Hi, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to discuss this important topic and thank you for allowing testimony from the public. My name is John Mahlman. I live at Winchester and the Boulevard. I've lived here now for about years, but I am a lifelong 5 Philadelphia resident. I was 6 previously a daily 14 and Market- 7 Frankford Line rider for work until I 8 switched jobs in 2018. It used to 9 take me about an hour or so to get 10 from my door to my office at 13th and 11 Pine on a good weekday. Now, if there was a problem on the Boulevard, which there often was, that time could be up to two hours just to go downtown. Northeast Philadelphia is often ignored, but with over 150,000 people here living in the Far Northeast and I'm including zip codes 19114, 115, 116, 136, 152 nd 154, these are citizens -- these are 150,000 Philadelphia citizens that do not have access to transit, that is reliant on one of the most dangerous and poorly planned road corridors in the United States. Every day when I took the bus, I had to cross the Boulevard and hope I would make it across in one light or make it across at all, as cars would often ignore lights or posted signs. I really like living in the Northeast. I have a lawn. I have a garage. We have excellent food up here as everybody has commented. We have excellent parks. We have a lot to offer and yet people still scoff at living up here or traveling up here just because it is so far separated from the rest of the City unless you drive. I often hear friends of mine say that we might as well live in a separate state it is so far disconnected. A subway up the Boulevard could help alleviate that separation and bring more people in to experience what we have to offer up here. It can also help the inverse, giving 150,000-plus Philadelphia residents safe, direct access to the rest of the City. My partner and I get food or drinks or often go down to Center City for food or drinks or Fishtown or South Philly and we resort to driving because it takes so long to get down there otherwise. It sometimes limits where we can go or how long we can stay out for because I don't want to drink and drive. I also don't want to sit in traffic for 40 or 50 minutes. This would be a win for over 150,000 Philadelphia residents, and it'll be a win for the thousands of businesses in the City if something like the Phila -- like the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway were to happen. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Okay. Hi, I'm Anthony Mariani. I live in the City. I take the subway every day and I'm here to speak in support of the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway project. It's the most impactful mass transit project in the United States if it could be built. Construction of a heavy rail extension of the Broad Street Line down Roosevelt Boulevard would be positively transformational for the City, for our economy, for our people, for our environment. I understand the concerns people have about SEPTA. I take it every day. The problems that SEPTA has are the problems Philadelphia has, underinvestment, inequality, the privileging of private profit over public good. The Roosevelt Boulevard subway would be a giant strike back against this inequality and underinvestment. We could have a city of on-time trains instead of car accidents, a bright future instead of a dim one, clean air instead of dirty air, safe streets instead of some of the most dangerous in the world, a city for the working class instead of just the well-off, thousands of good union jobs. I urge you as City Councilmembers to dedicate yourselves to see this Roosevelt Boulevard Subway project completed for our economy and for our environment, for our City. We can have a City of Brotherly Love instead of traffic jams. Thanks.
Thank you very much. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hi. My name is Jacob Coates. I lived in the Northeast for about several years, and I'm sure my experience is similar to so many others. It's been said before on here that it really is just a feeling of disconnection from the City. You're underserved, your options to get into Center City or if you want to, you know, take your life in your hands going down the Boulevard or wait an hour for regional rail, you just feel pretty stranded. And adding this subway line giving people the option would be life-changing for so many, not just for going to and from businesses but also just jobs and general quality of life. Philadelphia is a proud city and I think public transit is something that a city should be proud of. And I really would love to see this go through and give us another win for the City. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hi. My name is Betty Hackney. I've spent more than 30 years calling Northeast Philly my home. And having lived there and many of my friends and family are still living there, I've always had a -- I'm proud to be from the area. There is truly nothing like it. It is the epitome of a melting pot, representing more than a dozen nationalities and ethnicities. The Northeast is a truly unique entity. So much so that professionally as an architecture and urban design professor, I take my own design students to the Northeast and have them engage with the area. And no matter how many groups I've taken to the area, and at this point it's over 30 students, I always hear the same comment, are we still in Philadelphia, why did I never know about this part of the City, why is it so hard to get here. This place is great, which goes to the core issue in why we're all here, right. This lack of accessibility that's caused our lack of public access and transport. The Northeast is effectively cut off from the rest of Philadelphia, making car ownership a necessity. Statistics have told us in most major metropolitan areas cars are not the answer nor ideal. While we do have very limited SEPTA access, the frequency and routes are inadequate to say the least. This leaves people stranded and lacking any sort of formal connection with Center City. It is literally a chore to figure out how many connections one would have to take and how long it would have to take to get to other parts of the City if you don't have a car. As a result, the area is simply being left behind in development and there's no better way of saying it, but I find that to be a crime. This area which is home to so many, and as we all can agree the best food in the City, has so much to offer and is being disregarded simply because people can't get here. It's with that in mind and knowing how much the area could benefit from this connector, I full-heartedly support the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway expansion. Some critics will come out and say it's unnecessary, we already have SEPTA bus routes and it might even bring undesirables to the area. To that I say no, it will in fact make the Boulevard an engaging piece of public design, much safer, no more hopping and hoping you don't get hit by a car. It can bring jobs to the area. And above all else, it will unite the Northeast with the rest of this absolutely amazing City that I'm proud to call my home. I no longer want Northeast Philly to be the best kept secret in Philadelphia. It's time everyone else found out and we can do that by expanding our public transit and building the Roosevelt Boulevard subway connector. Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hello. My name is Hasan Talouli and thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on the Broad Street Line proposal. I'm a lifelong resident of Northeast Philadelphia in the Torresdale area. And as a result, I'm very well- acquainted with I-95 and the Boulevard. As a child, I went to school near Northeast Philadelphia region as well as North Philadelphia. Given that only public transit option to get to school would be for my siblings and I to take a nearly two-hour transit ride each way, the only viable option for us was for our parents to drive us to school. This resulted in our parents having to bear the soul-crushing traffic of I-95 each morning to get us to school, then to go back to work and finally scrambling to pick us up at the end of the day just barely in time. Then as a young adult I went to school at Drexel University, which again the only feasible option was to drive to school. And now that's nothing to say of the headache of getting to work once I graduated from Drexel University. Northeast Philadelphia has always felt disconnected from the rest of the City and getting anywhere is always a hassle unless you're ready to put up with an hour of traffic at least. Given that Northeast Philadelphia is such a huge part of the City of Philadelphia, this is (inaudible). The proposed Broad Street Line extension will remedy many of these problems. It will make Philadelphia more connected. It will simplify commutes of thousands of Northeast Philadelphians to a single train ride. And of course, it will greatly reduce traffic congestion along I-95 and the Boulevard as people are no longer forced to drive to other parts of the City. I urge the City of Philadelphia to go forward with the Broad Street Line extension. For decades Philadelphia and its infrastructure have stagnated and even decayed. Philadelphia is one of America's greatest cities, and in my opinion its greatest, and has so much potential to grow and improve its citizens lives. We should not take half steps when it comes to this. We should go with what is clearly the best option, a full extension of the Broad Street Line Subway. The people of Philadelphia deserve no less. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person with their testimony.
Yes. My name is James Dougherty. I'm a lifelong resident of Northeast Philadelphia. I grew up and went to school and went to college. I've heard other people's testimonies. And like everybody, nobody knows where the Northeast is. I have friends who are from Mount Airy who ask where's the Northeast. And I believe having this will help bring other people into the Northeast and other parts of the area. SEPTA, you know, it takes me an hour-and-a-half to get from here and there. I take two or three buses just to get to work and I work in Center City. You know, it's going to bring 10,000 jobs and also bring other people from other areas into Philadelphia. So I support this to bring more people into the Northeast and let them know what the Northeast is actually about. There's so many good places, diners, restaurants, bars, shopping centers. And students have to commute. If you live in the Northeast, it would take us an hour-and-a-half or an hour from the El to this bus, to that bus. This is why I'm urging the legislative to please pass this on making this happen in the City, and not just for the City, for the citizens of Philadelphia and for the people who are going to be working on this project. Thank you.
Thank you. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hi. My name is Mason Carter and I am a resident of Mount Airy, and I'm someone who really tries to take advantage of the Northeast because I think it's really unique and has such a beautiful international scene there. And you know, that's kind of the thing about building this. It's something that I truly think is very daunting now, but it's something that honestly people are going to thank all of us for coming together to try to get the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway built in the future. And it's only going to get more expensive to build it, not less. It's not going to get any easier. You know, this infrastructure bill 5 has a very tight window for taking advantage of it. And I also think that it's a lot of money, but it's very smart money, not dumb money, very smart. And honestly, it needs to be built the right way. So I think that when it comes to it while a subway is more expensive, it really needs to integrate with the Broad Street Line and become truly something that people will use, not just within the City but people that visit. And to the point that I think that the return on investment on this will just be -- we're not even going to care about how much, you know, how big the cost was. So I think that honestly it's something that should be done expediently, collaboratively and something that the City really needs to take a lead on. And it would be really good for the morale of the City, which really needs it. So thank you very much for listening to all of us today.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person for public testimony.
Hi. Thanks to the Chairman and to all members of City Council. I appreciate you considering this resolution. I'm here to speak in support of it. My name is Chris Gillespie and I love Philly. As I'm sure every lover of Philadelphia can attest, it can take a lot of effort to get something done here and that's why I wanted to speak today. I want to applaud the City Councilmembers for taking the mantle of leadership on this important project. I think for too long Philly has been a city that's desperately underserved by our transportation infrastructure. Huge parts of our City, not just Northeast, are disconnected from one another due to decades of underinvestment, a lack of clear vision and fiscal negligence on the part of our regional and state partners. But worse, we rely too much on driving. It causes other problems. We have unnecessary car trips that are poisoning our air that our kids breathe. It litters our streets with bodies of victims of traffic violence and it causes the very congestion and parking problems that frustrate so many of our neighbors who have to drive to get to work and do their day-to-day things. The proposed resolution is only the beginning of a solution to these problems, but I think it's a major commitment to changing what's wrong with the way we plan for and design our City. I'm calling on you guys, the members of this Committee and on City Council to embrace not just this proposed subway and, yes, subway not light rail, but a broader vision of how we can move ourselves better. And that means taking transportation system design seriously in fixing the City's problems with the proliferation of vetoes that all too often stop progress in its track. That means embracing the SEPTA Bus Revolution. That means thinking beyond Northeast and considering transportation corridors to other underserved parts of the City, in West, Southwest and Northwest Philly, and that means building a real and comprehensive network for bikes, scooters, other new kinds of electric micro-mobility options, those one-wheel things that people fly around on. These are exciting new technologies that can revolutionize the way we move around the City, but they can't exist safely alongside cars. So thank you for your leadership on this resolution. I'm thrilled that we've gotten this far, and I urge you to continue on the path of embracing positive change for everyone in our great City. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Will the Clerk please call the next person with public testimony.
Next we have Samuel Chuna. COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: Samuel Chuna is not available.
Hello. My name is Ted Zellers. I live in North Square in North Philly with my fiancée. Like a third of Philadelphians, we don't own a car and we strongly support the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway plan. We're really excited about it. We don't own a car because like a lot of other folks we like to save money. We like to try to stay healthy and have an active lifestyle, and we're also both deeply concerned about climate change. I'm sure everybody has seen some news about the migration crisis that's happening right now in the Americas and also the one in Europe, both of which have been unfolding for years. Climate change is one of the factors that's driving people to have to leave their traditional homes. And among all the other negative aspects of climate change, this seems like a really big one as well as flooding was mentioned in Eastwick and East Falls and Manayunk and heat- related deaths in North Philly. And it's hard to think of a project that would have a bigger impact in terms of climate change than taking about 100,000 car trips off the road every single day, so we're really excited about this project. Thank you.
You're welcome. Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person with public testimony.
Hello. Good afternoon. This is Tahir Farid. First of all, thank you so much for giving me the chance. I would like to bring the idea of population density based on census data we're having. The area in the Northeast, the Near Northeast and the Far Northeast is very diverse, and this project will solve many major issues in Philadelphia like poverty, unemployment and housing in the area. I would like to thank Jay and Joe Coccio for bringing the idea of alternative plans like an elevated light rail that cost a lot less. And the best example we're having is actually a Brightline in Florida which costs 55 million a mile. These are actually supported by a lot of other data and existing infrastructure on Northeast as well. We see that it passes through Sandy Run, Tacony Creek and Penny Park Creek as well. There is also many bridges supporting building the elevated light rail. In other connections, it will connect not just riders, it will connect workforce, businesses as well as the fourth busiest airport in the Northeast as well. I would like to have a consideration that Hunting Park being a part of the project, and this is also not just transit equities. It's transit equity as well as health equity. It will match also other projects like Vision Zero 2025 and Philadelphia 2035. Thank you so much.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person for public testimony.
Good afternoon, Council. Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment on this issue. My name is Cam Pursel, and I want to voice my strong support for the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway extension. I've lived in Philly for seven years now and take the Broad Street Line at least three times a week. Our City stands at a crossroads and this project represents a pivotal step towards a more sustainable, efficient and accessible future. I urge you to consider the following points: First, congestion on our roads has reached a breaking point. The Roosevelt Boulevard is emblematic of this issue with its daily gridlock leading to hours of wasted time, increased emissions and frustrated commuters. A subway line would reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality which directly benefits our environment and public health. Accessibility is another critical factor. The subway would open doors for those who are currently underserved by public transportation. Many residents in outlying areas struggle to access job opportunities, educational institutions and healthcare facilities due to limited transportation options. Building the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway would bring economic and social equity to the area, granting more people the chance to thrive in our great City. Safety concerns cannot be ignored either. Accidents on the Boulevard are far too common often involving pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. A subway would reduce these risks and create a safer environment for everyone, especially our most vulnerable citizens. Lastly, sustainability is a paramount consideration. We live in an age where environmental responsibility is no longer optional. A subway system powered by clean energy sources aligns with our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change in the City of Brotherly Love. The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway project is an opportunity to transform our City for the better. It addresses issues of congestion, accessibility and safety while promoting a more sustainable future. I urge Council to support this expansion of public transit and ask you to dedicate your time to ensuring this project happens by directing SEPTA to source funding for planning and engineering for this project. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person with public comment.
Hi. My name is Sebastien Hardinger. I'm urging Council to support the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway. Other people have talked about its benefits. I also want to talk about how it makes Philadelphia look compared to the rest of the country. There is a fair amount of transit expansion around the country. Other cities are doing stuff. LA's got the Purple Line Extension. New York's got the Second Avenue Subway. Boston's got the Green Line Extension. DC's get the Silver Line Extension. Chicago's got the Red Line Extension. Even Baltimore is looking at the new Redline Subway, so I don't think that Philadelphia really can afford to miss out, especially with the increase in transit money from the Biden Administration and from having someone who's from the region in the White House as well right now. I think this is just a really crucial opportunity and I don't think we can let this opportunity get missed, as so many other opportunities to build the Roosevelt Boulevard subway has been missed in the past. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person with public testimony.
Hi. Yes, hello. My name is Robert Pollock. I live in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. As someone who drives the Roosevelt Boulevard corridor daily, the problems are extremely apparent. As mentioned, it's one of the most dangerous roadways in the City, if not the country. A heavy rail and blended streets option will benefit our region financially, improve the health and safety of the people living along the corridor and allow for renewed development in our City. The cost may be high, but the cost of interaction is higher. Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person for public testimony.
Hi. Yes. Can you hear me? My name is John Nichols and I am calling to voice my support for the Broad Street Subway extension or the Broad Street Line Subway extension along Roosevelt Boulevard. I commute regularly from South Philly to Lambertville. And every day I stare at all the cars sitting in traffic not moving as they approach Center City. We are a city that is (inaudible) potential. And if we want to see our City reach this potential, we need to start thinking like the big city we really are. Building the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway would open the City to well over 100,000 people. It would provide them both jobs for construction and operation of the line. It would also allow for increased access to jobs. Furthermore because of the reduced traffic, money will be saved not only by reducing the wear and tear on roads, but also the wear and tear on residents' cars. It will help with traffic but also help to improve safety along the corridor and improve the driving conditions of those who still must drive regardless. The economic benefits of this project would ripple throughout our region. The commute times from the Northeast and along the I-95 corridor would be reduced. Access and ability to participate in events throughout the City will be increased. Carbon footprints, air pollution from particulates from brake pads and tires would -- and tire wear and tear would be reduced and its noise will be reduced. There's a myriad of reasons why we need to support this project as well as other expansions of SEPTA so that we as a City are no longer choked by cars and any pollution they create. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person with public testimony.
Good afternoon, members of the Committee. My name is Jacob Pritchett. As a Philadelphia resident without a car, my wife, my son and I rely on SEPTA to navigate our City. The proposed Roosevelt Boulevard Subway extension of the Broad Street Subway just isn't another transit line. It's also means to uplift our community. This subway will bridge the stark disparities in transit access across racial and socioeconomic lines offering equitable transit to all Philadelphians. For people who frequently commute, the potential to nearly half journey times is life-changing. Safety will see substantial improvements with this initiative. Public transit is as much as 10 times safer than driving, and Roosevelt Boulevard is considered by many the most dangerous road in Philadelphia. Philadelphia's responsibility to the environment cannot be ignored. The subway champions greener transportation, reduced emissions and promoting better air quality. Additionally, it's more than infrastructure. It's an economic catalyst. The potential for transit- oriented growth means local businesses thrive and new jobs emerge. A 2003 study's findings are compelling, a potential of over 124,000 daily riders and a significant reduction in car trips. This subway means a more interconnected Philadelphia and a boost to our economy. As a Philadelphia resident dedicated to our City's progress, I passionately endorse the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway. It's a move towards a stronger and more sustainable Philadelphia. I hope the Committee grasps its transformative potential and support. Thanks for hearing my perspective.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person with public testimony.
Hi. Thank you so much. My name is Zach Howe. I'm a resident of South Philadelphia. I've lived in the City for seven years. I don't have a car. My car was totaled recently while parked on the street. And I'm trying out what it's like to live in the City without a car so I take transit regularly. And I've never lived in the Northeast. And, you know, sitting on this call hearing all this testimony about how great the Northeast is, I'm just like, wow, I want to go get some of that food, man. So I'm really excited about this and I just want to say that a new subway that can serve all of these people and bring all these people to the Northeast is also good for drivers. You know, all this talk about the congestion and stuff, like I don't think that we -- I think that people besides transit advocates can be sold on a project that is going to make driving for people who do choose or need to continue to drive safer and more enjoyable as well. And I also just want to say that as far as the cost goes, you know, I'm not a transit advocate, I'm not a professional in this field in any way, but I do remember hearing that the proposed extension of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia, you know, I was really struck by numbers reading about that a few years ago. That was going to cost $3 billion projected and serve 10,000 daily commuters, you know. And that doesn't sound like such a great ratio to me. And, you know, I was quickly looking at the numbers for this project and the projected daily ridership is times that. And so, if the cost is anywhere close to $3 billion, you know what I mean, like we were ready to do something like a big transit project like that to serve the suburbs, I really think that it's not too much to ask for the City to turn its attention to serving the residents of the City in the same way. So thank you so much for the opportunity to testify and for everyone's continued work on this project. Have a great day.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Good afternoon, everybody. I'd like to thank you all for listening to our comments, and especially my Council Representative Mr. Khan. A lot of people have made very good cases for why we need rapid transit to the Northeast. I live in East Falls but have had many friends in high school in the Northeast, and had to find ways to visit them back in the '80s on transit. We got around but it took a long time as others have attested. The case for why we need the transit is good. I want to make a very specific more technical case to why it should be a subway, either cut and cover or just trenched in. In the long run while it would cost more to build, total compatibility with the Broad Street Subway's existing equipment and right-of-way would allow trips all the way from the edge of the City down to the Stadium District, I'm not saying every day, but imagine just being able to do that as a one-trip stop and what that would do for our economy and for people on special occasions. What about running the extension that was designed to go up Henry Avenue and eventually creating a radial route around the outside so people could hop from the Northeast to the Northwest without traveling through Center City. While the costs are greater to do the subway as is being proposed, long-term reduction of types of equipment, compatibility with most of the existing network, boy, it would be a dream if we got the Market Street El off of the Pennsylvania gauge so we could run standard gate cars on everything. As someone mentioned multi-use high density development along the route could be a boom to the City. A Market Street -- I'm sorry, a Broad Street style subway up and down Route would also just increase the ability of people within the Northeast itself to move between the Far Northeast and the Near Northeast, providing job and entertainment opportunities. So for compatibility and future extensions, I would like to argue for using the Broad Street style subway equipment and standardization across the system. Thank you. I'll yield my time.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Arta Seyedian. I live in West Philly and I moved to Philly about a year-and-a-half ago. Like one of the previous callers, I've never actually even been to Northeast Philly but, you know, hearing the glowing things that I've heard everyone else say it's really encouraging me, making me want to go. So while I might be a relatively recent transplant, I love this City and I specifically chose Philadelphia to live in because of its history, its culture and because depending on who you are and where you live, you don't need a car to get around most parts, and it's one of the few cities in this country that is like this. And I am here to voice my absolute and unwavering support for the full completion of the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway. I just want everyone to consider first the fact that the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway was initially conceived in 1913, so that is two World Wars, the start and collapse of the Soviet Union, and yet the need for this infrastructure has only intensified. Like many before me have said, the Boulevard serves half a million Northeast Philadelphia residents, but there are no viable public transit options that don't rely on sharing the road with other vehicles. The urgency for this subway can't be overstated. It's not about efficient -- it's not just about efficient transportation. It's also about saving the lives of pedestrians and commuters. The Boulevard is one of the most dangerous traffic corridors in the country and we have lost so many, needlessly lost so many lives to traffic accidents and car-based infrastructure. And just so we are clear, when I talk about realizing the vision of the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway, I am specifically advocating for a heavy rail alternative, fully electrified subway cars. We need a robust dedicated transit solution that serves the residents of Philadelphia effectively and efficiently. We need a solution that has capacity and doesn't get clogged up in traffic. We want a heavy rail system that will truly address the needs of our community and unlock the potential of the Roosevelt Boulevard. In the brief time I've been here, I've come to appreciate the City, like I said the culture and the history. There's no 4 other city in America I'd rather live in. And I believe that a faster, safer and more efficient transit system like the proposed subway aligns with the vision of a progressive Philadelphia that caters to its residents, supports growth and ensures safety. I would like to end on this: 100 years ago mass transit was viewed as the way of the future. Today let's honor the potential of this great City and insist on the heavy rail vision for the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway. Thank you.
Thank you for testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
All right. Good afternoon, City Council. My name is Cameron O'Grady and I'm here to ask for your support for a heavy rail subway to the Roosevelt Boulevard. For starters, I don't live in Northeast. I actually live in Spruce Hill in West Philly near in the 27th Ward, but I use public transit every day. In fact, this statement I'm reading now and my thoughts I composed them while riding on the 34 trolley from my home to my work at Jefferson Hospital. Now, just because I don't live in the Northeast doesn't mean I wouldn't use this subway. I have friends who live up in the Northeast and it's a struggle to get to them without a car just as it's a struggle for them to get to me. Building a heavy rail subway will expand opportunities to not only see those that I care about but also further economic opportunities to the Northeast by providing cheap and fast access to the rest of SEPTA's heavy rail system. I also want to stress the importance of having this line be grade separated heavy rail. Grade separation will improve speed and reduce potential collisions when compared to light rail or bus rapid transit options. Potential collisions are especially important to consider as deaths from automobile crashes have climbed in the past few years, reversing the declining trend that we've seen for decades in this country. Something that this City has personally experienced with numerous pedestrians and motorists killed while trying to cross or use the Boulevard. Not to mention those who are permanently disabled from accidents on the Boulevard as well. The longer we wait to build, the more tragedies our City will have to reckon with. And so, I urge this City Council to approve the resolution and to begin work on planning and exploring the potential of the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway. Thank you for proposing this resolution and thank you so much for listening.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hi. Good afternoon. My name is John Duong, and I'm a lifelong resident of Philadelphia. And we often see -- I'm calling about supporting the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway. We often hear about Route being a burden to our City and having this proposal, the Roosevelt Subway, gives us a chance to flip it into becoming an asset for our City, building a heavy rail connection to connect to Northeast Philadelphia. And I urge heavy rail connection because it allows a one- seat ride, especially for folks that struggle to get to the doctors to go to Temple or Nazareth on both ends of the line and whatnot. And there's also other benefits for building this subway, such as we can allow our children, high school students, trades members and college students to be able to intern and work on real projects, such as on the engineering, planning or even the commissioning of art. So this project is more than just about the subway is just more expensive. There's more than just upfront capital costs. There's impact that we have to look at and I believe it's very positive for our City. Thank you for listening.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Next we have John Walsh. COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: I believe the next one up is actually going to be Jaxon Fox.
Hello. My name's Jaxon Fox. Thank you so much for letting me speak. I was born in Northeast Philly and I lived just about my whole life here. I always grew up with the ache of isolation. Now, in my adulthood I'm learning that it's just a (inaudible). It's just the way it's designed. If you ever want to know true isolation and fear, you can experience that by being a pedestrian on the Roosevelt Boulevard. As I learned growing up in Northeast Philly, if you are not fortunate enough to have a fiscal ability or finances needed to drive a car, you will constantly struggle to travel and meet your basic needs. This of course is a common issue in rural and suburban areas of our country. But in a densely populated major city, it is simply inexcusable to leave our citizens struggling. I spent some time briefly living in West Philly and Brooklyn, and I didn't feel that way at all. Both of those areas have more options for public transit and are way more walkable with much more green space instead of giant empty parking lots and deadly roads. And through constant interaction with other humans I shared spaces with, I found the healing and community I needed to grow as a person in ways I could never experience living in Northeast Philly. We deserve better. There is an undeniable divide between the Northeast and the rest of our beautiful and diverse city. The amount of time and energy it takes to travel to the rest of the City is flat out ridiculous for one of the country's most populated cities. Whether it be by car or by bus, you are still sitting in miles of traffic that takes countless lives regularly. It just isn't sensible when there are as many better options that should be made available to us. The current state of Roosevelt Boulevard is a nightmare and unsustainable. We need to take the actions to bring a better quality of life to this underserved section in our City. And I do want to reiterate I am in favor of the subway rather than light rail. I know earlier it was said that it looks, you know, more cost- efficient on paper. But in the long run, I think a robust subway is the only way to go because as we know, cars will run into cars on Roosevelt Boulevard and of course cars will be running into that trolley. So definitely subway is the best option. Even if the trolley has its own corridor, it's still going to have to wait at lights and people are still going to be making turns. So subway is definitely the way to go. Thank you so much for hearing my testimony.
You're welcome. Thank you. Will the clerk please call the next person to testify.
Good afternoon all. I'm Steven Laarkamp. And while I'm speaking to you from a suburb in Delaware County, Media to name names, I've lived in the Philly area pretty much all my life, and I made many visits to the Northeast too for both business and pleasure. But every time I've had, especially lately, the Boulevard has been nothing but agony for pretty much everyone, whether it's a local, a commuter or a visitor. And ever since I learned that as mentioned before, the Boulevard was designed from the day it was built in the 1910 to have a subway line running along it, it makes me even more frustrated that the people that have moved into the region since, they have to suffer through internal traffic jams and accidents on one of the most dangerous roads in the whole country simply because there's no real alternative for them. And all that was made more obvious after I-95 collapsed in Tacony. And to a lot of people there, that was an existential crisis for them simply because they were trapped in to getting anywhere up there by car since the subway doesn't exist right now and the buses get stuck in the same traffic everyone else does. Having an actual, viable choice instead of just a car is how we have actual freedom of mobility. And that's something we're starting to realize as a city and a nation thankfully. And as such, for the people who live, work or visit the Northeast, this subway line and not the inherently lesser half measures of a BRT or a light rail which they're unable to -- they cannot provide a satisfactory connection to the rest of the City, a heavy rail subway extension is an absolute necessity. And any cost that will be put towards it, it will be made back multiple times over, especially since rail projects in general have high returns on their investment, generally speaking. The Northeast will reap benefits from it and so will the rest of the City, especially since you're not going to have to go back and fix the half measure that was building a light rail line. And I'm definitely happy to see the activism and the support I've witnessed today about this topic. And there's no doubt to me the time is now for everyone involved to give the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway the brotherly shove it needs to get started. You build the subway, it'll be the best thing to happen to the Northeast, maybe even the whole City. Thank you all for your time.
Thank you. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Good afternoon. Simon Pantelidis. And good afternoon and thank you to the Chair and the Committee and everyone. I live in Delaware County. I was born and raised in Upper Darby, but no doubt I still support the effort to bring the subway to the Roosevelt Boulevard. Often in our careers -- I'll just, you know, summarize kind of a point that I think has been made. As we move into higher roles becoming managers, leaders or decision-makers, we occasionally forget how fragile the start is for our younger adults. Part of that fragility includes just simply getting around and being able to get to the places where there are opportunities for people who may not be able to just drive just yet or may not have the means to do that. Now in my 30s, I no longer rely as intently on there being a public transit option if I need to get to work, go shopping, visit friends, get to a doctor's appointment or go out at night, but that is not the default for many people as it was not for me when I was younger and just starting out. As a 19-year-old attending summer classes at a Penn State branch campus, having subway access allowed me to commute safely from Upper Darby to Abington. My morning commute then was aboard the Market-Frankford Line at 69th Street Transportation Center, a free transfer to the Broad Street Line at City Hall and a final transfer to Bus 55 at the Olney Transportation Center. Access to those existing subways was instrumental to my education that and ultimately to my later career. For these reasons, again I support the effort to bring a subway to the Roosevelt Boulevard. Give this entire City and its residents a lift. Thank you for your time.
Thank you very much. Will the Clerk please call the next person for public testimony.
Hi. Yes. Thank you, Council, for having me here today and letting me speak. I just wanted to ask for your support on the heavy subway investment for the Roosevelt Boulevard. And even though I do not live in the Northeast or know anyone that lives in the Northeast, I strongly support it as a Philadelphian and as a Pennsylvanian. While it would be an expensive investment, the returns would be uncalculating I think in terms of not just the finance but also the impact on people's lives, the culture of the City and just the general well-being of this whole area would be improved. It would be a huge source of pride for not just the City, but also the state. It would be a good symbol and a good standard for the rest of the country even to go to. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the Clerk please call the next person to testify.
Hello. My name is Jeffrey Falkowski. I'm a lifelong resident of Bridesburg section of Philadelphia and I travel to the Northeast regularly by public transportation. And one of my concerns is that it takes me about an hour or more to go from Bridesburg to Somerton, which is probably one of the furthest points north in the City. There's only -- I mean, there's a few options but they all could take at least an hour or more just to go 13 miles, you know. And I do like to travel on the Boulevard for shopping and Somerton for recreation, things like that. So I believe building a faster way to get into the Northeast is really vital at this point to Philadelphia, not only its economy but for its citizens, you know, for jobs. It opens the City up. It opens up Center City to the citizens of the Northeast and vice versa. And I believe it's, you know, the way of the future. I mean, we're all at this point looking for alternatives instead of the old, you know, our old cars that run off of fossil fuels. And we want alternatives, public transportation, electric alternative fuels. So I believe an investment like this is necessary but also extremely beneficial to everyone in the City and even the surrounding counties. So I hope that we can work on this project and I thank you for listening to us and giving us a chance to speak, because I think that it's very important to get the citizens' opinions also instead of just the leadership of the City. And I also believe that this is a much better investment than building a stadium down in Chinatown, so thank you all.
Thank you. Are there any other comments? Anyone else here for public testimony? (No response.)
Any other questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Hearing none, before we conclude I would like to have the sponsor of the resolution, ask him if he has any last remarks. Councilman Driscoll?
Well, Chairman, thank you. I thought we had a robust conversation today and thanks to your leadership and your Committee. We look forward to advancing this dialogue. We look forward to -- SEPTA has a study in process that should be done by December or January. I think that's going to be a critical element here. And I think we have to have ongoing discussions with the Secretary of Transportation and the Turnpike Commission because if we explore the notion of the high speed rail in the center lanes of the Boulevard with perhaps a tolled highway along with it, that could be our local match. So I want to have those conversations. So, yeah, I think today was a great participation by all. And thank you to all the testimony, the testifiers. And thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you for your leadership on this very, very critically important issue, especially when we talk about transit equity. And so, I just want to thank you and this was a very, very inspiring and empowering hearing. With that being said, I want to thank all of the Members who took time out of their schedule to also participate in this hearing. And if there are no more comments from members of the panel or members from the public, this concludes the hearing on Transportation and Public Utilities. Thank you very much, everyone. And also, thank you, Brett, for your work clerking this hearing.
You're welcome. (Hearing concluded at 3:53 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL