Posted on 04/06/2021 11:58:19 AM PDT by Olog-hai
SEPTA riders are candid about what they see on buses, subways and the Market-Frankford elevated line.
And some of them say what they have seen has made them reluctant to ride right now — which is a huge problem for a transit agency that gets hundreds of thousands of people to work daily.
“Dirty trash. I’ve seen empty needles,” said Charles Williams of West Philadelphia.
“It was filth everywhere”, said Mona Scruggs of Northeast Philadelphia. “I had to buy a newspaper every day, just so I could sit on the newspaper, because I didn’t want to sit on the seat.”
Cleanliness on the system grabbed headlines this year, when SEPTA had to close the Somerset Station on the Market-Frankford line due to a litany of problems. The station had piles of trash as well as urine and feces in it. So many needles had been thrown into the elevator — and the elevator had been urinated on so often — that it was unusable. […]
More than one in four of our survey’s respondents say they have stopped using SEPTA altogether.
“I just think it’s at its worst now,” said Quan Harvin, a SEPTA rider. …
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcphiladelphia.com ...
Guess you can’t do much with the trite phrase “South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority”. And to think it’s been around since 1965 too.
I am not a rider of SEPTA, but I have to effing pay for it through my taxes. So I just hope if collapses one day.
Up here in Toronto we have TTC which some wit years ago said meant take the car.
The natives are revolting. So we will make gas 10 bucks a gallon and force them to ride.
#2. I lived in No. Philly for 4 years going to Temple Un. just below crime-central at Broad and Diamond. Funny. I never felt threatened riding the subway, bus or elevated trains, even at night.
As I recall, they were pretty clean.
The Democrats have turned Philly into one big drug den and toilet.
My family has never been back since about the mid-80’s when we took the kids to see Independence Hall and the area. No use risking our lives for a view of a liberal shithole. We’ve got Wash. DC for that.
For a few years I lived in the suburbs and commuted into the city on the SEPTA train. Service was OK but not great. Trains were still pretty clean, but I gradually started driving instead because I couldn't rely on SEPTA to get me to work on time.
Since the late 1980's Philadelphia has become progressively more dirty, corrupt and generally dysfunctional. Weak leadership and an unwillingness to enforce reasonable laws of civilized behavior are a big issue. When Rendell, Castille and Abraham served as District Attorneys (1978-2010), criminals were treated more as threats to civilized life and less as pitiable victims in an unfair world. Since 2010, and especially since Krasner was elected, criminals have had less to worry about. It accelerates the spiral. We still go into the city for medical appointments, and our young adult son lives on the outskirts of the city limits. We are careful, drive ourselves, and haven't gone into Philadelphia for an evening of dinner and entertainment in probably 15 years. It is really sad to see what has happened to our nation's cities.
My daughter loves to recount the time she saw a live crab shuffling down the aisle on a Broad Street line car.
I could be delivered nearly door to door, totally reimbursed to work, yet I walk or pay $12 ones a day to avoid the riff-raff.
I’d used SEPTA for 20+ years, but things are deteriorating with a quickness.
As someone heavily invested in the city, I'm unfortunately pessimistic in that hope. But then, again, it's unlikely the entire country will pull out of this nose-dive the liberals have brought unto us.
Fellow Owl here, but your recollections are right. Things are deteriorating here, but far much more so for folks in degenerate areas. Not much to fear in civilized areas, although the future is TBD...
Not optimistic, but have a family that's been born and bred in Philadelphia, and relocating is alien to them.
Likely, one of the most concise evaluations I've read on this thread. I'd even toss in Seth Williams (although seriously crooked, good by Philadelphia standards).
Now that democrats have taken over, who knows what will reign in this city? I no longer have full faith that my home won't be consficated for housing for illegal aliens.
I agree with you about Williams. Not flagrantly horrible, although hardly a pillar of integrity. I don’t know that an honest person can be elected in Philadelphia. It reminds me of when my brother told me about the wonderful young politician from Chicago who was running for President. Having grown up in the midwest, he should have know that nothing clean ever rose from the Chicago political sewer. I think the same is true of Philadelphia and probably most major cities.
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