This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at the board of directors that run SEPTA, their city’s transit agency, and how the relationship between the city and the regional authority is changing:
Geopolitics is always a driving force on the board. SEPTA’s board makeup gives the four Republican-dominated suburban counties more clout than Democrat-dominated Philadelphia, although the city provides most of the riders and most of the local subsidy.
So the relationships between the board members and their sponsors are key.
Two members represent each of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. The governor has one appointee, as do the Republican and Democratic leaders in the state House and Senate.
The board has no representative of the transit-riding public, although SEPTA gets about 40 percent of its operating budget from fares.
Unlike Sound Transit, the regional leaders appoint someone to the board, rather than serving on the board itself. I’m not sure if one is better than the other, but it’s an interesting distinction. As for the political makeup, I have to wonder how that will shift given that Democrats swept the 2006 congressional races in Philly’s suburbs, and if that will impact the agency going forward.
Oh, and 40 percent farebox recovery is pretty damn impressive.
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