Michael Nutter: Transportation Plan
I just saw Mayoral candidate Michael Nutter’s new ad, which you can see at his website. Good stuff, in my opinion: it presented the candidate in a proactive light, and I especially liked the way he clarified that he’s not running against John Street, but against what John Street has done, and the status quo Street represents.
More importantly, I read the candidate’s transportation plan, and there is a lot to like. I’ve been critical of Mr. Nutter in the past for his record on transportation, which to be honest, is no worse than many of the other candidates, since the prevailing attitude in council seems to be “transit’s for people who can’t afford cars”. Heck, as I’m typing this the guy on the teevee is saying SEPTA’s threatening 20% service cuts and an increase to $2.60 base fare: pathetic.
Nutter’s transportation plan addresses a lot of my concerns. He wants to restore the Department of Transporation, and make it a cabinet level position.
Revolutionize the governance structure of SEPTA. I will direct the Department to work with Philadelphia’s Harrisburg delegation to develop and advocate legislation that would strengthen the voice of the City within the SEPTA board. The City has only 2 of the 15 seats on the board, approximately 13% of the votes. Philadelphia has the same number of seats as each of the other four counties of Southeastern Pennsylvania, but it provides four times as much operating subsidy as the other four combined (80% of the five-county operating subsidy). Last September, when I testified before the commission, I recommend reducing
the overall size of the board and increasing Philadelphia’s relative representation while preserving the Commonwealth’s one-third as follows:
[snip]
With the proposed configuration, Philadelphia will have 2 out of 9 or 22% of the votes on the board. I recognize that Philadelphia would still have less than its proper share of the board, but the City’s share would be larger than it is today greatly increasing the voice of the citizens of Philadelphia.
• Improve the customer service orientation of the SEPTA system. This is both a frontline and a strategic planning issue. Employee morale is difficult to maintain in a system that lurches from crisis to crisis and that frustrates its ridership on a daily basis. [snip] By providing a reliable partner in City government, the Department of Transportation can build the political support for change at SEPTA and turn an often adversarial relationship into a productive partnership to secure funding, improve working and riding
conditions, and develop a constituency for a better transit system among riders and nonriders alike.
I like. More please.
Every year SEPTA has to beg Harrisburg for short-term financial assistance so it can survive another year. Long-term planning has become a luxury that SEPTA cannot afford. This vicious cycle continues to weaken the SEPTA system and adds to the general perception that our transit infrastructure is a burden rather than a valuable asset. In the long run, public transit is
successful only if people and businesses believe that it will be viable year after year. Otherwise, they will not invest in residential and firm locations that depend on public transportation and will make changes their lives that rely on cars. The periodic budget crises and associated threats of service reductions undermine that belief in SEPTA’s long run viability.
Nowhere in the U.S. or Europe are transit operations funded entirely through fares and SEPTA’s farebox recovery ratio, that amount of operations paid for by fares, exceeds the national average significantly. Public transit needs and deserves a public subsidy beyond what is paid at the farebox because the benefits of transit go not only to transit users but also to auto users in the form of reduced congestion and to the entire community in the form of improved environmental quality and increased economic activity. The only way to solve the problem is to establish an ongoing, steady source of financial support for SEPTA…
Good stuff. Great stuff actually. Solid policy positions I can get behind.
2 Responses to “Michael Nutter: Transportation Plan”
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April 13th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Check out Fattah’s policy statement on transportation. It covers the same ground, and more. I think it’s more in-depth as well, although it’s still got politician-vagueness.
http://www.phillyforfattah.com/gee/doc/MOVING_FORWARD.pdf
All of Fattah’s policy statements can be seen at
http://www.phillyforfattah.com/policy_center.asp
I remain anti-Nutter. I seriously hope he doesn’t win in the primary.
May 8th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
[...] I’ve said before, I like Nutter’s transit plan as well. I like what he has to say about public schools. And while I may have some personality issues with [...]