Philadelphia lawyer plans to file injunction Wednesday to stop SEPTA's service cuts
SEPTA riders are struggling to adjust to the transit agency's drastic service cuts in the Philadelphia region amid a budget shortfall. Riders are also bracing for more service cuts and fare increases next week, but there's a push to restore the slashed rides.
"This is dumb," Camren, of Yeadon, said. "This is stupid. I hate this."
Camren takes the SEPTA bus from Yeadon to Delaware County Community College. He said several buses passed him up on Monday. On Tuesday, he's not sure he'll make it to class on time.
"I got here," Camren said. "Now, I have to wait 30 minutes to get on the 112. I have a class that starts at 1:45. I'm not going to get up there till 2 o'clock."
Travis Smith, from Lansdowne, said he prepared for the cuts as best he could. But actually dealing with them is different.
"It's a half-hour, hour delay," Smith said. "Or I gotta catch two or three buses just to get there."
As riders adjust to the new schedules, new legal action that could be filed this week looks to stop SEPTA's cuts.
Philadelphia lawyer George Bochetto argues the cuts disproportionately impact minorities and low-income riders. He also points to the authority's stabilization fund.
"SEPTA is sitting on a $400 million stabilization fund, which is 'a rainy day fund,'" he said. "Well, it's raining."
But Bochetto also claims the statute that created SEPTA is unconstitutional.
"Enabling statutes have to set forth standards and guidelines and policies for which the governmental entity or the agency being created is to conduct itself," Bochetto said. "And in this case, the enabling statute contains no such standards or policies."
In a statement, SEPTA said it conducted an equity analysis before the cuts and carried out an extensive public awareness campaign. The authority said, "As we have said consistently, SEPTA did not want to take these steps. However, service cuts and fare increases are a necessary part of a larger plan to balance the budget."
But as riders deal with the fallout from the cuts, they, and even city leaders, are calling on Harrisburg to act.
"We're doing the best that we can right now, keeping in mind that we're waiting to hear that a recurring revenue source has been agreed to," Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said.
Bochetto said he plans to file the injunction to stop SEPTA's service cuts on Wednesday morning. He said he's working on behalf of a group of citizens, but didn't go into further detail.
As for SEPTA riders, they said they're going to continue to try to stick it out and work through these cuts.