Eric Tuwalski: SEPTA, Saval, Shapiro, and their scare tactics
SEPTA daily ridership is roughly 750,000 passengers — a considerable amount of people who depend on the services to get to and from work, school, job interviews, entertainment activities, and more. Now, the mass transit organization is calling upon more money from their riders and from our elected officials representing us in Harrisburg to bail them out.
The way our local media is framing this story makes you feel there is no solution to the issues and we are about to face severe consequences. Should we all feel shellshocked over the current situation with SEPTA? We need to look at the 30,000-foot view.
How many times have we heard the same old issues with SEPTA? They will cut services, increase fares for riders, and insist our elected officials are their only hope to save them from falling into the ash heap of history. The current proposals brought up by our local elected officials in the region only focus on the Philadelphia region, as if no other part of the Commonwealth will matter on this issue. All 67 counties would have to embrace the tax burden, courtesy of SEPTA. One state senator, Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia), has called for a “Transit for All PA” funding proposal on care rental fees from the current $2 per day to a proposed whopping $6.50 per day, along with a car lease tax from the current three percent toa proposed five percent.
The local 6ABC station, WPVI, framed this as if this solution will help fix the budget shortfall. I see this as another example of tax increases by our local Philadelphia elected officials and explaining in kind, they have no solution. You can quote me on this one, “Transit for all PA” actually stands for all citizens in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will have to carry the burdens of SEPTA’s financial problems.
Another proposal brought up by State Senator Frank Farry (R-Bucks), suggests they enact a new skills gaming tax to help shore up the budget shortfalls of SEPTA. The idea of taxing skills gaming would work on two fronts. The first part is funding all mass transit organizations across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The second part will use the tax revenues for road maintenance and, believe me, our road infrastructure in Pennsylvania is a complete chaotic mess and an embarrassment.
The part of the funding suggestion by Farry focuses on the remaining majority of citizens and motorists relying on the interstates, highways, and local roads to arrive at their destinations. According to the PhillyBurbs article by Michele Haddon, Farry calls for a 52 percent tax increase on skills gaming; maybe we need to look at other means for revenue. Adding Governor Josh Shapiro in the mix here, we are all left to believe regardless of whatever genius idea they come up with, it will involve taxes.
We are now witnessing the ramifications of spend, spend, and spend philosophy from our local officials. At the same time, we are witnessing the scare tactics from both SEPTA and some of our elected officials making all of us feel we need to just cave in and accept their demands.
City officials held a rally with State Senators Saval and Vincent Hughes to gain favor from their constituents, local media, and SEPTA riders. They are here to help Governor Shapiro look favorable if they can pass the state budget by the June 30 deadline to help save SEPTA’s $213 million shortfall.
Do they really think we are that gullible and practice naivety to believe this will actually help save SEPTA from decreasing rider services on buses, trolleys, curfew time, and eliminating the Paoli-Thorndale line? All of this feels like a set up to me and I am not falling for this usual stunt only for them to garner votes and maintain power away from the citizen and riders of SEPTA.
Whatever happened with money allocated in 2021 when former President Biden signed into law the $1.2 trillion investment in our nation’s infrastructure and communities? I guess this was all a front for useless pet projects to mask over the stresses Covid caused on all of us. We are forgetting the eyesores of the Blue Route with the decrepit sound barrier walls falling apart, or the lack of additional lanes on our highways and interstates. Why not widen lanes to make interstate commerce efficient to get much needed goods and services to our area? A complete closure of a regional rail line, such as Paoli-Thorndale would lead to Main Line catastrophe.
SEPTA is missing the point. All throughout Pennsylvania — and I see this from my occasional travels — we have had this problem for quite some time. No one seems to look at how we allocate our revenue from the gas tax or tolls helping to maintain roads and infrastructure. I do not sympathize with elected officials or transit organizations who are always looking for a handout to bail them out while the rest of us are supposed to praise the likes of Governor Shapiro. If Shapiro has his way by passing this monumental state budget bill to bail out SEPTA by June 30 and all will hail him as the hero who saved SEPTA. When in fact, all he will have done will be to place a band-aid on a bigger problem: the constant spending and increase of taxes on citizens.
Eric Tuwalski, Ed.D. is the Social Studies Department Chair at Archbishop Carroll High School
