{"id":156851,"date":"2025-08-18T22:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T22:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/156851\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T22:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T22:40:09","slug":"amid-potential-septa-cuts-protesters-demand-action-at-state-sen-joe-picozzis-office-in-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/156851\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid potential SEPTA cuts, protesters demand action at state Sen. Joe Picozzi’s office in Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time next week, SEPTA’s service cuts will be in effect<\/a>. With lawmakers still discussing new funding in Harrisburg, the transit agency will slash 32 bus routes and reduce service<\/a> across its network starting Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday, one group demanded action at state Sen. Joe Picozzi’s office in Northeast Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

About 20 people\u00a0chanted and camped out in his district office and relayed their stories about how the SEPTA cuts would affect them.<\/p>\n

“I like Joe Picozzi, but I need him to listen to us, his constituents,” said Marion Brown, who lives in Fox Chase.<\/p>\n

Picozzi, a Republican, introduced a plan last week<\/a> to fund SEPTA for two years, pulling from capital dollars set aside for infrastructure projects. It passed the Senate but failed in a House committee<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Protesters on Monday, including many who live in Picozzi’s district, said they’re worried about the effects the cuts will have on them and their loved ones.<\/p>\n

“My grandchild lives in Mayfair, goes to school in Somerton,” said David Brown, who lives in Fox Chase. “And not having SEPTA will make a huge difference for her.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t think the legislature has fully considered the ripple effects of these cuts,” Marion Brown said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SEPTA is moving forward with its planning process. Ambassadors were out at 69th Street Transit Station on Monday<\/a> to let riders know about the cuts and help them find other options.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had a couple of people say they’d have to buy a car,” Jody Holton, SEPTA’s chief planning and strategy officer, said. “I’ve had folks say they’d have to take an earlier bus.”<\/p>\n

Marian Anderson, a SEPTA rider, takes the D line to 69th Street and then catches the Route 105 bus. She said changes to her route mean her bus won’t go to her normal stop. But she’s more worried about overcrowding.<\/p>\n

“The 105 and 106 are going to be combined, so there will be more people on the route; it’ll be coming less, so it’s going to be more crowded,” Anderson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like the people rallying at the Picozzi’s office, Anderson said it’s time for Harrisburg to act.<\/p>\n

“Let’s get off your duffs, and give us some money,” Anderson said. “Because we need it. It’s important. People have to get to school. People have to get to work. People have to get to their doctor’s appointments.”<\/p>\n

In a statement to CBS News Philadelphia, Picozzi said he respects his constituents’ right to protest, but “disrupting our ability to serve the community is not the way to achieve progress.”<\/p>\n

“My focus remains on delivering a solution that ensures safe, reliable SEPTA service with real accountability and transparency,” Picozzi said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for a deal that serves the best interests of the people of Northeast Philadelphia and our city as a whole. I am grateful to the first responders who helped ensure everyone’s safety today, and I remain focused on doing the hard work needed to deliver lasting results to our community.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

Dan Snyder<\/a><\/p>\n

Dan Snyder, a Lehighton native and Temple University graduate, is excited to return to his home area after spending over three years as the Evening Anchor in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This time next week, SEPTA’s service cuts will be in effect. With lawmakers still discussing new funding in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":156852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,10324,1448,2830,1311,15940,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-156851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-northeast-philadelphia","10":"tag-pa","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-septa","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115052178527905719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}