Actual local governance isn't exactly problem free here in the urban hellhole, but what most people fail to understand is that the state runs the school district (12 years and counting) and the suburbs
run the transit authority.
What makes things worse is that SEPTA's board is dominated by suburban representatives, who hold all but two seats, even though about 80 percent of riders are city residents. Regional rail, which is geared toward the suburbs, receives more than twice the public subsidy that SEPTA's City Transit Division does - $3.76 per passenger, vs. $1.78. It's a gross inequity.