by Diva B.

Created on: November 12, 2007

As a resident of the city that has the highest transportation fares in the country, as well as the highest murder rate, I am a serious advocate for cost-free public transit. Here in Philadelphia, our transit system has held the city hostage seemingly at a whim. Whenever the workers of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (or SEPTA) feel that they are paying too much out of pocket expense for their benefits or they have some inexplicable grievance with the management of the company, the city's residents pay the price.

While it is definitely the right of any employee to voice displeasure with their employment situation, SEPTA riders often feel left out of the equation in a state of affairs that ultimately affects them very deeply. SEPTA is notorious for their late buses on certain routes, constantly threatening to cut routes that service the surrounding areas to Philadelphia (where many of the city's most important workers live), and raising fares while delivering substandard service to it's riders. In recent months, funding was secured by SEPTA from the state of Pennsylvania to help cover the rising costs of operations and to relieve citizens of some of the burden shouldered through the skyrocketing fares. This may prove to be a good solution for SEPTA, but will it end up hurting us? SEPTA has raised fares since the funding was secured and the riders may well feel the costs not only when paying for transportation, but when paying their taxes as well.

This is a very serious issue here in our town, one overrun with violence and on the cusp of a new mayoral administration. Many city employees as well as others essential to Philadelphia's infrastructure ride SEPTA. With jobs leaving our city as fast as new ones are created and joblessness in the city, and in the country as a whole, becoming a larger issue, violent crime reaching near-record highs and losing tourism dollars in Philadelphia being a regular occurrence, getting to work and school should be the least of our worries.

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