Yeah. Actually I would defer -- is Ed Grose still here? I'd actually defer that to the Hotel Association. It's not my goal to speak on their behalf from a business perspective how they operate and help what's competitive or appropriate within their space. So I would defer to Ed Grose at GPHA.
Chair recognizes Councilmember Young. Do you want to go first, Councilmember Young, or Councilmember Lozada? Ladies first. Councilmember Lozada.
My question was around the rooms as well. But beyond the homes that are available downtown, are we taking into consideration some of those smaller hotel spaces that are in the neighborhood? I'm thinking there's a level of art, right, (inaudible). Are we thinking about those types of spaces as well --
And City Line Avenue, yes. And how is the PHLCVB breaking up how we measure economic success by district? Are these measurements public or accessible tasks?
So to answer the first question, you should know that we do collaborate across the entire city and county of Philadelphia. We actually collaborate very effectively across the entire Southeast region, Southeast PA, across the river. When we look at things from our -- as I said, we have a long lens. We also have a wide lens. Because the impact of major events coming to the city, whether it's that volleyball tournament or Divine Nine or a medical convention or World Cup, the All Star game or PGA tournaments, you're going to have an impact one way or another. There's an expression in the hotel industry where there's a word called compression. Compression basically is what it sounds like. When you're filling rooms in the masses of what's available within the city and the region, it has an effect that goes out to Montgomery County, to Camden County, Northeast Philly, South Philly, Airport. There will not be a section of the city or the region that won't be impacted. Whether they're hosting a convention delegate or a foreign or international tourist coming on holiday or to come to a World Cup match, I won't say it's immaterial, but the math is there. We can actually show that in a more intimate environment that shows when big events are in Philadelphia how it impacts the entirety of the city. The argument could be made that some hotels and some owners of whatever facilities they rent out in some cases make out better than the ones that are the official hotels of those events, because they're the ones who -- once that demand is created, there's little to go after and they're usually getting a higher rate for that business.
Thank you. So I'll send one question for Megan. Can you tell us what are the current RFP opportunities that are out there for Philly Soccer 2026 and what are the future opportunities that will be coming up?
Sure. So the best way to talk about this is to understand that FIFA, it serves as a governing body. And so, often there are going to be RFPs that FIFA issues from central headquarters down in Miami that go out nationally. That is something that we are provided with that we then send out to the City of Philadelphia, through the Chambers, through Diverse Chambers and our team has kind of shared the list to Council and all Councilmembers' offices. So there are certain RFPs that we at Philadelphia Soccer 2026 don't govern but we can distribute. We don't provide a timetable, we are free to let those (inaudible). When we are looking at what has to happen within the city for FIFA World Cup, some of the essential work that we're doing with Director Jones and the City and the Office of Special Events is to look at what contracts will be governed by the City of Philadelphia and what contracts will be governed by Philadelphia Soccer 2026. Currently, the only RFP that we have issued at the moment is related to the management partner for FIFA Fan Festival. That is available on our website phillyfwc2026.com. It is posted to all of our social media channels. It has been distributed vis-á-vis the Diverse Chambers, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and we can certainly redistribute to all Council offices after this hearing as well, so we are putting those out. And it will be a significant number of subcontracting that comes from that, where as you can imagine given the scale there are certain larger scale RFPs that are coming out now. And then once those partners are identified to bid, we will then have a significant number of subcontractors coming out from underneath. I would expect that the final I would say in the fall and the (inaudible) sense of RFPs being issued from Philadelphia Soccer 2026 as it relates to FIFA Fan Festival. There are certain things that the City of Philadelphia will handle in terms of contracting. We would be very clear in terms of (inaudible).
Could you also talk about if there are any requests for (inaudible) or requests for information as well?
Yes. We previously earlier this year placed a request for information for the signature event planning. We received more than 50 responses. And I believe -- I don't want to misspeak, but I believe that we had a majority that were M/WBE qualified, so we saw a significant response from diverse business owners into that RFI process. That was both small, medium and large scale event planners. We have not yet did an RFP for any of those events, per se, but it could be some time in the summer. Right now we're just getting ourselves organized in terms of ensuring for FIFA's calendar and making sure we're organized to be able to run RFP processes (inaudible).
Great questions, colleague. Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips.
Thank you so much. I just thank you all for your work. Looking forward to working with you 2026. I just wanted to bring up the 770 million that you mentioned that, you know, sometimes people throw numbers out there as pure estimates. I just wanted a better sense of how did you come up with $770 million as the estimate for revenue as a result of 2026?
We commissioned Econsult Solutions to run our economic impact report and we actually (inaudible) with Visit Philadelphia, which ran through the (inaudible) 2026 with Econsult. We (inaudible). We wanted to make sure that we were measuring (inaudible) in terms of our economic impact and how that fit into the overall 2026 narrative. We looked at previous World Cups. Obviously, this is a very different World Cup. It is larger. It's three countries, cities. So we 10 have 104 matches instead of 64 11 matches, and then a (inaudible). 12
13 Did Econsult provide you with 14 details around particulars around 15 every area, food industry -- 16
Yes, all of that detail. We're happy to provide the economic impact report following this, but it was very detailed. I would also say what gives us confidence in that number is that FIFA has also conducted its own economic impact through a separate entity and their projections for Philadelphia and (inaudible).
Oh, wow. Is that on the lower end? Is there anything --
And notice out of that 770 million, we only anticipate about 50 million in tax revenue, which means the other 700-plus million will go where, to the private sector, right?
So we need to make sure that those Black and Brown businesses are able to take advantage of that 770 million. I need to leave 2026 and do a victory lap with my colleagues because we've made some Black and Brown millionaires next year who weren't millionaires this year, so thank you. One homework assignment, one home assignment, and I actually have to read this. I try to memorize stuff. But I'm told that the Women's World Cup will be coming to the U.S. in 2031. Are we prepared to make a bid for that?
I would defer that question to our colleagues at the PHLCVB and the City of Philadelphia to respond to that.
So as I had the pleasure of meeting the President of FIFA, the one thing I whispered in his ear was looking forward to having you here in 2026 and we would wonderfully welcome the Women's World Cup as well. All we need is the same level of support we had from the public sector and hopefully the same level of support from the private sector. And companies like Comcast and other corporate partners have really helped us get where we are today. It's not just a yeoman's effort and time, but funding even to go after the bid. But our PHL Sports Division wants every major sporting event, whether it's WrestleMania, World Cup, PGA, MLB All Star Game, we want them all.
All right. Just want to make sure we're on the same page so we all got our homework assignment. We don't want this to be a one-time thing. Thank you so much. Mr. Clerk -- please give them a round of applause. Absolutely. (Applause.)
Mr. Clerk, will you please call the final panel for today.
Our final panel today will be Atif Saeed from the Philadelphia Airport and we a brief change from the program you see, Interim General Manager Scott Sauer from SEPTA, if you're here, sir. (Witnesses approached Witness table.)
Oh, we appreciate your patience. Thank you so much. While we're transitioning panels, I just want to give a special thank you to Thomas Young, the President and CEO of the World Trade Center in Philadelphia. We know you're doing great work to help bring a giant business expo to Philadelphia next year. So, Thomas, thank you. Thank you and your team for being here. Also want to give a shout-out to Nikki White. I saw Nikki walk in. She's doing great work with Welcome America, another great initiative that's going to be happening in 2026. So to the Welcome America team, thank you for being here. And to the World Trade Center of Philadelphia team, thank you for being here as well too. We appreciate the great work you all are doing and it's going to make Philadelphia one of those amazing -- well, the place to be in 2026. For those who want to network, we encourage you to do that, if you can just do that outside. When you come back in, if you decide to come back in, please enter quietly. We are about to have probably our most intense conversation of today as we talk to our partners at SEPTA and the Philadelphia Airport. There's no way we can expect $770 million in revenue along with 500,000 people over 39 days without these two important institutions partnering with us. So first and foremost, thank you for being here. Thank you for your patience. Please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
Thank you, 12 Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon 13 Chairman Thomas, and members of the 14 Committee on Legislative Oversight. 15 My name is Atif Saeed, Chief 16 Executive Officer for the 17 Department of Aviation which 18 manages both Philadelphia 19 International and Philadelphia 20 Northeast Airports. I am here 21 today to testify on Resolution No. 22 240701, which authorizes City 23 Council to hold hearings to assess 24 the current state of Philadelphia's preparations for the multitude of events being held across the City throughout 2026. This is truly an exciting time for our city. The team at the Department of Aviation has been working diligently to ensure we meet the moment and put our best foot forward as PHL and PNE are the gateways to our great city. Shortly after becoming CEO in 2022, I tasked my team with thoughtfully preparing a strategic plan specifically designed to establish a department-wide strategy in advance of 2026. This strategic plan has been our "north star" for the past year and focuses on the following elements: improving conditions of current facilities; elevating the airport experience; enhancing business opportunities; and building for the future. As a result of this strategic plan, my team worked with our airline partners to formulate a $500 million capital plan to improve conditions of our facilities through rehabilitating public-facing aspects at both PHL and PNE. Some of the upgrades travelers will notice along their journey include: A $13 million rehabilitation of our SEPTA platforms allowing for safer, easier transit between our terminals and SEPTA's Airport Line. Renovated and new restroom sets, a $20 million investment, designed to improve quality and comfort, accommodate more travelers, and expand accessibility for persons with disabilities. A $16 million terminal refresh which includes upgrades to hold rooms, which include but are not limited to improved lighting, new tile and carpet. Additionally, we are spending $25 million to rehabilitate one of our primary runways, Runway 9R-27L, to ensure our infrastructure is safely able to accommodate the air traffic we expect to see next spring and summer. With these projects also come local and federal goals that assist in helping small, diverse businesses engage in the economic development occurring at -- my apologies. I'm mixing some -- let me finish that sentence. Occurring at PHL --
Take your time. The bathrooms are clean so we're good. Take your time.
Appreciate it. Development occurring at PHL. Elevating the experience isn't entirely about capital investment however, it’s about providing passengers with first-class amenities, a world-class experience, and the flavors of Philadelphia. Our team has been actively working with partners in advance of 2026 to ensure our terminal complex is alive with locally recognized restaurants and shops, helping to drive local business growth and prosperity. These "Founded in Philly" vendors the travelers will recognize as they pass through our facility include: Sabrina's Café, Bud and Marilyn's, Yard's Brewing, Elixr Coffee, Geno's Steaks with additional vendors arriving before the end of the year that include: Federal Donuts, Middle Child Clubhouse, and Oyster House. As with our capital program, PHL also strives to ensure small, diverse businesses are engaged in our concessions program as well. As of the end of 2024, 42% of participation in our concessions program has been from disadvantaged businesses. Travelers will also be able to experience new lounge spaces opening in multiple locations in our terminal complex. This past winter, PHL welcomed a Chase Sapphire Lounge which is located above the D/E checkpoint. This 20,000 square foot space has various amenities and is the largest Chase Sapphire Lounge in the United States. Also coming later this year, American Airlines will be opening their new flagship lounge at PHL. Extensive work is being done by our nationally recognized Airport Exhibitions Program to beautify our facility and provide passengers and employees with a rich, lively experience in our terminals. Founded in 1998, the Exhibitions Program is responsible for organizing and presenting rotating exhibitions that are located throughout the Airport. The exhibits change throughout the year to provide a variety of educational and cultural programs – with an emphasis on local art. Future artwork to celebrate the events in 2026 include: a Youth Art Gallery; a celebration of Philly landmarks piece; a historical exhibit focused on the Philadelphia Union; and student photography exhibit in partnership with the Fleisher Art Memorial. In addition to creating, our investment in infrastructure improvements, technology upgrades, and aesthetics, we are also investing in our people. Within the past year, PHL has established two critical initiatives focused on workforce development and employee culture building. First, PHL's Bridge Program, which was initiated by the airport's Development Unit, provides current employees with information, tools and resources needed to advance within the organization while also attracting new talent. The second program, PHL WORKS, was created by PHL's Guest Experience Stakeholder Council to address a unique challenge – establishing a universal customer service baseline for all employees, tenants, contractors, and other stakeholders within the PHL Airport Community. With millions of additional travelers potentially coming through our terminals in 2026, PHL is committed to ensuring airport-wide service excellence amongst all 17,000+ badged employees. It's our responsibility to not only meet but exceed the expectations of our passengers, resulting in an unforgettable experience from curb to cloud. In summary, our team continues the important preparation work for 2026. S. Travel, and other key national airport associations. This is most certainly an "all hands-on deck" moment with the eyes of the world on our great city. Our team has risen to the occasion numerous times in the past for the Papal visit in 2015, the Democratic National Convention in 2016, and most recently this past year for WrestleMania. I feel confident that by spring of next year our facility will be ready to serve as the welcome mat to the world and help showcase Philadelphia. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to present testimony today. I look forward to continuing our partnership and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Good afternoon, Councilman Thomas and members of Philadelphia City Council. I am Scott Sauer. I'm the Interim General Manager for SEPTA. Thank you for the opportunity to update you on the progress that SEPTA's making to prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Semiquincentennial and the major events that will punctuate the entire year. SEPTA service was a significant factor in helping to secure Philadelphia as a World Cup host city, so it is particularly painful to appear today following our budget announcement last week, including the dire service cuts and fare increases that SEPTA will need to implement to balance our budget without a permanent state funding solution for transit. The math is simple. If Governor Shapiro's funding plan is not enacted and the service cuts that would take effect at the end of August were to go into effect, SEPTA will not be able to provide additional service for special events or support the transportation needs demanded of our world-class city next year. Just as the city is preparing to welcome the world, SEPTA would go from driving its economy to holding it back. While SEPTA's budget realities certainly cast a cloud over my testimony today. However, I do not want to take the focus away from my colleagues here on the panel or overshadow the exceptional efforts of so many partners who we've heard from today that are working to make 2026 a success. The scale of events planned throughout 2026 requires intense preparation and SEPTA will continue to do just that, until funding dictates otherwise. With a fully balanced budget, supported by a permanent state funding plan, SEPTA has committed more than $50 million to support 2026 events. Operations, staffing, safety and security and marketing obligations are estimated to cost approximately $21 million. While $30 million in facility and infrastructure upgrades are planned for key stations, including platform resurfacing, variable message displays and camera upgrades at NRG station, fare gate re-alignment, platform resurfacing, painting, new LED lighting and upgraded cameras at City Hall Station, reconstructed and modernized headhouses at 2nd Street Station and new LED lighting and painting at Fern Rock Transportation Center. Managing this enormous task behind me is Shakira Smith. Shakira is the program manager leading our 2026 special events department. Shakira is a 20-year SEPTA employee who started her career as a bus operator back in 2005. Her deep -- (Applause.)
Shakira's deep and diverse background with experience at high levels of management, managing both city and suburban bus and rail operations, makes her uniquely suited to coordinate SEPTA service plan. As it is for games and concerts nearly every day of the year, the Broad Street Line will be the workhorse to the sports complex. At full capacity, the Line can carry 25,000 to 30,000 passengers per hour to and from NRG station with six- to eight-minute headways. SEPTA will also be standing up dedicated bus service from Center City to FIFA's FanFest at Lemon Hill. We're currently planning to provide service roughly every 10 minutes from late morning to evening and can carry over 1800 people per hour. On match days alone, we project moving as many as 100,000 to 110,000 fans to and from the stadium complex and Lemon Hill. Our budget and planning also include added capacity on the El and Regional Rail Lines, as conditions dictate. This will be an all-hands-on-deck event for SEPTA. SEPTA's ambassadors and operations personnel will be deployed at major transportation hubs to help with customer service, crowd control, line queuing and information. Other recent initiatives that will also improve the customer experience include the Metro Wayfinding program using new route names, terminology and signage designed to make travel easier regardless of familiarity, language or disability. The SEPTA website is now optimized for mobile viewing. The upgraded SEPTA app now includes SEPTA key and transit watch functionality. And contactless payment is available on all SEPTA modes. Visitors and daily riders can now simply tap a credit or debit card or mobile wallet. Visitors will see safer and cleaner stations and vehicles. SEPTA's Transit Police Department is partnering with law enforcement at all levels to help coordinate city and regional preparedness. Safety is SEPTA's highest value. And over the past three years, we've more than doubled spending on cleaning, safety and security priorities, investments that have SEPTA well- positioned to support 2026. Last year the SEPTA Transit Police Department achieved its largest ever one-year drop in serious crime, equating to 350 fewer incidents or 33% decrease. Over the past year, SEPTA has performed a top-to-bottom restructuring of cleaning operations under a new Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Cleaning. With added cleaners and maintenance personnel, we have increased station deep cleans, pressure washing, 50 station passenger areas and 160 station entrances and exits every month, while track cleaners are working at all hours and conditions to remove debris from the track areas. The results of these efforts are already starting to be reflected in improved customer satisfaction scores. If I could just divert from the script just for a second, I'd also like to just say how deeply concerning the budget is that we've put forward and we understand the stress that this puts our customers under. And certainly, it's added stress for the thousands of employees that serve our riders every single day. And I would like to thank City Council, the Mayor's Administration, our Southeast and Philadelphia Delegations for the effort that was made Friday in the rain to call attention to this crisis and to help fund SEPTA. It's very important, not just for 2026, but to just help this city and this region grow and continue to grow. So thank you again for inviting me to appear before you today. We know this is a historic opportunity for our city, and success in 2026 will resonate for decades to come. We're hopeful that a permanent state transit funding plan will be enacted quickly so that SEPTA can continue to fulfill its commitments to this important undertaking. We're grateful for Council's support of our funding efforts in Harrisburg and ask that those here today and those that have been here, and Chair Thomas acknowledged the nongovernment people that were in attendance today.
And I want to acknowledge those same people because they have also stepped up to advocate for transit funding, and I want to acknowledge that effort as well. Thank you again and I look forward to taking questions.
Thank you. We appreciate your patience. We appreciate you being here today. And I think for most of us up here we really want you -- we want Philadelphia to know the great work that you have done to prepare our city for 2026, but we also want you to know that we have your back. I've met with the leadership at the Airport multiple times in preparation for 2026 and I appreciate the fact that you've been open to every idea, every suggestion, every recommendation, and you've implemented most of those things so we want to say thank you. But specifically to the issue around SEPTA, and I know a couple of my colleagues are going to want to speak to this, I want to first start by thanking Governor Josh Shapiro for his continued advocacy for public transportation as well as the legislative branch of government who are in leadership in Harrisburg that's been fighting for funding for SEPTA and for public transit. It's unfortunate in the political climate that we live in that something like SEPTA, which a long time ago wouldn't be considered as controversial as it is, is now that thing. It's unfortunate that something like SEPTA that doesn't have a political affiliation or doesn't have a political party, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, I don't think when you get on SEPTA, they ask your affiliation, right. But somehow, someway, this has turned into an issue that unfortunately is dividing the region, dividing Southeastern Pennsylvania and dividing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. You talked about the rally that took place this past weekend, and I was excited to see so much energy around the rally. But I can tell you that a big part of the reason why we wanted SEPTA to be here today was because we wanted our own platform, another platform, as it relates to members of City Council to tell our colleagues in Harrisburg that if they do not fund SEPTA in the way that's being recommended by Governor Shapiro, we can see more damage than the pandemic ever caused here in the city of Philadelphia. I think about the workers at TWU and the people at SEPTA, the phenomenal people at SEPTA, who during the pandemic when they were called essential workers -- I don't know if they're essential anymore, maybe they lost that title, but they're still essential to us -- I think about how people involved in SEPTA had to do more than just provide public transportation. You had to support the homeless. You had to provide help to the mentally ill. You had to put yourself in a position to really put your life on the line. And when I decided to be a worker for SEPTA, I didn't decide to put my life on the line. I decided to help people get from one place to another, but members of TWU and people at SEPTA, they didn't waver. They stepped up to the plate during the pandemic in the most difficult time in the entire region and they had our back. They made sure people could get to work. They made sure people could get to school. They made sure people could see their loved ones. And for us to be in a position some five years later, for SEPTA to be here begging for money, to make announcements talking about what would have to get cut if we don't pass Governor Shapiro's budget, I find it appalling. I think it's disgusting and it's really, in all Philly words, just corny when elected officials decide to turn something like SEPTA into a partisan issue. So I don't have any questions for you, sir. I commend you for stepping up to the plate, the entire leadership team at SEPTA. I thank you for riding this ride with us because it's been nothing but a roller coaster. And I also want to give a special shout-out to Wendy who comes down to City Council every Thursday and fights for SEPTA in ways that only Wendy can. We appreciate you all and know that as legislators we're not going to stop the work that we need to do to fight and to advocate and to make sure that you get the funding that you need to support the citizens of Philadelphia.
Chair recognizes Councilmember Phillips, and then we'll go down the line and Councilmember Lozada and Councilmember Young.
Just a quick comment. I echo Chairman Thomas's sentiments, great job that you all are doing to try to improve our region. I just want to say that when I was at the Eagles game I so happened to try to get on SEPTA that day, I don't know why but there was a mistake, actually, you know, the Regional Rail was only working, but the one time I tried to get on there it wasn't working. But anyway long story short, I just wanted to think about ways to communicate with people, maybe through large banners or something letting them know what subway lines are open, what subway lines are closed. And then also, how do we reduce -- figure out ways to reduce the lines that we saw at the Regional Rail space. I mean, that's going to be more than important to make them feel like we're welcoming. So I just think that all the people that are going to be handling those lines are going to be extremely well-trained and they're going to have to have really strong systems different from what happened at the Eagles parade. Thank you.
I appreciate that, Councilmember. Unlike the Eagles parade, this will be a little bit different of a service event for us. The Eagles parade was everybody in at the same time and everybody out at the same time. This will look a lot different because it's going to be all day travel. So thank you for those comments and those are the things that we definitely want to work on.
Thank you, Councilman. Chair recognizes Councilmember Lozada.
I don't have any questions either, but I also want to express my gratitude for Wendy and for all of the work that SEPTA is doing to ensure that things get better, right. I don't think that any of us can say that we are where we need to be. But as it relates to responding and continuing to be present and consistent in responding to the needs, not just of us as legislators, but community is extremely important. And so, I commend you for your work and for your responsiveness. Thank you so much for all that you're doing.
Thank you, colleague. Chair recognizes Councilmember Young.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'm the Vice-Chair of City Council's Transportation Committee, and this issue has been something that my office has been paying close attention to. How do we show the world who Philly is in 2026. And transportation and getting around is a way that every single visitor in our city will get to know our city, right, whether it's on SEPTA, whether it's flying in from the airport. But also another issue is our innercity bus terminals, right. How are we going to get those visitors in and around from city to city given Philadelphia's location. It's very easy to hop on a bus to go to New York, to go to D.C., to go to Boston. It's very easy to hop on Amtrak, right, to go to those particular places as well as we're showcasing the world, showcasing America rather to the world. So I just want to make sure that when we provide the significant level of support that you all need to make sure that the passengers have the best experience they possibly can while using our transportation systems here in Philadelphia.
Thank you. With that being said, I want to say thank you both for the great work that you're doing. The conditions at the airport are completely different from the last time we had this conversation to where we are now. And again, without your leadership we would not be as prepared as we are for 2026. So with that being said, for anybody who got a chance to listen to today's hearing, to be a part of the conversation today you can tell that Philadelphia is ready for 2026. When I think about all of the cities all across the country who are going to be hosting events, activities and initiatives, there's no better city to come visit than the city of Philadelphia. We have the sports team and amazing sports events. We have the nightlife and the amazing entertaining events. And most importantly, we have the history. This is the place that's the birthplace of our nation. This is the place that's filled with phenomenal arts and culture. This is the place that has so many amazing museums, so many amazing tourist attractions. But at the same time, we know we still have work to do. We have work to do to figure out what do we do around gaming. We have work to do to figure out what do we do around the film industry, and we have work to do to make sure that every district across the city of Philadelphia has an opportunity to take advantage of some of the most amazing initiatives and events that we'll ever see in our lifetime. 50 years from now people will look back at 2026 and say, what did we do, how did we do it and how can Philadelphia be even better. So with that being said, are there any other questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Are there any other questions or comments from members of the public? 60 seconds, sir. Somebody give him the mic. State your -- hold. Go to the Clerk. State your name for the record. 60 seconds.
Ernest Rouse, guide of Philadelphia. We don't have enough restrooms for our visitors. We don't have enough coach bus space for these people that are coming to our city. That is our two major problems that we tour guys are having with the people that are coming to this city. We are not a coach bus friendly city yet anymore and we are not a public facility-friendly city. After o'clock I don't 4 know where you're going to go to 5 bathroom. You have to go to a 6 restaurant or something. So there is a good porta potty that they did invent, the Philly Phlush or something like that. Maybe that can be expanded throughout the city of Philadelphia, especially downtown. We're going to do Lemon Hill. I guess there's going to be a lot of porta potties for Lemon Hill out there and a lot of porta potties for other different big celebrations that we're having. But our primary problem we tour guides are having is that there are no restrooms for our guests that are coming into this city.
Ernest, thank you for that comment. I want to let Councilmember Young respond to that before we close out today because Councilmember Young has been championing that issue. Chair recognizes Councilmember Young.
Thank you so much. And so, we have two of these Philly Phlush toilets in the 5th Council District, one at Federal Square Park, and then at 15th and Arch as well, and that has been a huge success for our city. There was some issues folks thought that it maybe limited the quality of life, but those Philly Phlushed toilets have actually been great for our city like you mentioned, and we are looking to expand those throughout the city, not just in the core of our city but they're going to University City and other places as well.
Hi. My name is Kristen Clark with the Germantown Arts District. I just had one question for Council and mainly for you guys. One, thank you so very much for all the work that you have been doing, especially for transportation in the city while everything is, you know, what it is. I wanted to know if there's an opportunity for both PHL Airport and SEPTA to start advertising small businesses? Is there opportunity for small businesses, local businesses, to advertise within these wonderful spaces just to get folks to neighborhoods?
So because of Council protocol, you technically cannot ask them a question. That panel is no longer there. But your comment --
-- was perfect and on point. And when we close out this hearing, I'm hoping Kristen can talk to some of the appropriate people about that particular comment because we want to make sure that that comment gets addressed, if that's okay.
No, no, no, no. I still got to follow the law. I got legislative people looking at me like Councilman Thomas is crazy. So thank you. Two very important comments. We appreciate it. And please make sure that we can address both comments. There being no further questions or comments from members of the Committee and no other witnesses to testify, I will ask that if there is anyone else present in the hearing whose name we failed to call that wishes to offer any testimony on the resolution be considered today? (No response.)
Seeing none, hearing none, I want to thank you all and all the panels of witnesses and members of the Committee for your participation today. We value your opinion. This concludes the business of the Committee and we will recess this hearing to the call of the Chair, which means we will be back in the fall before 2026 starts to have our last conversation. Thank you all and have a great rest of your day. (Committee on Legislative Oversight concluded at 3:50 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