Heather Yost, a 51-year-old clinical research nurse at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, currently commutes 45 minutes by train three times a week from her home in Exton, Pennsylvania. However, due to planned reductions across the transit system, her Cynwyd line is set to be discontinued. This change could double her daily travel time, forcing her to drive instead. While she acknowledges the inconvenience, Yost is more worried about her patients. Many of them, including individuals undergoing critical cancer treatments through clinical trials, depend heavily on public transportation to reach the hospital. For these patients, especially those traveling from distant areas, alternative transportation options are limited or nonexistent. The cuts may not only affect individual commutes but also strain access to essential medical care and disrupt broader regional economic functions.
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Philadelphia Transit Cuts Portend ‘Mayhem’ on Commutes and Regional Economy
Three times a week, Heather Yost takes a 45-minute train ride from her home in Exton, Pennsylvania, to her job as a clinical research nurse at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. But with her Cynwyd train line slated for elimination as part of system-wide cuts, she faces spending at least twice as long each morning in the car — and she feels lucky to have that option at all. n n“I’m more concerned about my patients,” said Yost, 51. Some of her cancer patients receive life-saving treatments in clinical trials. “Many of them, from all over, do rely on public transportation to get here. There’s not a whole lot else to offer them.”