Union, business leaders and SEPTA give testimony on Philadelphia 76ers’ proposed arena

Philadelphia City Council continued to hear testimony on the controversial downtown 76ers arena on Tuesday. 

On Tuesday, City Council members heard testimony from those who opposed to the arena, including development and business leaders in Chinatown. Union leaders expressed their support. 

But one group that took no sides was SEPTA. The transit agency is a big part of the plan for the proposed arena. 

The arena would sit on top of Jefferson Station, and the Sixers set a goal of 40% of visitors to get to the arena using public transit, which could cause gridlock traffic if the goal isn’t met.

Officials testified that number is possible – but it would come at a cost. 

Officials estimate SEPTA’s construction-related costs would be between $20 and $50 million and operating costs would rise to $25 million a year. 

But the agency stressed they can’t pay for that. Officials were asked what would happen if they didn’t get that additional money.

“The first option is that we don’t provide any additional service,” Elizabeth Smith, the chief of staff at SEPTA, said. “We leave our Regional Rail frequency trains every one to two hours. We don’t believe we’ll get that 40% transit split without better frequency on those trains. We believe that it would be likely that we would not hit the 40% number and, according to the city’s own traffic impact study, that would cause gridlock in the areas around the arena.”

SEPTA is already dealing with a major budget shortfall with plans to raise fares and slash routes. 

Public comment will also continue on Wednesday morning and Thursday evening.