The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is the most common form of public transportation in the greater Philadelphia area and is a great affordable resource for students at Villanova. Despite all of its benefits, though, it is consistently overlooked by students.
Last semester, I completed a survey of 235 undergraduates asking questions about their SEPTA usage. There are two main ways to use SEPTA on campus: the Norristown line and the Paoli Thorndale line, with the Paoli Thorndale line often being more popular.
One of the main questions from this survey was why students chose not to use SEPTA and it was found that 27.62% of students avoided the train due to confusion and 26.57% students decided based on convenience. Only 13.99% of students selected concerns of safety to be their reason for not using public transportation. However, when looking at demographics 23% of women were concerned about safety while only 10% of men were.
Despite being a lower concern statistically, public transit often gets a bad reputation when it comes to safety concerns and is often a common conversation among students. I talked to Dr. Ryan Almeida, a professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment about the biggest misconceptions of SEPTA.
“Perceptions of safety are a valid concern. If people perceive it as unsafe they will consider it unsafe however public transit statistically is safer by a decent margin when considering road rage and other road-related crimes,” Almeida said.
According to the Philadelphia Police Department, there were more than 26,000 car accidents reported in 2024, while SEPTA reported 711 serious crimes in 2024, a 33% reduction when compared to 2023.
Moving on to students’ other concerns revolving around how SEPTA operates is something that the University could do a better job of helping students become aware of options. As of now, the only information that the University provides for students regarding SEPTA is a small paragraph on the Villanova University Sustainability website that simply states where SEPTA is on campus. Students would greatly benefit from getting more information from the school about the places that SEPTA goes as well as the schedules. With the ever-increasing use of Uber or other rideshare options, it is much easier for a student to simply order a ride through the app than have to go through multiple websites to figure out how and when to get to their destination.
Almeida believes that while Uber or other programs may be more convenient, using SEPTA is still the better option.
“(SEPTA) is predictable in ways Uber isn’t, obviously there are delays but the fares don’t frequently change, you know when and where it will be, it is always cheaper for a single rider than uber, and you’re taking advantage of a public resource Philly provides for you,” Almeida said.
The biggest advantage of taking SEPTA or any public transit is that it is often much more environmentally friendly than taking a personal vehicle or Uber. According to ENO Center for Transportation 0.228 pounds (103.42 grams) of CO2 are produced per passenger mile, where the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency states the average passenger vehicle produces roughly 400 grams of CO2 per mile.
Despite the advantages to the environment that taking public transit has, Almeida says there are also other reasons that students in the area of Philadelphia should care about supporting SEPTA.
“You’re also benefiting the region that you are in because it is a public resource, the fare goes back towards the community and can help the city,” Almeida said.
Overall, SEPTA is an incredible resource that is provided to all students at Villanova that should not only be taken advantage of more, but also should be supported because of the benefits to the environment and community.
