Do MHS Students Feel Safe on SEPTA?

Daily, nearly 55,000 students in Philadelphia commute to and from school on SEPTA.

On March 7th, eight Northeast High School teenagers were shot while waiting for the bus at the intersection of Rising Sun and Cottman Avenues. It was the fourth SEPTA bus shooting of the week; another resulted in the death of a 17-year-old boy. In total, early March saw 11 students shot between their homes and schools; four of the shootings involved SEPTA. 

Beyond gun violence, the subway system has seen other intense violence and tragic deaths, including: a January fight that knocked a man into the tracks where he was killed by a SEPTA train; in February, a largely unknown cause of electrocution on the tracks; and an attack involving a hatchet in February as well. 

Given the multitude of areas in which Masterman students reside, many high schoolers travel via public transportation from across the city to arrive at school; when students were asked about their thoughts regarding safety on SEPTA—very safe, moderately safe, moderately unsafe, or very unsafe—several responded with “moderately safe.”

One such respondent, who commutes to school on the trolley and subway, wrote in an online survey that their unease stems from the stations being “unclean, [with] lots of people smoking/vaping…[I’m] more likely to feel uncomfortable if late at night or traveling alone.” A junior who also typically feels “moderately safe” and takes the SEPTA subway to school added to this, responding that “on the subway, everyone is smoking weed and someone is always begging me for money and then [is] aggravated that I don't have any.” 

Other students responded that, on average, they feel “moderately unsafe.” A sophomore acknowledged the widespread drug crisis in the city: “[e]verytime [sic] I see…someone shooting up on drugs…usually on the MFL (Market-Frankford Line).” A junior who also answered this way referenced the recent violence, writing that “all the shootings that have happened recently make me nervous.”

One Masterman freshman felt “very unsafe” during their commutes: “Somebody threatened to pee on me yesterday,” they wrote. “It was disgusting.” Another Masterman student alluded to experiences of violence and assault.

New York City’s actions may provide insight into Philadelphia’s future steps. This month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul called for the National Guard to be stationed in NYC subways, as major crime rates have increased by 13% this year (with theft contributing to the bulk of this spike). In February, Mayor Eric Adams deployed 1,000 National Guard members to the NYC subways after a January uptick in violence. 

Philadelphia officials seem less enthusiastic about sending the National Guard to patrol the city’s public transportation. In April, Mayor Cherelle Parker is expected to roll out ideas to combat the violence; she has vowed commitment to meeting with “every stakeholder and resource available” but has not made any definitive statements regarding plans. Governor Josh Shapiro, whose plan for public transportation included a $161 million increase in SEPTA public funding, firmly expressed that he does not wish to deploy the National Guard. Charles Lawson, the SEPTA Transit Police Chief, spoke at a press conference shortly before the shooting of the eight teenagers in North Philadelphia.  "We use every legal means at our disposal to target illegal gun possession on SEPTA," Lawson remarked. "We're going to target individuals concealing their identity. We're going to target fare evasion. We're going to target open drug use. We're going to target every criminal code on the books." 

Two students—the junior who brought up the shootings in their survey response and the one who referenced experiences of assault—were asked whether or not they thought deploying the National Guard would be helpful. “Maybe[,] cause [sic] so many people have guns. That could also just escalate the situation, though. I don't know enough about how good or bad the National Guard has been in NYC. It's also not addressing the root problems.” In contrast, the latter wrote, “yes.” 

Overall, the city and SEPTA have seen a decrease in gun violence and crime. As of March 18th, 2024, there have been 63 homicides in Philadelphia, according to the City’s Office of the Controller. This is a 30% decrease from the same time last year. 57 of these homicides are a direct result of gun violence (with 160 nonfatal shootings). Furthermore, according to SEPTA Transit Police’s 2023 Fourth Quarter report, total annual crimes have been decreasing since 2020.

It remains to be seen what action will be taken towards reducing the violence affecting students and if the trends from the past years will be reflected in the number of SEPTA-related episodes during the rest of this year.