Frustration Mounts as SEPTA Strike Enters Day 3

Frustration is the name of the game for commuters in Philadelphia, who are being stymied by a lack of transportation options while SEPTA remains on strike. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is not operating its buses, subways, or trolleys while workers strike over what they say are unfair wages and working conditions. Meanwhile, residents of the City of Brotherly Love are stuck with limited options to get themselves and their families to work and school.

In this CNN photo, 38-year-old Nafis Mumin rides his young son’s bike to work during the SEPTA strike.

CNN reports that traffic has been gridlocked nearly ’round-the-clock as more cars take to the streets than would usually. Parking is nearly impossible to find. And that’s for the lucky folks who actually have their own cars. Area taxi and Uber drivers are reporting a high level of frustration in their fares, people who don’t have the time to sit in traffic or the money to be paying to get around. One local cab driver, Syed Badshah, has seen at least two customers ask to be let out early because the rising meter was getting too high for them. He says he did offer to turn off the meter and get them to where they needed to go.

Meanwhile, classrooms at area schools (including Temple University) sit half-empty as some students simply cannot make it to class. SEPTA operated school buses for the Philadelphia school system; with the union on strike, parents are left scrambling for ways to get their kids to school in seemingly-impossible traffic – or resorting to not bringing them at all. As for the collegians, they face the same challenges as workers.

Some are turning to long bicycle rides as the alternative to getting around the city. Philadelphia has stocked its bike-sharing stations with more bikes than it does usually, but some folks are turning to what they already have, including bicycles belonging to their children.

Concerns about Election Day, just five days away, have been widespread. SEPTA says that it will petition the courts to force workers back to the job if it means getting voters to the polls.