SEPTA is on track as it continues to recover from the pandemic. But a number of emerging challenges – including the resignation of its chief executive, a possible strike and uncertainty over the level of state funding – threaten this positive momentum, and the future of the public transport system remains uncertain.

Overall, there’s plenty of good news for the often-beleaguered agency. September had an average of nearly 800,000 weekday riders. That’s less than the nearly one million who used the system in 2019, but roughly in line with figures from 2016.

Not only is ridership up, but crime is down. There was a 45% off year over year in serious system incidents. New wagons are set to replace those currently in use on damage to the Market-Frankford Lineand modern, accessible trams — originally ordered during the Jimmy Carter administration — is also due to arrive soon.

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However, the slow recovery and the end of federal COVID-19 relief funds have left the agency facing a fiscal crisis — a $240 million budget shortfall — after Harrisburg Republicans refused to approve additional funding that the agency asked them.

Failure to address that shortage could lead to what agency officials call a “death spiral” in which service cuts and fare increases lead to fewer people on SEPTA, which further erodes fare revenue, leads to more many discounts and traps the system in a fatal loop. .

It would be hard enough to solve the financial strain on its own, but SEPTA also faces the departure of its general manager and CEO, Leslie S. Richards, and at least two unions bracing for a potential strike.

It’s a strike SEPTA officials should avoid at all costs.

The 1983 labor action on SEPTA’s regional rail system, the longest in the agency’s history, resulted in a 60% discount on travelersaccording to researcher Jake Berman, a decline that took decades to reverse. Any prolonged strike now would weaken the system’s post-pandemic ridership recovery, which is critical not only to the agency’s bottom line, but also to the region’s success.

Operator union demands for higher pay and safer working conditions seem reasonable — if harder to produce given SEPTA’s current financial circumstances. However, applying both would have a positive impact on the entire system. Current wages have led to operator shortages, which often result in delayed or missing buses and subways – which is precisely the kind of unpredictability that prevents many potential users from depending on public transport.

While SEPTA may not have the financial wherewithal to issue the 10 percent raises union officials have demanded, it can and should build on its recent progress in combating bad behavior in the system.

Public safety issues affect riders, but they affect operators more. No matter how long someone’s commute is, it’s not eight hours a day, five days a week. Operators were spat on and shot and often may have to give a ride to a customer who has already been abusive. Bad behavior was reported by both urban and suburban operators. Stricter enforcement of existing rules and better protection of workers are necessary requirements.

SEPTA must also find a qualified replacement for Richards, whose tenure holds important lessons for her successor.

The Bus Revolution, Cart upgrade, Key advantageand Reimagining the regional railway programs, all initiatives spearheaded by Richards, represent critical reforms for SEPTA’s future. Still, she drove $40 million in pandemic relief funds to the wrong railway extension of the King of Prussia who arrived faces a federal veto and was too slow to address public safety issues in the system.

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Transit Police understaffing worsened under her watch and made it more difficult to tackle an increase in anti-social and violent behavior on public transport. At one point, the Transit Police had 50 fewer officersrepresenting almost a quarter of its ranks. Richards also stuck with SEPTA’s well-intentioned reform of smoking penalties and fare evasion for too long. Failure to comply with these violations and the application of substantial penalties has led to an increase in these behaviors. It also exacerbated tensions with workers, who felt their concerns were not being taken seriously.

Richards’ successor must build on her ambition and learn from her missteps.

Despite failing to secure essential funding in this fall’s General Assembly, SEPTA still has an opportunity next year. While recent elections haven’t shifted the balance of power in either chamber, recalcitrant Senate Republicans have so far traded a seat in Harrisburg for one in Northeast Philadelphia, held by state Sen. Joe Picozzi.

For Picozzi, the financial delivery for SEPTA would be a impressive way to start his tenure. Meanwhile, Democrats in Philadelphia must stand firm on the budget, refusing to support any version that doesn’t include adequate funding for SEPTA and other transit systems.

After all, the region’s economy depends on public transportation, and the death spiral is looming.