Commuters on a SEPTA train platform at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia on Aug. 11.
Photographer: Ryan Collerd/BloombergPhiladelphia Transit Cuts Portend ‘Mayhem’ for Commutes and Regional Economy
Pennsylvania’s largest transit system was forced to slash 20% of its service with deeper cuts on the way. Now commuters are feeling the brunt.
Three times a week, Heather Yost takes a 45-minute train ride from her home in Exton, Pennsylvania, to her job as a clinical research nurse at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. But with her Cynwyd train line slated for elimination as part of system-wide cuts, she faces spending at least twice as long each morning in the car — and she feels lucky to have that option at all.
“I'm more concerned about my patients,” said Yost, 51. Some of her cancer patients receive life-saving treatments in clinical trials. “Many of them, from all over, do rely on public transportation to get here. There’s not a whole lot else to offer them.”