WE ALMOST feel sorry for SEPTA. For a brief and shining moment earlier this month, the long-term budget crisis appeared to be solved, and the transit authority was ready to face a new day. But within the past few days:
U.S. Rep. Bob Brady has made a public call for SEPTA to get rid of "bus-wrap" ads for Colt 45 malt liquor.
The city has filed a lawsuit against SEPTA to prevent it from eliminating transfers as scheduled on Aug. 1.
These actions come just days after two Pennsylvania congressmen introduced an amendment that would put the brakes on Gov. Rendell's plan to toll I-80, which was to be the source of funding SEPTA and other bridge and highway repairs around the state.
We give thumbs up to Brady's call against the Colt 45 ads. He says that in a city plagued with violent crime, messages that promote drinking - especially malt liquor, which has twice the alcohol of beer - are irresponsible.
Colt 45 has been called "liquid crack." It's cheap, highly alcoholic, and has lots of street cred in the neighborhoods where violence is a problem, in part because it's marketed heavily in poor neighborhoods.
And while it may seem like tilting at windmills to be criticizing any kind of advertising message in the 21st century, Brady is right.
Brady's protest reminds us that everyone is involved in the fight against rampant gun violence: The problem is not just guns, or criminals, but the dropout rates, the truancy rates, the breakdown of the family and the lack of jobs, as well as the messages we allow to be plastered on our mass-transit system.
Advertising culture is so pervasive - with every new technology comes a new platform for forcing us to confront ads - that we have to give a thumbs-up to any protest. (Of course we have to acknowledge that the editorial you're now reading has many sponsors; look through the paper for the list.) We hope that SEPTA considers Brady's appeal and takes it a step further: A year ago, facing financial crisis, SEPTA reversed its "no liquor advertising" policy. It's time to revisit that decision.
On the other hand, if the city has its way with its lawsuit, SEPTA may find itself willing to sell ads to Satan himself to cover a potential new shortfall.
The city is protesting that the elimination of transfers will impose an undue hardship on some riders by increasing their fare by 200 percent. It is also concerned about the burden this could put on the 30,000 schoolchildren who get tokens.
The city claims that SEPTA and the school district have not talked about the transfer situation. The district says otherwise, and that it has had a series of meetings with SEPTA on moving to an all-transpass system, but that many problems remain to be fixed.
Is elimination of transfers critical to SEPTA's ability to make its budget? SEPTA needs to make a better case for exactly how. Can it postpone the transfer elimination for even a few weeks to make the transition easier? That shouldn't happen unless it forces the key parties - the city, SEPTA and the district - to get in a room and find a win-win solution for everyone. Unless these players find a way to be better allies, malt-liquor ads are going to be the least of our problems. *