PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA has laid out a vision of what service could look like if it had more funding.
SEPTA said its modernization plan, dubbed “Accelerate,” would provide faster and more reliable service, if its funders make the investment.
Speaking on Tuesday at a news conference at the Market-Frankford Line’s Drexel Station at 30th Street, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said instead of threatening service cuts, the transit agency has sent a different message to lawmakers in Harrisburg this time around...
"Unfortunately we've been faced historically with, ‘Well, if we don't get funding, this will happen,’” he said. “We want to portray it in a much more positive way, that 'If we get funding, this will happen.’”
“This” is running Regional Rail trains every 15 minutes, making all stations ADA-accessible and modernizing stations. Some of the updates are underway: SEPTA is upgrading the trolley system and new L trains are expected to arrive in three years. The transit agency is also expected this fall to consider bids for a new generation of Regional Rail cars.
“What we want to show is, yes, we're doing all we can with what we have — but look what we can do with a proper and stable investment in transit.”
Corinne Lagermasini, executive director of the urbanist group 5th Square, liked what she heard.
"There's a big difference when you're setting a vision and you're inspiring people, and you're trying to show people what's possible,” she said, “rather than feeling like you're always in crisis mode."
SEPTA has a $192 million structural deficit. Sauer didn't say how much state money it would need to turn its vision into reality. He did say lawmakers in Harrisburg have told SEPTA that to be worthy of investment, it needed to be cleaner and safer. The GM said that is now the case.
