Authorizing the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to hold public hearings examining SEPTA transit system safety, including the particular issues of rail car defects and train derailment, as well as available measures to reduce safety risks to SEPTA riders and employees.

WHEREAS, SEPTA has invested in significant upgrades and improvements to safety control systems over the last decade but has a $5 billion infrastructure maintenance backlog; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia provided $85 million of SEPTA’s annual budget in fiscal year 2017; and

WHEREAS, Over the July 4th holiday weekend in 2016, the discovery of a defect on the Silverliner V wheel assembly sidelined 120 rail cars -- one third of SEPTA’s Regional Rail fleet -- for three months, severely impacting service for riders and raising grave safety concerns; and

WHEREAS, In early January 2017, a Route 10 SEPTA Trolley rear-ended another Route 10 Trolley at low speed near the intersection of 38th Street and Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. The incident occurred on the street-running portion of SEPTA’s trolley system, where trolleys operate in the roadway, at street level, and injured dozens of people; and

WHEREAS, On Friday, February 3, the discovery of a crack on a main structural component of a Market Frankford Line subway car prompted a number of cars to be removed from service to be inspected. These defects raised grave safety concerns; and

WHEREAS, On Tuesday, February 21, 2017, a Market-Frankford line train collided with another in the 69th Street Transportation yard, resulting in the derailment of multiple cars on both trains as well as damage to an adjacent train. The trains were not carrying passengers however four people, including SEPTA personnel, were injured and the incident raised grave safety concerns; and

WHEREAS, The safety of the City’s public transit and the public’s confidence therein are of paramount importance to a healthy transit system and Philadelphia’s vitality in general; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities is hereby authorized to hold public hearings to examine the issue of safety within the SEPTA transit system, as well as

available measures to reduce safety risks to SEPTA riders and employees.

End