Earlier this year, when the Pennsylvania legislature was embroiled in a budget standoff over transit funding that threatened SEPTA service to Delaware, Gov. Matt Meyer jumped at the opportunity to show that small states can do big things. He held press conferences and media interviews, rallied legislators to take action, developed a plan to keep the trains running, and was outspoken on social media showing his enthusiastic support for mass transit.
That never happened, of course, at least not for mass transit. Just a few months prior, however, the governor did all that and more when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and a few other executives announced plans to re-incorporate their companies out of Delaware. The governor took unprecedented action (with support from legislators) to rush a controversial amendment to Delaware’s corporate code through the General Assembly that was derided by experts as appeasement to angry billionaires like Elon Musk.
Unfortunately, when it came time to support mass transit, Meyer and most lawmakers in the General Assembly were suddenly — one might even say, uncharacteristically — at a loss for words. The same governor who is regularly in front of cameras for media interviews (and just started a podcast) very obviously didn’t want to talk about the transit apocalypse that was about to hit our region. None of our elected officials did. They wrote a couple polite letters, pleading with SEPTA not to cancel Regional Rail service to Delaware’s train stations, but that’s about it.
Elected officials in Delaware had the chance to show leadership on an issue of regional importance, but they blew it. It’s now clear that no one in Delaware’s state government had a plan to keep the trains running, and because the budget recently passed by the Pennsylvania legislature and signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro did not include transit funding, commuters will be faced with the possibility of service cuts again in two years. As the saying goes, they tried nothing and are all out of ideas.
As a transit advocate in Delaware, I’m used to the apathy we typically see from lawmakers when it comes to mass transit. Most of them simply don’t care. But Meyer fashioned himself as something different when running for governor last year. He was the pro-transit candidate who wanted to help Delawareans ditch their cars by expanding public transportation and building more bike lanes for safer commuting. In one interview, Meyer even came out in favor of building a new train station in Newport.
That seems like a lifetime ago, and unfortunately for us, the governor we have is very different from the candidate we voted for.
Imagine if Meyer had chosen a different path, not only for SEPTA funding specifically but mass transit in general. What if Meyer had announced in the opening days of his administration that Delaware would be expanding mass transit and deepening our partnership with SEPTA? Then, when budget negotiations stalled in Harrisburg, Meyer would have occupied the high ground and could’ve handed a stinging loss to the Pennsylvania GOP in the opening days of the dispute. “Cancel commuter rail? Not to Delaware. Not on my watch.” And there’s nothing they’d be able to do about it.
With SEPTA in crisis, Meyer could have offered a lifeline to the agency with financing to keep the Wilmington-Newark Line operating should worst-case scenario service cuts become reality. Our neighbors in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, would have looked across the state line and saw a functioning state government unencumbered by petty political divisions with a governor who is not only willing but able to solve big problems.
Throwing SEPTA a lifeline to keep our corner of regional rail operating would have been viewed as an incredible gesture of goodwill from a state that has for many years been negligent, if not downright hostile, to the largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania. With SEPTA’s budget crisis making national news, Meyer could have fashioned himself as a regional leader who gets things done. At some point, after Pennsylvania lawmakers reached a budget compromise, there would be many opportunities for collaboration, and Delaware would have leverage when working with SEPTA to expand service in our part of the region, perhaps adding more express trains to offer service comparable to the Main Line.
Meyer could have also used that leverage to push SEPTA to collaborate with Delaware and begin studying alternative routes for northbound trains to Philadelphia International Airport. For decades, Delaware lawmakers have envisioned trains running direct to Philadelphia International Airport. While many of those plans would cost billions of dollars, a more modest connection to the existing Airport Line near Darby could be completed for far less — millions instead of billions — and would immediately boost ridership and farebox revenue.
If Meyer had played his cards right, he could be talking to SEPTA right now about helping to make that dream a reality. Instead, Delaware is farther now from realizing these ambitions than we’ve been in decades, despite our state government being solidly in the hands of Democrats who support (on paper at least) mass transit. Rather than take existing mass transit and grow it into something bigger, better, and faster than what we have now, Delaware Democrats appear content to let it wither (despite the recent completion of a new $90 million train station in Claymont).
Make no mistake: This crisis was created by Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature who are opposed to funding mass transit, but it was allowed to take root by hapless Democrats who have decided to expend their political capital on everything except mass transit. At a certain point, it’s fair to ask if the Delaware Democratic Party, which runs this state, is ideologically opposed to funding certain types of mass transit, if only because they’re scared to have that political fight. They’re outspoken about fighting climate change — unless that means funding more trains. They’re outspoken about making transportation safer and cleaner for Delawareans — unless that means funding more trains. They’re outspoken about fighting to help seniors and the disabled — people who mostly can’t drive — unless that means funding more trains.
Even now, as the state suddenly faces a budget deficit, bringing more trains to Delaware costs far less than rebuilding a highway interchange, and there are no plans made public (at least not yet) to cancel any of those. Alas, Delaware’s lawmakers have offered zero serious solutions for commuters. All we have is a temporary reprieve from the uncertainty, and that’s not good enough to earn my vote in the next election. I hope it’s not good enough for you either.