The wheels on the bus go round and round and…oh no, was that a pothole? 😵🕳️ We are once again asking why there are no seatbelts on school buses. Hang on to your heinies, kids. 🚌💨
Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard about how SEPTA’s in deep financial doo doo. However, another transit service is on the rocks and it could hit PA’s seniors the hardest. 😬
Here’s Five Fast Facts on seniors and the PA transit system:
- 🚎 Country Cruisin’ - In Pennsylvania, shared-ride services help people get around through on-demand rides in vans and small buses. Seniors and disabled folks rely on these rides to get everywhere from the grocery store to doctors appointments. Lately, fares have been on the rise and some worry they’ll keep increasing without more funding.
- 🚦 Sharing Is Caring - PA’s ride share services started back in the 1970s. In 2024, the program served a little under 5 million rural, suburban, and urban Pennsylvanians. However, COVID delivered a major blow to shared-ride services and it never fully recovered.
- 💰 Fund-tastic - So what’s being done? Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Democrat-controlled House are pushing for more public transit funding, shared-rides included. The latest budget proposal sets aside $38 million in funds specifically for those programs.
- 📉 Problem Child - In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, PA’s shared-ride programs operated at a $60 million loss. That’s the most recent year PennDOT has analyzed. As if fare hikes weren’t enough of a thorn in the side, health care consolidation in PA throws another wrench into the issue. Closed hospitals and medical centers mean rides have to travel further, which also increases operating costs.
- 🚀 Budget Boost - Last week, the PA House pushed forward their version of Shapiro’s original budget plan (107-94). The proposal would provide $300 million new dollars (including the $38M for shared-rides) to transit agencies state-wide. It also approves $500M in bonds to foot the bill for bridge and road projects.
🔥Bottom line: Rural hospitals closing their doors is a big enough problem. Providing reliable transportation for seniors to get to and from critical care facilities could be a matter of life or death. While we’re talking about mid things in PA, the state’s labor policies came up short in a new survey. Head here to catch up on all those details.
Is public transit accessible where you live?
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