Comments and Testimonies

May 20, 2004

TESTIMONY OF CLEAN AIR COUNCIL ON
SEPTA'S PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2005 OPERATING BUDGET

Good afternoon. My name is Emily Linn and I am the Manager of the Transportation Program at Clean Air Council, Philadelphia's oldest member-supported environmental organization. Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment here today on SEPTA's proposed Fiscal Year 2005 operating budget.

SEPTA and Quality of Life in the Philadelphia Region

Public transportation is essential to the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of any metropolitan area. While it is often not identified as such, reliable public transportation is one the most important factors in ensuring that our region flourishes and develops in a manner that is sustainable for future generations.

In no other industrialized country is public transportation treated so shamefully. In Europe, transit is seen as a public necessity, much like electricity, sewage service, and water. If that were the case in the United States, would we be here today discussing the possibility of certain communities no longer receiving water service? Or receiving water service only on weekdays and maybe once or twice on the weekends?

Clean Air Council, throughout its thirty-five year plus existence, has worked in partnership with SEPTA to promote public transportation as an important solution to the region's air quality and public health problems. The Philadelphia area is in non-attainment for ground-level ozone, otherwise known as smog. The Philadelphia area recorded 300 exceedances of the ozone health standard during the summer of 2002.

In urban areas such as the Greater Philadelphia Area, automobile emissions are the largest source of ozone pollution. One bus can 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.

Need for a Dedicated Funding Source

For six of the past nine years, the state has neglected to increase subsidies for public transportation. As a result, in its proposed Fiscal Year 2005 operating budget, SEPTA is projecting a $70 million deficit. A three percent per year increase in state subsidies would have been enough to avoid this present crisis. 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. Reliable and diverse sources of dedicated funding must be found for funding both operating and capital expenses of the Commonwealth's public transportation agencies. Furthermore, funds raised from those dedicated sources should be treated as "off budget" funds and earmarked only for transit use.

Steep fare increases and wide-ranging service reductions are not acceptable solutions to SEPTA's budget shortfalls. Clean Air Council applauds SEPTA for reaching out and seeking the help of community and business leaders in the Philadelphia region. Rather than immediately identifying fare increases and service cuts as ways in which to balance its operating budget, SEPTA has clearly stated that this is not a "route" they want to pursue. The Council encourages SEPTA, and SEPTA's Board of Directors in particular, to continue to work with the saveTRANSIT Coalition to advocate for a dedicated funding stream for public transportation and to reach out to their contacts both within the City of Philadelphia and the surrounding suburban counties to ensure bipartisan support for dedicated funding.

In conclusion, it is time that leaders, both in Harrisburg and in the Greater Philadelphia Area, begin to view public transportation through a different lens. Why 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?"

Clean Air Council is calling on state elected officials to raise public transportation to the level of any other integral component of a statewide and regional sustainable development plan. A dedicated source of funding must be established 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, or Emily Linn, Transportation Program Manager, Clean Air Council, 135 South 19th Street, Suite 300, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.

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Clean Air Council is an environmental and public health advocacy organization, representing over 8,000 members in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Established in 1967, the Council's continuing goal is to protect everyone's right to breathe clean air. The Council currently operates six major programs: Clean Air, Clean Energy, Sustainable Transportation, Waste Reduction & Recycling, Indoor Air Quality, and Children's Environmental Health.