WHEREAS, Each year Philadelphia disposes of nearly 1.5 million tons of residential and commercial waste—one ton for every resident—while spending tens of millions of dollars each year cleaning up short dumping and litter; and
WHEREAS, The vast majority of entry points into the City are riddled with graffiti, trash, and debris along its railroad tracks, making for an unsightly view for those who live, work, or visit Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Ownership of the train tracks that make up the Philadelphia transit system include Conrail, SEPTA, Amtrak, CSX, and Norfolk-Southern; and
WHEREAS, Many neighborhood groups, City departments, and volunteers have worked diligently for years on strategies to clean up the tracks, including graffiti abatement programs, surveillance cameras for short dumping violations, and regular reporting of illegal activities to law enforcement; and
WHEREAS, Last summer the City of Philadelphia reached an agreement with Conrail
to address a stretch of train tracks used for an open-air drug market in North Philadelphia and subsequently
cleared 2,700 tons of debris, including an estimated 500,000 used syringes
; and
WHEREAS,
Train owners should make a similar commitment and devote the resources necessary to clean up other areas which are under their jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS, As the City competes to attract large companies like Amazon, these aesthetics harm our ability to demonstrate our credentials as a “First Class City” worthy of significant economic investment; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby authorizes Council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to investigate train operators’ responsibilities for cleanup, maintenance, and beautification of transit entry points into Philadelphia.
End