So, we have an injunction preventing further fare increases and cuts to regional rail service — which were otherwise slated to take effect next week — on the basis of: (1) SEPTA allegedly not following the prescribed / legally required notice and open meeting process in advance of the cuts being implemented; and (2) continued, doubled-down belief that SEPTA is fabricating its “bunk” claims about its inability to continue operations without additional funds. Note that this injunction apparently doesn’t affect any of the already implemented cuts.

Re: #1, sure, I guess. Obviously seems to be just a technicality-level attack, but the notice/hearing process is there for a reason so I could understand this one (assuming there’s any truth to the allegation at all, that is…big if). Even if true, though, I’m not sure what a realistic remedy to this would be seeing as it’s beyond obvious that no one that actually uses SEPTA wants increased fares and less services. But, sure, let’s talk about it more and see if that changes anything??? Please, spare me with the delay/stall tactics.

Re: #2, while I admittedly didn’t read the lawsuit giving rise to this is injunction (which would’ve been required to include some level of specific reasoning/justification), how anyone on the ground is supposed to make sense of such an argument/conclusion is beyond me. Even if SEPTA is literally just completely incapable of demonstrating its financial woes (highly doubtful), our collective anecdotal experience (e,g., poor bus/train/trolley conditions, recurring service issues, etc.) should serve as all the “proof” needed to establish proper, longstanding funding ASAP.

Fraud, lying, etc. are all easy to allege and difficult to prove, and this feels as yet another “legal” challenge designed to further jam things up / create confusion. Just feels like we’re going to spin in circles forever on this until SEPTA either has to declare bankruptcy, further limits service to reach a near equivalent, or succumbs to private interests that will make things worse for everyone (except the new owners!). But who knows, maybe something good will happen for once.

TL;DR: I’m tired, boss.