It's pathetic and telling that although council claims to support and protect the "community", which is ostensibly minority communities and poor communities, even though these communities utilize public transit, especially buses and the el/sub more than ANY other demographic, when it comes down to it, they really listen to people wealthy enough to have cars and loud enough to show up at community meetings and/or email their Councilpersons.

NO ONE on council challenges the auto first narrative this city has pushed for nigh on 70 years, a narrative that has contributed to much destruction of architecture, history, and critical transit infrastructure(mostly by neglect). The one project that was transformative(the connector project) mainly benefited relatively more wealthy suburban commuters. Every single one of them is a pussy who claims they're concerned about climate change, and want to promote a walkable, transit connected city, but most of what they actually do promotes the opposite.

It's very frustrating.

Because most of the city government wouldn’t be caught dead on public transit.

Hell, I think a large portion of the city government would prefer to live in the suburbs and spend as little time in the city as possible.

The screenshot from Kenyatta Johnson complaining about PPA ticketing cars illegally parked on the median perfectly encapsulates city government’s opinions about public transit

> Councilmembers have been known to drastically rezone entire commercial corridors due to parking complaints, but when it comes to the well-known woes of the city’s transit system, they are typically silent. If an illegally parked car blocks dozens of Philadelphians on a bus or trolley from getting to work on time, Council is more likely to intervene to help the scofflaw avoid tickets than it is to help transit riders get where they need to go.

Council continues to stand in the way of Philly ever getting back to where it once stood

Until they ticket and tow cars parked in bike and bus lanes everywhere, city council should not put the words environment and climate change in their fucking mouth.

Are median parkers now just Kenyatta Johnson's entire constituency?

The article is completely correct. Excellent job Inquirer.

Wow. This editorial's dismissal of the concerns from Roxborough and Manayunk over the Bus Revolution is completely out of touch. Hundreds of mostly senior and working class people showed up at the last community meeting with SEPTA. The venue was at capacity so people stood out in the rain and waited for a second presentation. The plan eliminates a heavily used route (the 27) and forces all of those seniors to walk up to Ridge Ave. to catch the 9 in the hilliest part of the city. Then all those seniors have to transfer at 30th St. to either another bus line or the trolley to get to Center City, where many of the stations still are not ADA compliant.

Curtis Jones is absolutely right with his criticism. Nobody who takes that bus line could have thought that was a reasonable change to the service. I'd love to hear the geniuses on the editorial board explain their statement that all these riders would benefit. The SEPTA planners couldn't seem to make a convincing argument through several hours of community meetings.

This city is one of the most corrupt in politics, and has been for a long time. Wouldn’t expect them to care about anything but the bribe money.

Is council offering any views on heroin addicts living on the El or the stairwell at the Allegheny station being taken over by dealers. It’s gotten so bad I’m back to driving.

The only reason those Council members are more worried about cars is because they don't have the balls to ride public transit.

Though I agree city council and OTIS and the Streets Department can all be doing better with regards to upgrading and improving public transit, this op-ed never really gets to a point. It focuses heavily on Bus Revolution and some forthcoming city council hearings where SEPTA will present its findings and proposed route changes. Nothing will get torpedoed at these hearings, as city council has very little say in how many busses SEPTA throws at any given line and where routing goes.

Where city council and the rest of the administration does need to step up is traffic enforcement. The traffic officer unit approved by ballot referendum in 2019 is still not operational (although I think these positions are finally posted requisitions on the city's website). And although it didn't directly impact SEPTA operations, the whole kerfuffle over Washington Ave did ultimately remove dedicated bus stop platforms, which doesn't bode well for future infrastructure improvements for any sort of transport within city limits.

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