As drastic SEPTA cuts are scheduled to begin Sunday, officials with the transit agency are implementing new safety plans for students as they brace for schedule backlogs and crowds ahead of the first day of school.
General Manager Scott Sauer said that while he still feels optimistic that a funding deal could be worked out through the state legislature in the coming days, the deadline for rolling back the service cuts has already passed — and the public should begin planning for how they will be impacted.
During a news conference Friday morning, SEPTA Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson said the department will continue to dispatch additional officers during peak student travel times, but acknowledged that there will be more “unknowns” going into the school year.
Increased police presence can be expected on about a dozen routes, where officers will be riding buses, patrolling in vehicles, walking around stations and watching cameras, according to the chief.
Police will also establish check-ins each morning with schools to determine where the agency’s resources are most needed. This will continue throughout the school year, or so long as it proves itself productive.
Lawson said his agency will continue its work with the Philadelphia Police Department to enact crowd control measures in known hot spots and encouraged students to use the SEPTA Transit Watch application to report any suspicious activity.
Philadelphia students will return Monday, just one day after 20% of the city’s trains, buses and trolley services will be cut due to lack of adequate funding from the state legislature. Lawson and Sauer urged students and parents to establish a plan ahead of the first day of school and to leave themselves extra time to travel.
“We are going to have a lot of staff out in the field — police officers, bus operators, ambassadors, you name it,” Lawson said. “Use us if you need to figure out where you’re going, if you need information. Have a backup plan on an alternate route.”
Time is ticking for state representatives to finalize a deal to fund the state’s largest transit system and, according to Sauer, even if the legislature comes to an agreement in the next day or two, the doomsday cuts are still likely to move forward.
“If a deal were to happen over the next 48 hours, we will do everything in our power to try to put as much service back on the street as we can, but it will be very difficult for us to restore service in a manner that customers will be used to,” Sauer said Friday morning. “… I just continue to urge lawmakers to keep meeting and keep talking. I’m still optimistic that something will happen, I just need it to happen soon.”
To put the extremity of the service changes into perspective, Sauer said that during an Eagles home game in the past, SEPTA would use between 12-14 trains to move anywhere from 14,000 to 17,000 fans from the stadium. After the cuts, there will only be three trains available for next month’s home opener.
“It’s frustrating for me, but I’m more frustrated for our customers; they are the true victims,” he said. “They have to now figure out their life around a new SEPTA, a SEPTA that none of us ever wanted.”
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