5/15/2023 0 Comments Septa bus lines![]() The SEPTA board has equal representation for each county, so that although Philadelphia has the bulk of service and ridership, it has the same vote as each suburban county. Inherent in the way Pennsylvania founded SEPTA were two serious structural flaws that have caused political and operating issues for the authority. Finally, Pennsylvania created SEPTA as a regional authority in 1963, and the SEPTA board (the existing SEPACT board plus representatives from Delaware County) held its first meeting on February 18, 1964. Delaware County did not join the compact because the largest provider of transportation in the county was a private company that did not desire subsidies. Philadelphia then joined with three of its four suburban counties to form the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Compact (SEPACT) in 1961 to explore regional funding. Philadelphia initially led the response in 1960 by subsidizing service and purchasing equipment for use on commuter rail lines in the city through a state-created but city-funded agency, the Passenger Service Improvement Corporation (PSIC). The need for a regional approach for Philadelphia and its suburbs developed in the 1950s as the area’s largest provider of public transportation, the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC), declined financially and the two largest commuter rail providers (the Pennsylvania and Reading railroads) threatened service cuts and fare increases. SEPTA is an example of the regional authorities formed to stem declines in urban public transportation nationwide after World War II. ![]() Groff for the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia) SEPTA employees work on a commuter train that was stuck on the track because of overhead wire problems one afternoon in July 2011. Despite its challenges, SEPTA became the sixth-largest transit agency in the United States in terms of weekly ridership of its complex system of subways, buses, trolleys, and commuter rail lines. ![]() Created in 1963, SEPTA often struggled with management issues, employee morale, strikes, aging equipment, inadequate funding, and poor public relations. ![]() The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (better known by its acronym SEPTA) is a state authority charged with funding and operating public transportation in the city of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery.
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