Philadelphia Councilmember Proposes Transit Access Fund

In an interview with Streetsblog USA editor Kea Wilson, Philadelphia Councilmember-at-large Nicolas O’Rourke describes his plan to expand the city’s Zero-Fare transit program beyond its current scope.

For O’Rourke, “as a member of the Working Families Party and a pastor, he sees investing in mobility for the poorest among us as both a moral and political must.” The councilmember supports a proposal called the Philadelphia Transit Access Fund, introduced today, that would set aside 0.5 percent of the city’s general fund for transit access for the lowest-income residents. Along with the 0.5 percent already set aside for the city’s housing trust fund, this secure revenue source would provide housing and mobility security for thousands of low-income Philadelphians.

O’Rourke urges city and state leaders to take initiative and rely less on federal funding to achieve their goals. “I think it is high time for states and cities to see what their rainy day funds are looking like, to look at what their reserves are, and to begin to try to govern a way that does not rely on a ruling party that, without logic or reason — other than, maybe, cruelty and domination — has no desire to support those who are in need of the most support.”