Philadelphia Daily News (PA)   January 13, 2005 Section: EDITORIAL OPINION Edition: 4STAR Page: 16 Memo:FIX MASS TRANSIT ... DAMMIT!  LETTERS HEAVY-HITTERS SUPPORT A REAL TRANSIT FIX   PUBLIC TRANSIT is essential to the economy of southeast Pennsylvania.   Seventy percent of employees commuting to Center City take SEPTA to work. Public transit agencies spend over $1 billion each year with Pennsylvania businesses. It is clear that mass transit is fundamental to the well-being of Pennsylvania's working families and to the businesses that comprise the economy. However, if Greater Philadelphia is to become a more competitive and vibrant region, providing expanding opportunity for all its businesses, residents and labor, then we must move beyond merely patching up a system cobbled together in the 1960s and offer a vision for public transit that corresponds to the economy and demographics of the 21st century.   We represent a diverse group of interests. We share a commitment to a vision of transit that connects students with schools, residents with jobs and services, and all passengers with tourist, entertainment, shopping and recreational destinations. We envision a regional system that is customer-focused, dedicated to more frequent service, committed to reaching out to serve new markets, making use of state-of-the art information technology and helping to drive both real estate development and business formation through its investment and inclusive procurement procedures.   While there is wide dissatisfaction with transit in our region and a perception that the current system is broken, many other regions envy the extraordinary infrastructure we have. Because all transit systems in Pennsylvania face a similar crisis, this is an ideal moment to turn a challenge into an opportunity to reinvest in our assets and reinvigorate our system. To do this, public transit must solve its immediate crisis and its need for dedicated and long-term predictable funding   As the first step, we support Gov. Rendell's $19 million plan to address the next two months. We support Rep. Dwight Evans' legislation to provide $110 million a year for public transit in the state through November 2006. We will stand behind any legislation that can be introduced this month that has the support of the governor and has a chance of garnering votes from both sides of the aisle, from rural and suburban legislators. Most importantly, we seek to move beyond divisive debates about how to stave off decline and urge the formation of a blue ribbon committee that focuses on creating an innovative transportation system of choice that serves as a prime driver of economic development and smart-growth in our region.   This letter was signed by A. Bruce Crawley, chairman, African American Chamber of Commerce; Paul Levy, president, Center City District; Nick DeBenedictis, chairman, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau; Jerry Mondesire, president, Philadelphia NAACP; Patrick Eiding, president, AFL-CIO; Marc Stier, president, Philadelphia Transit Campaign; Beverly A. Harper, co-chair, Pennsylvanians for Transportation Solutions; Sharmain Matlock Turner, president, Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition; Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., and Herman Wooden, secretary-treasurer, Local 1776, United Food & Commercial Workers.