Public transit is essential and worth fighting for

Rep. Liz Hanbidge April 17, 2025

PA Representative Liz Hanbidge banner image

Dear Friends,

I want to express my gratitude to all the first responders and law enforcement officials who helped evacuate Governor Shapiro and his family from their home on the first night of Passover after an arsonist set fire to his home and later caught the individual responsible. There is no place for political violence in our society and it’s essential that such actions be condemned in the strongest terms possible.

A number of you have reached out to me regarding the proposed SEPTA service cuts and I wanted to make my position on the proposed cuts very clear. I feel they will be devastating to our region, and not only for our economy and workers.

These cuts and the proposed fare increases will impact all our neighbors, including our seniors, those with disabilities and students, people who use SEPTA to get to work, school and medical appointments, those who use it for recreational purposes, who don’t own vehicles or who want to reduce their carbon footprint. We need to continue to push my colleagues in the Senate to move legislation to protect these essential services.

Nationwide, more than 10 billion trips on public transit are taken each year, and Pennsylvania accounts for half a billion. More than a million Pennsylvanians ride transit every day and 90% of those riding transit are going to work or school. SEPTA takes nearly 800,000 people to work, school, doctors’ appointments, grocery shopping and back every day.

Mass transit is a major economic powerhouse and even small investments in it are money generative. For every dollar invested in transit, $5 in economic activity is generated and, $3 in increased business sales is generated. For every $1 million invested, 500 direct jobs are created and thousands of downstream jobs are created at suppliers, vendors and support industries. Anyone looking for a region to start, or expand, a business is going to look for one with a robust transit system to help them get the workers they need. SEPTA has more than 10,000 direct employees and an economic impact of more than $4 billion.

It is an especially inopportune time for our transit system to collapse. In the next year we have a number of opportunities to grow the region’s tourism industry and show thousands more just how vibrant our community is. Next year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence which is expected to draw significant crowds to the region. We want them to come stay with us and spend their tourism dollars here (rather than in surrounding states). We will also be hosting the FIFA World Cup and the MLB All-Star Game. We want people to come to these events and decide to travel back to our region in the future, not avoid us because of poor public transportation and further packed roadways.

While I understand SEPTA isn’t proposing cuts lightly, I am frustrated by how we have come to this point. I have previously voted three times last year to fund our transit systems because I understand how essential public transit is for our economy and people and the other impacts mentioned above. Despite House Democrats sending public transit funding packages to the Senate on three occasions last year, the Senate refused to vote on them. This is an unforced error that will have drastic impacts on the commonwealth and the ability to fix it lies with the Senate’s failure to move a funding bill, or to even propose a sensible alternative.

Due to the Senate’s failure to move these bills, unless the state takes immediate action, in the next year the following will occur:

Fares will rise by nearly 22%.
50 bus routes will cease.
5 rail lines will cease.
66 stations will close.
20% of remaining routes will be cut.
Service past 9PM will be cut – forcing people into Lyfts and Ubers at best, and putting drunk drivers on the roads at worst.

Beyond the cuts listed above this means that 40,000 Paratransit rides will be cut; 55,000 students will lose services; 30,000 workers will lose all access to transit to and from their jobs and there will be approximately 175,000 more cars on local roads. More than 500,000 people will lose access to frequent transit.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity will disappear. Mass transit is too often considered a “city issue,” but it’s not a city issue or a suburb issue or even a rural issue – mass transit impacts all of us, whether we use it directly or not. Public transport is often the only option for some riders and 7 out of 10 bus riders and 5 out of 10 train riders don’t have a car. SEPTA impacts all of our lives, from getting people to their jobs to keeping tens of thousands of cars off the road and reducing their impact on our infrastructure and traffic. It also leads to hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs. Transit agencies procure goods and services that support both jobs and economies across the Commonwealth. SEPTA spends more than $200 million per year buying materials and supplies from companies in 41 PA counties to support operations.

There is a plan by the House and Governor Shapiro to reallocate a portion of the existing sales tax to provide a better long-term stream of funding to preserve mass transit access. This would raise the allocation from 4.4% to 6.1% without raising taxes (and additional $282 million). Of course we need the Senate’s cooperation to move forward with such a plan.

In the context of expected trillions in federal funding cuts, it’s hard to consider diverting funding away from the General Fund, but I feel the economic future of our region necessitates it. We know that we can never, in any way, hope to fill in the educational, healthcare, nursing home, food aid and other essential funding gaps that the federal cuts will have on our budget. However, getting people to work, so they can put food on the table and a roof over their heads is imperative to having a functional economy. Allowing more barriers to getting people to work would simply create further need and harm our economy. I sincerely hope reallocating the fund we already collect to better invest in transit systems across the commonwealth can prevent service cuts and fare hikes. I will keep you updated on this issue as legislative solutions are voted on. Given the Senate’s reluctance to move on this issue in the past, I encourage you to reach out to your state senator to tell them how important supporting mass transit is to you.

Another update I wanted to share with you is that the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act (HR 22), which I discussed in my weekly email on March 14th, passed the U.S. House last week and now sits with the U.S. Senate. Although it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote, the bill contains the requirement that each time one registers to vote, or updates or changes one’s registration, one must provide proof of citizenship. A Pennsylvania Real ID is not sufficient to prove citizenship. One would have to show a birth certificate in one’s current name, a passport or other specified document to prove citizenship. Many people do not have these documents and the costs for obtaining them are prohibitive, making this a form of poll tax that will disproportionately impact those of limited means. It’s also more likely to impact seniors who tend to have less access to such documentation. Since the bill does not at this time allow one to prove name changes with a marriage certificate or court decree, the bill is expected to impact the voting rights of 69 million women. If this concerns you as much as it does me, I suggest you reach out to Senators Fetterman and McCormick regarding the issue.

UPCOMING OFFICE EVENTS

Ambler YMCA Mobile Office

My office will be at the Ambler YMCA, on Monday, April 21, from 11 a.m. - noon. FREE NOTARY services will be available at this mobile office.

Mobile Mammogram

Rep. Melissa Cerrato and I are partnering with Fox Chase Cancer Center to offer mammograms via their mobile screening unit on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Please call 215-214-1682 and schedule your mammogram today!