On Friday, DNC Vice Chair and Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta kicked off his march for public transit \u2014 traveling 105 miles over five days from North Philadelphia to Harrisburg, the state capitol of Pennsylvania, to demand immediate action on SEPTA funding after Senate Republicans blocked budget and appropriation bills already passed by the Democratic-led House and backed by Governor Shapiro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s be clear: Public transit isn\u2019t a privilege for many Pennsylvanians \u2014 it\u2019s a lifeline. Republicans want to defund SEPTA for the sole purpose of playing political games. Kenyatta\u2019s walk served the purpose of drawing attention to SEPTA cuts, and it shows a broader national pattern of Democrats standing up and fighting for everyday Americans while Republicans betray workers every chance they get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take a look at some of the coverage below: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n NOTUS<\/strong><\/a>: DNC Vice Chair to Protest Cuts By Walking 105 Miles Across Pennsylvania<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Emily Kennard, 8\/28\/25]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA Democratic National Committee vice chair plans to walk more than 100 miles in Pennsylvania to raise awareness for cuts to the state\u2019s mass-transit services, arguing that they\u2019re what working-class voters can expect under more Republican control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018This is coming to your state. You thought Republicans just wanted to cut waste, fraud and abuse? That\u2019s not what they wanted to do. They wanted to cut all of it,\u201d Kenyatta told NOTUS. \u201cYou have people who depend on the busses and trains not being able to get where they need to go with these massive, unprecedented cuts.\u201d \u201cHe acknowledged that the brunt of the reconciliation bill Republicans in Congress recently passed won\u2019t be felt by voters until after the midterms. That\u2019s why he\u2019s taking this state issue, which sprang from a funding fight in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, to the national stage, he said. \u201cKenyatta, in his first year in a leadership position at the DNC, wants to call attention to what he called his opponents\u2019 tendencies to \u201cstrip and burn everything that working families depend on from government. He says this transit issue is an example of how it\u2019s already playing out in his home state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guardian<\/strong><\/a>: The Pennsylvania Democrat marching for public transit: \u2018time-honoured American tradition\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [David Smith, 8\/29\/25]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Democratic state representative was speaking by phone from Broomall, Pennsylvania, on Friday, around 12 miles into a one-man, 105-mile (170km) march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg in protest against drastic cuts to regional public transport services. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKenyatta hopes to bring attention to budget cuts at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Septa), a public transit agency providing bus, subway, trolley and regional rail service in the Philadelphia area. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018It is a problem that is growing, not shrinking,\u2019 Kenyatta said. \u2018Part of what has made this so frustrating is that this is not one of those budgetary standoffs that\u2019s driven by a lack of resources. We\u2019ve put forward five bipartisan proposals to fund mass transit.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut Republicans in the state senate, he added, fled the capitol to play golf, go clay shooting and take trips, leaving the transport funding in limbo: \u2018As working people are struggling, they are literally palling around having cocktails with the wealthiest people in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018That contrast is one that is dramatic, that is pronounced and should piss people off, and what I\u2019m doing right now on this 105-mile-long walk comes out of a time-honoured American tradition of marching.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philadelphia Inquirer<\/strong><\/a>: State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta is walking 105 miles from North Philly to Harrisburg to protest SEPTA cuts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Sean Collins Walsh, 9\/2\/25]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cState Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta on Friday morning embarked on a 105-mile walk from his home in North Philadelphia to Harrisburg to protest the SEPTA service cuts that began this week due to an impasse over mass transit funding and the broader state budget in the Pennsylvania legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018We\u2019re gonna be walking all the way to Harrisburg to draw attention to the very real fact that there are folks for whom this \u2014 walking \u2014 is their new reality because SEPTA has had to drastically reduce services as a result of Republican inaction in Harrisburg,” Kenyatta, a Democrat, said at a news conference outside SEPTA\u2019s 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018We have the money to fund mass transit,\u2019 Kenyatta said. \u2018What we don\u2019t have is the political will within the Republican Senate caucus. What we don\u2019t have is Senate Republicans who give a damn about working Pennsylvanians.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fox 29 Philadelphia<\/strong><\/a>: State Rep. walking from Philly to Harrisburg to ‘demand immediate action on transit funding’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Dan O’Mara, 8\/29\/25]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta on Friday embarked on a five-day walking tour from Philadelphia to Harrisburg to call for action on transit funding. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRep. Kenyatta blamed state Republicans for blocking budget and appropriation bills that were already passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018This fight is about the students stranded trying to get to class, the seniors missing doctors’ appointments, and the workers forced to choose between keeping their jobs and getting home at night \u2013 all because Republicans refuse to do their damn job,\u2019 he said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philadelphia Tribune<\/strong><\/a>: ‘Praying with our feet’: State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta walking to Harrisburg in support of transit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [Marco Cerino, 8\/29\/25]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe representative began a five-day walk from his home in North Philadelphia to the state capital on Friday morning. Kenyatta\u2019s journey from his 181st Legislative District will take 105 miles through the counties and districts of his colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring one stop, outside the 69th Street Transportation Center, Kenyatta said he\u2019s walking to carry the needs and concerns of those who have to walk more following the bus routes cut due to SEPTA\u2019s ongoing operating budget deficit. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018The folks who are stopping by our offices, telling us they don\u2019t know what the hell they\u2019re going to do \u2014 that\u2019s not symbolism, that\u2019s real. And in this moment, where you have folks trying to tear up the social safety net from the studs, when you have folks trying to dismantle government, I think we have to reach back to the grab-bag of people who have come before us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n WGAL<\/strong><\/a>: Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta is walking 105 miles to Harrisburg to demand transit funding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [WGAL Staff, 8\/31\/25]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPennsylvania Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta passed through Lancaster on Sunday during his 105-mile walk from north Philadelphia to the State Capitol. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe stopped to hold a rally in Ewell Plaza before continuing on to Harrisburg, where he’ll demand that the state legislature pass transit and budget bills to fund transit and infrastructure in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKenyatta said the walk is about showing the struggles mass transit riders could face if bills aren’t passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018We invested in the bills that they refuse to pass \u2014 $300 million to fix roads and bridges in Paradise, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Elk County and everywhere in between. We do not have to choose. We can do right by your family and do right by your neighbor. We can do right by Lancaster County and do right by Reading. We can do right by Harrisburg and do right by Pittsburgh,\u2019 said Kenyatta in Lancaster on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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