PHILADELPHIA - SEPTA safety took center stage at Tuesday's budget meeting with Philadelphia City Council, as officials try to rebuild the public's confidence in the sixth-largest transit system in the country.
The meeting comes a week after SEPTA officials arrested a man for allegedly raping a woman on a SEPTA train. It's the latest in a series of violent horror stories that have unfolded on SEPTA property that General Manager Leslie Richards admitted is impacting ridership.
At the same time, Richards said that violent crime on SEPTA property is down compared to the first quarter of 2021. So far this year there have been 240 crimes on SEPTA propety, down from 301 between January and April of 2021.
The Philadelphia Police Department Tuesday named Quintez Adams, 28, as a suspect in at least two April sexual assaults. Law enforcement sources say Adams, who is believed to be homeless, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman on a SEPTA Broad Street line train.