Today, I received the opportunity to speak at Fox Chase train station for a SEPTA funding press conference led by Representative Sean Dougherty. I do not normally receive public speaking requests, so I am grateful to have had the opportunity to share my story and advocate for transit funding. I initially had a much longer essay prepared, but the speeches needed to be short to accommodate all the speakers. I am unsure if any part of my speech will be featured in the news (6ABC was filming). We’ll have to see. Below is the full version here for everyone to read. (At the end of the statement, I’ll share my thoughts about public speaking for this event!)
Introduction
My name is Nessy Mathew, and I was born and raised in Philadelphia. Growing up here, I attended a few schools within The School District of Philadelphia. I’ve never used those yellow school buses to commute to/from school, but have only used them for class trips such as to the Philadelphia Zoo or the Ben Franklin Institute. So when I attended middle school at J. R. Masterman on Spring Garden Street, right across from the Community College of Philadelphia, I had to learn to take SEPTA. Back then, I was 10 years old. Masterman would accept students from all over the city, and so they did not provide yellow school buses for the students. Instead, I would take the subway via the orange line (also known as the Broad Street Line) with other students and their parents until I learned how to take it on my own. When I attended Central High School, I continued taking SEPTA by bus. And later, I would rely on Regional Rail, up until graduating from Drexel University. So for a significant chunk of my primary, secondary, and higher education, I had relied on SEPTA to attend and receive education from these different schools. I never realized how much I took SEPTA for granted until I considered the opportunity costs of these proposed service cuts.
I still use SEPTA, to go downtown, to go for appointments, to visit businesses, etc. This month, I purchased the Zone 2 Trailpass so that I could attend various events going on in the city. But over the years, I noticed the decline of SEPTA in terms of service and safety. Lines are already sometimes delayed or canceled. The one bus route I take, the 77, runs once an hour. One time, the 77 was canceled, and luckily I could call an Uber to reach an appointment on time. If the proposed changes take place, bus route 77 would be completely eliminated, forcing patients, healthcare workers, and senior citizens to find alternative modes of transportation.
SEPTA service cuts do not only affect Philadelphia residents, but residents of the surrounding areas, as SEPTA serves not only Philadelphia county, but Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties as well. SEPTA also connects to NJ Transit and PATCO. Investing in public transit means investing in the future workforce; when people have reliable transportation, they have access to better educational opportunities, leading to higher-paying jobs and a stronger economy. According to a 2024 report by the Diverse Chambers Coalition of Philadelphia, small businesses in Philadelphia indicated that 74% of customers and 55% of employees use SEPTA, and 40% indicated that investments in SEPTA would be extremely helpful.
The Need to Diffuse Regional Economic Crises
Cutting funding from transit will lead to devastating economic instability in our region. Philadelphia is already facing a housing crisis, a healthcare crisis, and soon if we do not work on a funding solution, a transportation crisis.
The housing crisis is evident from a 2023 report released by The City of Philadelphia: 4,000 people experienced homelessness and 40% of households were cost-burdened by housing expenses in 2022. The definition of cost-burdened for housing means that these households are spending over 30% of their income on housing costs.
The healthcare crisis is apparent in everyday conversations. How many of you know someone who had to forgo receiving medical treatment, because doing so would otherwise jeopardize their finances? Recently, a healthcare assistant shared with me that she could not even afford to get the full treatment of physical therapy sessions for an injury because of the out-of-pocket expenses. How baffling is it that someone working in healthcare is not even able to afford their own healthcare? In 2023, Healthcare Value Hub reported that in a study of more than 1,400 Pennsylvania respondents, over half delayed or went without healthcare the year prior. This is despite being in proximity to some of the top ranked hospitals in the nation, in the city of Philadelphia itself.
With these concerning trends in mind, what solution is there for low income and middle class households who need access to affordable transportation to go to school and work, access essential services, visit businesses, and engage with the community? We cannot afford to have a transportation crisis on top of all other economic issues. According to a 2025 report by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the percentage of households with annual income of less than $35,000 in Philadelphia was 32% in 2023. The federal poverty line in 2025 is a little over $32,000 for a household of four. Remember, these households still deal with several important expenses beyond housing and healthcare: food, clothing, hygiene, employment and educational expenses (tuition, books, uniforms, technology, and equipment). How will these households to take on the additional cost burden of transportation?
The Cost Burden and Consequences of Alternate Modes of Transportation
With service cuts and elimination, low income households will have no choice but to resort to significantly higher costs of ridesharing services, or somehow lease or purchase vehicles. And it’s not as simple as handing out car loans. According to Triple A, the average cost of owning a car is over $12,000 per year (or over $1,000/month). Compare the cost of car ownership to monthly SEPTA Transpass, which start at less than $100 a month. That’s over a 1000% jump in expenses between switching from transit services to car ownership. Economically, this is not practical nor sustainable, especially for below living wage households. Triple A also suggests the 10 percent rule, that all car expenses be under 10% of total gross income. Well based on the earlier numbers reported by Pew, 10% of the annual income (less than $35,000) for one-third of households in Philadelphia would be less than $3,500. Where will tens of thousands of these SEPTA commuters buy reliable cars and cover all associated car ownership expenses for less than $3,500 a year?
Ridesharing costs are extreme as well for the average SEPTA commuter. People are already concerned about a spike in fares from $2.50 a ride to $2.90. At the current fare of $2.50, a SEPTA ride with a Key card allows a commuter to take a single trip with two transfers. A Regional Rail train ride from Fox Chase Station to Jefferson Station (near City Hall) is $5.50 with a key card. At worst, it would cost $7.00 on-board. The same trip with Uber would cost over $40 during normal hours, costing additional for peak hours.
If funding is cut and there are consequently more cars on the road, how will the increase in traffic congestion be accounted for, which is already an issue as Philadelphia was ranked in 2024 as the 5th most congested urban area in the US [INRIX 2024]? How will the potential reduction in air quality and negative environmental impact be addressed? What will be done for property owners who experience decline in property values as a result?
Personal Opportunity Costs
Without SEPTA, I would have struggled to access the same opportunities and possibly missed out on many more. Despite being accepted to Masterman for high school, after relocating, there was no easy or reliable way to get there without my parents spending more of their precious resources: time, energy, and money. It was one of the reasons that I ended up transferring to Central, which was more easily accessible to me by SEPTA at the time. However, if the proposed service cuts take place, high-achieving students all over the city would struggle to access the top schools in the city, from Masterman to The University of Pennsylvania. And do not forget, high-achieving talent would also struggle to secure work or business opportunities. If short-term finances alone become the only measure for who or what receives funding, this will further exacerbate a class divide of opportunity, favoring a monopolized class system.
At my first internship with The School District of Philadelphia, my boss scolded me for arriving even a minute late by subway. I would take the Fox Chase train to 30th, and then transfer by Broad Street Line to Spring Garden. I was paid $12/hour before taxes, with no overtime compensation, and she wanted me to be there an hour early as opposed to a minute late. Whether we fully agree with this sentiment or not, punctuality is valued in a variety of professional settings. Without SEPTA, working commuters will be at risk of losing their jobs from inevitable tardiness.
I plan to launch a business, and I had been relying on SEPTA for networking. Thanks to SEPTA, I was able to attend events such as Women in Tech and Creator Impact on Civic Engagement. I was able to network and collaborate with brands and creators. Without SEPTA, I would have to consider allocating business funds to purchasing a vehicle. The average cost of car ownership would set me back around $12,000 or so in the first year. This would lead to more financial risk for the business in the first year.
Conclusion
Investing in SEPTA means investing in our community and in our future. We must proactively work on long term solutions to improve SEPTA service and safety. We must avoid hasty decisions that will lead us to abandon our community as they struggle to stay afloat. Let us be cognizant of the consequential ripple effects and find ways to alleviate economic disparities. SEPTA helps to improve the quality of life for our residents, which is proven to promote economic development. Please consider the facts, the figures, the data, and provide SEPTA with the funding that our residents so greatly benefit from. Thank you for reading and please continue to support SEPTA.
Public Speaking for the First Time
I had roughly one week to prepare the speech. Initially I had no clue how long it could be, so my original draft was around 9 minutes in runtime. Then after learning the speech needed to be closer to 2 minutes, I cut it in half. Then, I learned that they wanted to hear more about my personal story, and so it reached 8 minutes. I had a lot of data I wanted to present as well, but I cut a bunch of it out for the public speaking. The major part that I kept in was regarding car ownership expenses vs. public transit (SEPTA). I believe my speech ultimately shortened to 3 minutes.
I practiced at home, but one thing I learned regarding any speech or performance is that a perfect rehearsal at home will not result in a perfect performance. If you do 100% at home, maybe you’ll do 80% at the actual event if you’re lucky. It’s great to practice, of course. But I remember dance instructors and singing teachers to tell us to perform it at 110%, 120%, or even 150%, so that we will be closer to 100% on stage. I tried my best to practice at home as I was drafting the final version. Honestly, my final speech version didn’t feel the same, because I had to shorten it so much.
Surprisingly though, I think I was able to find my voice once I was up there speaking. I felt nerves of course, noticing myself shaking (as did others). But I think it happened more out of passion and wanting to communicate my message effectively vs. purely being anxious. I received good feedback during and after, and I think people resonated with my message.
Having the big broadcast camera there did not feel as intimidating as I thought it would be once I was speaking. In that particular setting, it felt like everyone was supportive. I only wish I had a bit more time to have memorized my speech so that I could look into the audience more. I was trying to be mindful of the time as well since it was already past the hour mark, and I was toward the end.
I had some flyers prepared as well (that I’m attaching to this post). They were unable to print them for the event, but I came up with the catchphrase, “When funding survives, our city thrives.” Well at the end of my speech, I spoke these words impromptu before thanking the audience for listening.
I’ve been wanting to get into public speaking for some time. I’ve only practiced in educational settings or at private events with friends/family. Maybe arguably, I’ve participated in impromptu speaking for private events with mostly strangers. But otherwise, this is probably officially my first public speaking engagement, at least on actual broadcast. Overall, I’m satisfied with how I performed. I would love to do more advocacy through public speaking in the future. 🙂
