February 14, 2020
We have a robust public transit network here in Philadelphia, but barriers to adequate public transit access remain, making it harder for people – particularly people of color and poor people – to access employment opportunities, attend school, and travel to wherever else they need to go to meet their basic needs.
In July 2019, the Pew Charitable Trusts published a report that shared that although 24% of Philadelphians use public transit (ranking Philadelphia’s ridership as the third highest in the nation), 44% of those riders earn less than $25,000 annually. While Philadelphia has one of the lowest base trip fares, prices have actually increased between 11%-23% since 2008 when accounting for inflation. Among the riders earning $25,000 annually, 50% are riders who need to take multiple trips to arrive at their destinations, further locking low-income riders into shouldering a greater cost (and time) burden than higher-earning riders. These challenges particularly impacts people living in West and North Philadelphia, and along the Kensington Avenue corridor.
Inadequate or outdated public transit service can also exacerbate environmental disparities and climate change. In 2018, Philadelphia received an F rating for air quality by the American Lung Association. Much of this pollution comes from ground transportation, including exhaust from diesel and hybrid buses that could instead be transitioned to electric vehicles.
Low-income and communities of color are also more likely to face bus depots, waste transfer stations, and other unwanted transportation facilities in their communities. Communities can even face fracked gas power plants, like the one that residents and advocates fought against in Nicetown. Low-income and communities of color were also torn apart by highway development in the 1950s and 1960s and priced out of their neighborhoods due to property value increases following transit improvements. The West MFL renovations in the 2000s left businesses with little support when negatively impacted by major renovations. This is what communities have to deal with when they are not given access to planning processes and decision-making.
This February, we hope you’ll spend some time reflecting on how transit impacts you and others in the city and help fight for better and more accessible transit options for all Philadelphians.
Written by Zakia Elliott (PCW), and Nora Elmarzouky (in.site collaborative) in honor of Transit Equity Day 2020.