Some thoughts about SEPTA this morning

I rode the R5 out of Center City last night at 9:15. I waited out the mass of confusion that was Suburban Station at rush hour and had a not-too-bad ride home. Now I'm waiting for rush hour to pass this morning before I head back into the city. I hope to heck this SEPTA strike doesn't go on as long as the last one - 40 days.

When I bought my daily tickets last night (no way I'm buying a monthly when it's not clear who this is going to play out) the ticket taker told me that during the last strike SEPTA was secretly happy because they in effect "make money" during the strike. (I guess what he meant was that SEPTA loses less money than normal.) And they got done all the projects they were unable to get to when the business runs normally. But there's a twist. "The only ones who make money during one of these strikes are the contractors," he said.

So, another battle about health care benefits. That's a very serious issue. Dan Gehringer at the Daily News lays out the issues today in SEPTA, Union Still Trading Charges. I just wonder how the people on strike ever make back the money they lose during job action. We're talking about a little cost sharing of health care benefits and pay raises that amount to three percent a year.

Okay, I'm going to wedge myself into the R5 sardine can and hope that everyone can come to some agreement soon. This one looks like a lose-lose for all involved.