glaring. State elected officials need to find a way of removing the uncertainty transit agencies face in determining the amount of state support they can expect to receive from year to year. Pennsylvania's public transportation providers must be able to plan operating levels and capital improvements with some confidence that they will be able to carry out those plans. Why, I ask, is it always public transit that is asked to "pay for itself?" Why are we not here today discussing which highways will not get built or which expressways will not be repaired? Why are we not here today discussing how to make roads "pay for themselves?"

Severe service reductions and steep fare hikes are inequitable and unacceptable. Clean Air Council is calling on state elected officials to pass Senate Bill 1162 and House Bill 2697, which would establish a dedicated source of funding source for public transportation in the State of Pennsylvania. We cannot afford to eat away at our region's public transportation system at the expense of future generations. Thank you.

Questions regarding the Council's testimony should be addressed to Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director, Clean Air Council, 135 South 19th Street, Suite 300, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.

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