PHILADELPHIA PA, May 24, 2007  – Congressman Fattah (D-PA) today submitted the following testimony to the SEPTA Board on a proposal to raise SEPTA fares:

“I urge the SEPTA Board to reject the recommendations of the Hearing Examiners and SEPTA's staff. These recommendations would worsen the already unfair burden that city riders bear in funding SEPTA, and would unduly punish SEPTA’s most vulnerable riders – school children.
 
“Instead, I recommend that the Board separate the issues addressed in the hearing examiners report and vote on each part individually. Combining a vote on the elimination of transfers and changing rail zones with a vote on raising fares and cutting service could leave city riders and school children with massive fare increases that other riders will not have to bear. Even if they are implemented separately, these proposals have the potential to disproportionately harm city riders and school children.
 
“For example, under the current proposal to eliminate transfers, students who take two routes to get back and forth to school will be forced to buy two tokens for each trip.  That would have the catastrophic effect of raising fares for school students by 45 percent -- far more than the announced 11 percent increase for everyone else. I strongly object to the elimination of transfers until SEPTA and the School Districts served by SEPTA have found a way to ensure that students who take two routes to get to school are not forced to buy two tokens for each trip.  

“As a lifelong advocate for education, I believe that it is unconscionable to put the biggest burden on our school children. 
 
“I also object to changing Zone One Stations in the inner city into Zone Two Stations.  City residents using Zone One Stations would see a 25 percent fare hike, as compared to an average 11 percent fare hike for the rest of the system.  There is no reason, at this time, to add to the already heavy burden of inner city SEPTA riders by more than doubling the size of the fare increase they will see.
 
“As for the two fare proposals, A and B, I believe that the two proposals should also be separated.  I urge the SEPTA board to put the interests of the riders, the system and the region first and reject Proposal B outright.
 
“Proposal B would raise fares by over 30 percent while cutting service by 20 percent. Such drastic cuts could lead to widespread lay offs, more traffic congestion, poorer air quality, and a greater dependence on oil.  There is no question that Proposal B, if adopted, will hurt the citizens of the Delaware Valley. Again, it should be rejected. 

“Proposal A should only be considered with a contingency stating that the fare hikes will be rescinded if the State Legislature refuses to adequately fund public transit. SEPTA should be joining with the governor, its riders, unions, environmentalists and others to lobby Harrisburg for what SEPTA needs. And as I have already done, citizens and legislators with an interest in establishing a dedicated funding source for SEPTA should support Governor Rendell’s efforts to do so. 
 
“The SEPTA Board should not voluntarily begin to dismantle public transit in the Delaware Valley. I urge the board to vote no on Proposal B. And while I appreciate the Board’s duty to SEPTA, I urge the Board to consider that its first duty is to the citizens of our region.”