Hundreds of Local Businesses Endorse More and Better Public Transportation

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Nearly 400 small business owners, church leaders and local elected officials have teamed up with PennPIRG, the statewide consumer advocacy group, to endorse 21st century transportation in Pennsylvania.
 
“Pennsylvania’s transportation system is in a state of crisis,” explained PennPIRG Program Associate Alana Miller. “The state legislature needs to prioritize maintaining and improving our public transportation and fixing our crumbling roads and bridges.”
 
“And the 381 small businesses and community leaders endorsing our platform agree,” continued Miller. “A better transportation system gives people safe and efficient options to get around the Commonwealth, to get to work, and to get to school. It also creates jobs and helps stimulate the local economy. It’s just smart business.”

This map shows the small businesses in Southeastern Pennsylvania that have signed on in support of our principles.

 
Across the state, congestion gridlocks the state’s largest cities – forcing commuters to sit in traffic an additional 38 hours each year, nearly a full workweek.
 
The Commonwealth is also notoriously home to more structurally deficient bridges than any other state in the country – over 5,000 of them – more than the total number of structurally deficient bridges from Virginia to Maine combined. Meanwhile, the state’s roads are in a grim state of repair as well, with over one-tenth of them in poor or mediocre condition.
 
Philadelphia entrepreneur, Ken Weinstein, owner of several local restaurants as well as a real estate business, said, “Most of my employees at Trolley Car Diner in Mt. Airy and Trolley Car Café in East Falls get to work everyday via public transportation… Without reliable buses and trains, I would have a hard time operating my business and attracting quality staff.” He added, “Fewer buses and train routes and less reliable public transportation services would leave my restaurants empty… Public transit is an excellent investment for any elected official who is trying to increase government revenues and provide more jobs.”
 
Of the hundreds of businesses endorsing PennPIRG’s transportation principles, 96 of them are in the city of Philadelphia. Businesses from all over the city and hundreds more in the suburbs all expressed a need for improved transportation in their area. Kim Agnew, from Sage Realty in Wayne said, “Proximity to the regional rail is a key selling feature for selling homes on the Main Line.” The regional rail throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania allows commuters to easily go back and forth to Philadelphia and between other suburban towns.
 
Weinstein, of PhillyOfficeRetail.com, echoed this sentiment, saying, “Most of our properties are adjacent to public transportation, a need that will become more apparent as oil and gas prices continue to escalate.”
 
And in Media, Monika Rehoric of Kenny’s Flowers, reiterated the importance of public transportation on the local small business economy. She projected, “If we were to have funding cut backs to the local trolley, buses or trains, there would be a significant loss of jobs and consumers. If anything, there should be increased services and incentives to encourage more people to use public transportation.” Rehoric also explained the frustration of delayed bridge repair, lamenting driving miles out of her way because of a bridge in Media that’s been decommissioned for the past 13 years. She concluded, “For too long our government has not addressed our crumbling infrastructure.”
 
Without state funding for transportation, much needed improvements in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties will remain stalled, forcing roads and bridges to close, while trains, buses and trolley lines fall into disrepair. This bleak scenario includes extreme delays, fare increases and more cars forced onto already congested roads. Already, miles of roads throughout the county are riddled with potholes, while dozens of bridges are deemed structurally deficient and in need of immediate repair.
 
Additionally, public transportation services are not being improved nor expanded to keep up with steadily increasing ridership. Tens-of-millions of dollars in repairs on SEPTA regional rail lines, station improvements and bus maintenance throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania will be canceled because of state cuts to the transportation budget. This includes deferring the Exton and Paoli Station construction plans, while other stations, like that in Coatesville, continue to crumble from years of neglect. The proposed Ardmore Station improvements, including a new high-level platform, wheelchair accessibility and a new station building have recently been eliminated due to lack of funding.
 
Furthermore, much needed new SEPTA buses and train cars, as well as basic bus and rail maintenance, will be continue to be postponed.