State/County - Bensalem Township
Rep Davis: Tell Us Your SEPTA Story, As Proposed Cuts Loom
State Rep. Tina Davis is sounding the rallying cry. A rallying to save modern public transportation as her constituents and beyond know it to be, calling on riders to help save SEPTA services by sharing their SEPTA stories.
“As I’ve shared in my updates via e-mail and social media, SEPTA announced in early April that it will need to make significant cuts to services — including eliminating bus routes and rail service that are key to our region’s economic health, such as the Trenton Regional Rail Line and Bus Routes 127 and 128 — unless the legislature approves its full budget proposal.”
Davis wants to hear your stories and asks if you rely on SEPTA? Has public transit helped you or your family get to work, school, or essential appointments?
Davis said they are collecting real stories from Bucks County residents to show Senate leaders just how critical SEPTA is to residents’ daily lives — and why they must act to prevent devastating service cuts which include, according to officials:
- Eliminating the Trenton Regional Rail Line
- Scrap Bus Routes 127 & 128
- Raising fares by over 21%
- Ending rail service by 9 p.m.
Submitted: State Sen. Steve Santarsiero
Earlier this month, Davis along with State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10), Jim Prokopiak (D-140), Perry Warren (D-31) and Tim Brennan (D -Doylestown), Bucks County Commissioners’ Bob Harvie and Diane Marseglia held a press conference at the Levittown Regional Rail Station highlighting the critical impact SEPTA has on the region and the devastating impact proposed service cuts and fare hikes would have on Bucks County residents.
SEPTA officials earlier this year said the company is in a “death spiral” because of a annual structural budget deficit of $240 million as federal pandemic aid was phased out earlier this year. The authority also lost just under $161 million in state funds since the Republican-controlled state Senate declined to hold a vote on Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal for $283 million in new state aid for public transit. Lawmakers, instead, approved a one-time payment to the state trust fund for transit systems, of which SEPTA received $46 million, significantly less than the initial proposal.
As it stands now, after holding public hearings earlier this month.
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
For every dollar spent on mass transit and SEPTA, $5 more is created in our economy. For every million dollars invested, 500 direct jobs are created, and thousands of downstream jobs are created at suppliers, vendors and support industries. For every dollar invested in transit, $3 is added in new business sales officials have said.
Shapiro, late last year, stepped in to ward off the planned increases and service cuts by flexing $153 million in federal funds from projects yet to be started and transferring it to SEPTA postponing a Dec. 13 vote that was going to raise fares by more than 20 percent and cause steep cuts to the authority’s train and bus services.
But that was only a temporary stop-gap remedy which brings us to today, with Davis’ call to SEPTA users to share their stories.
SEPTA B 127 Bus that runs from Trenton, N.J to Morrisville Borough picking up a passenger at the Levittown Regional Rail Station is one of many bus lines in danger of being cut due to SEPTA funding crisis. Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
Senator Santarsiero noted that an April Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) Modeling Analysis of SEPTA’s Proposed Service Reduction would result in 30% longer delays on I-95/I-295 in Bucks County and more delays further south. “This impacts everyone, even if you aren’t riding SEPTA every day,” Santarsiero said.
If you have a story about how SEPTA impacts your life (or has in the past), please use the form below to share it with us and help convey to Senate leadership how important SEPTA is to Pennsylvania citizens. We will only use your first name when conveying your story, and only if you give us permission by selecting “Yes” below, Davis said in a release.
Transit for All PA!. a statewide coalition of transit riders, transit workers, and transit-supportive organizations and businesses, is holding a rally and lobby day in Harrisburg on June 4th. The organization will provide train tickets for attendees from the Philadelphia area. Rally-Goers will be taking the Keystone Line from the William H. Gray 30th Street. The train departs at 7:25 AM, so be sure to be there with plenty of time to board. Please click here for registration information and more details on how to reserve a ticket.
SEPTA faces a $213 million budget deficit starting July 1, 2025, officials say.
For more information on the proposed cuts from SEPTA please click here.
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
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In only its second year, Bucks County Community College (BCCC) picked up another medal at the prestigious horticultural expo for its ‘Rooted in Art’ tribute to Stella Elkins Tyler.
BCCC’s floral design program has once again taken home a prize in only its second year participating in the Philadelphia Flower Show. Students, alumni, and instructors earned a bronze medal for “Rooted in Art,” reflecting the College’s origins of being founded on the Newtown estate of artist and educational philanthropist Stella Elkins Tyler. The exhibit features Tyler’s sculpture “Joan of Arc at Orleans,” donated to the College by Carol Tyler, who visited the show with College President & CEO Dr. Patrick M. Jones (Feature Pic). The College was founded on the Tyler estate in Newtown more than 60 years ago. The exhibit features seven original floral designs, each interpreting the connection between nature, art, and education, alongside six selected student works from the College’s School of Arts and Communication.
Credit: BCCC
A team of 20 students, alumni, and instructors from BCCC’s floral design program helped install “Rooted in Art” at the Philadelphia Flower Show, which reflects the College’s origins of being founded on the Newtown estate of artist and educational philanthropist Stella Elkins Tyler. The exhibit features one of Tyler’s original bronze sculptures, “Joan of Arc at Orleans,” pictured in the background.
Credit: BCCC
Melanie Poff (left) and her mother Els Poff, both Certified Floral Designers from Doylestown and students in BCCC’s floral design program, helped surround “Joan of Arc at Orleans” by Stella Elkins Tyler with botanical beauty at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The sculpture is part of the “Rooted in Art” exhibit, reflecting the deep connection between art, education, and nature that Stella Elkins Tyler championed throughout her life.
Credit: BCCC
Amparito Arriaga, a Certified Floral Designer from Exton and a student in BCCC’s floral design program, installs part of the “Rooted in Art” exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The exhibit features seven original floral designs, each interpreting the connection between nature, art, and education, alongside six selected student works from the College’s School of Arts and Communication.
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