Quote:
Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar
SEPTA's board is administered by Harrisburg. The Board itself is comprised of 15 members, 2 from each of the five PA counties in which SEPTA operates, one from the House and State majority and minority leaders and one by The Governor.
Publicly appointed but not elected and funded by both farebox and state/federal subsidy.
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I don't know if I read wrong about SEPTA or what, but it's governing and administrative structure don't seem that different than many other transit agencies. From what I can tell - and maybe you were just exaggerating - SEPTA has a board, and is managed by a general manager chosen by the board. It's not administered directly out of Harrisburg.
Now, I guess you could certainly argue that the central city should have a bit more representation on the board. Though, it does seems to me that Philly's representatives have quite a bit more power than central city members on other regional authority boards across the country. The two Philly members, for instance, can veto any bill passed by the full board. I
wish Detroit's members on its new regional transit authority board had this kind power. But, Philly's set-up doesn't strike me as particularly unusual for a regional transit authority, and Harrisburg does not literally run the authority, just so people don't get the wrong idea.