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Without support for SEPTA, Philadelphia could face massive congestion and economic disruption. Learn what’s at stake and how you can help.
If you’ve driven northbound along I-76 this week, you may have seen our billboard:
Avoid gridlock. Keep SEPTA moving.
It’s there because we believe in the value of public transit, and as a Philadelphia-based transportation technology company, we see how high the stakes are. The threats facing SEPTA right now are bigger than just transit issues - they’re city and statewide issues. So, we wanted to say something plainly in one of the places that would feel the effects most: the highway.
Want to learn how you or your employer can support SEPTA? Visit jawntpass.com/septa.
A recent Philadelphia Inquirer article called it a “a recipe for congestion,” and that’s no exaggeration. If SEPTA’s proposed service cuts go through, we could see 275,000 additional cars on the road every day. As The Inquirer’s June 2nd front page article said of SEPTA’s proposed cuts, “drivers would spend an additional 70,000 hours each weekday morning in Philadelphia traffic.”
In addition to inconvenience. This is a loss in access to jobs, school, healthcare, and more. It means more emissions, more crashes, more punching the steering wheel, and more parking nightmares. It means a city that becomes harder to live and work in, for everyone.
In a recent op-ed, urbanist Alan Fisher made an under-appreciated (if unknown) point: Philadelphia ranks in the top 10 of North American transit cities, and SEPTA is one of the most cost-effective systems out there. At an average cost of $5.90 per ride, it’s less expensive to operate per rider than New York’s MTA ($8.91), Boston’s MBTA ($9.03), or San Jose’s VTA ($17.86).
It may not be perfect, but it’s efficient, vital, and deeply relied upon by 790,000 daily riders.
When the I-95 bridge collapsed in 2023, PennDOT and its partners rebuilt a functioning temporary roadway in just 12 days, an amazing achievement that shows what’s possible with the right focus and communal will.
That bridge carried 195,000 car trips per day. As Connor Descheemaker from Transit For Philly recently shared, SEPTA moves four times that many people daily. Doesn’t our transit system deserve the same kind of urgency and investment? Just a few miles from that I-95 bridge collapse, we wanted to remind I-76 commuters that it does deserve it.
Transit connects people to jobs, school, and healthcare, but it also connects us to each other. It’s where we witness the full spectrum of urban life, including the struggles of our fellow citizens. Driving might insulate us from that reality, but it doesn’t solve it.
Investing in transit is about more than moving bodies, it’s about confronting our shared reality, and making it more equitable, humane, and sustainable.
Because Lamar Advertising told us that billboard would see 800,000 weekly impressions, which is about as many people as SEPTA moves every single day. That’s the scale we’re talking about. And if you’re stuck in traffic, there’s a good chance part of the reason is underinvestment in transit.
At Jawnt, we work with nearby organizations like UPenn, Penn Medicine, and the City of Philadelphia to help thousands of employees commute more easily via transit. These employers, along with Comcast, CHOP, and other civic leaders have been vocal in their support for SEPTA. We’re proud to stand alongside them.
We've also started working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, helping administer transit benefits to 75,000 state employees. And as two former PA governors, Ed Rendell (D) and Mark Schweiker (R), wrote:
We know this isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a Pennsylvania issue.
We're a Philly-based transit technology company, so what’s good for transit is good for our business. But we’re also residents of this City and this Commonwealth. We ride transit every day. We rely on it. And we believe in it.
That’s why we bought the billboard.
And that’s why we’re doing our small part to help support SEPTA, invest in transit, and keep us all moving.
Want to learn how you or your employer can support SEPTA? Visit jawntpass.com/septa.
Never stepped on a SEPTA bus and don’t plan to? We still encourage you to sign the petition to keep your commute free of gridlock.
