SEPTA is again warning of potential deep service cuts and big fare hikes, and the new doomsday scenario is worse than before.
Unless the state helps the transit authority plug a $213 million annual budget deficit, in August it will eliminate 32 bus routes, reduce service on the Metro (El), Regional Rail and other bus lines, and end special services for ballgames and other events, interim general manager Scott Sauer said.
That would be followed in September by a 21.5% fare increase that would raise the base fare in the city to $2.90. Additional severe cuts would come in January 2026, including elimination of 5 Regional Rail routes, 18 more bus routes, the Broad-Ridge Spur, and the end of daily train service after 9 p.m.
SEPTA would shutter the Cynwyd, Chestnut Hill West, Paoli/Thorndale, Trenton and Wilmington/Newark lines. Service across its five-county area would be cut by 45%, driving away customers and impacting fare revenues, Sauer said.
“Given the dramatic impact that these measures will have on ridership, the reality is that we would start the dismantlement of public transit for our city and region as we know it today,” he said at a press conference Thursday.
Sauer delivered a similar message in November, after state Senate Republicans declined to take up Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to send an additional $161 million to the transit agency. The crisis plans then called for a 29% fare increase and 20% cut in service.
SEPTA was ultimately able to avoid following through on those measures — other than a relatively modest 7.5% fare hike — after Shapiro took the rare step of “flexing,” or shifting, $153 million in federal highway funding to the agency.
Rather than building an uncertain state subsidy boost into its budget again, and then scrambling to fill a deficit in the fall, SEPTA’s board this year decided to include only assured funding in its 2025-2026 budget. Details of the plan are available on SEPTA’s website.
“For more than two years, we’ve been warning that this moment has come,” Sauer said. “Now with our new fiscal year starting on July 1, and a state funding solution still not in place, we have no choice but to budget based on the resources that we have available.”
No action on state tax proposals
Shapiro in February proposed sending an additional $292.5 million in sales tax revenues to mass transit, including about $165 million for SEPTA. Sauer has said that would let the agency avoid deep service cuts.
The Democrat-led state House has repeatedly voted for the sales tax shift, but the Republican-led Senate has declined to take up the measure.
Republican legislators criticized Shapiro’s latest budget plan, saying it would “limit funding” for road and bridge projects they favor while pouring more money into mass transit and worsening the state’s structural budget deficit.
They have praised SEPTA for raising fares 7.5%, the first increase in seven years, while calling for the agency to find savings that would reduce its budget gap.
“It is worthwhile noting that SEPTA has demonstrated a degree of progress with riders paying a fairer shasre and implementation of greater efficiencies,” Sen. Majority Leader Joe Pittman said Thursday. “But…given their own struggle with a structural deficit, I believe SEPTA should have an appreciation for our commonwealth’s fiscal deficit and come to the table with more modest requests.”
“This burden should not be placed entirely on Pennsylvania taxpayers, most of whom do not live within the service region and do not realize any benefit from SEPTA,” he said.
The best chance for a deal may be a proposal to regulate and tax slot machine-like skills games. That could provide the state with a new source of revenue to fund transportation projects generally, including mass transit, highways, bridges and ports.
Shapiro and House Democrats have said they would support such a law, but opposition from casino operators and differences over the tax rate on the devices has so far proved a stumbling block.
Pittman, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward and other Republicans have said they intend to introduce a skills game bill but have not yet done so. The state budget must be approved by the end of June.
Sauer said SEPTA officials have been lobbying lawmakers in Harrisburg and hosted visits by legislators to the agency’s Market Street headquarters to discuss the funding crisis.
“I do understand the deficit that the Commonwealth is facing, and I know they want to find new revenue streams,” he said. “Whether that takes the shape of skilled games or something else, that’s really for our legislators to determine.”
Fetterman, state Dems, business groups sound the alarm
SEPTA’s renewed call for a state funding fix drew support from local and state elected officials and transit advocates. They are planning an 11 a.m. rally on Friday in support of the agency outside the north side of Philadelphia City Hall.
The Transit for All PA! coalition of advocacy groups noted that the cuts would be particularly harmful for disabled riders, as the SEPTA ACCESS system would provide 40,000 fewer paratransit trips per year and see a 35% fare increase.
Service cuts “would effectively kill public transit in our region, and the ensuing damage to our riders, our economy, our healthcare system, our road congestion, and air quality is incalculable,” the coalition said in a press release.
“Increased fares, bus routes eliminated, rail services reduced — this isn’t good for anybody,” U.S. Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X/Twitter. “Pennsylvania’s leaders must come together to fix this funding issue soon and prevent these devastating impacts from rolling out.”
Pa. House Democratic legislators said they “stand with riders” and faulted Republicans for not acting on Shapiro’s sales tax proposal, which they said would benefit mass transit in every Pennsylvania county.
“House Democrats passed legislation to fund SEPTA and mass transit systems three times last session,” they said. “We’re ready to do the right thing again, but the question remains: Will Senate Republicans again abandon people in their own communities who rely on public transportation systems?”
State Rep. Ed Neilson, who represents a section of Northeast Philly and serves as majority chair of the House Transportation Committee, noted the economic harm the cuts would cause. That could include layoffs of some of SEPTA’s more than 10,000 employees, he said, and lost business for companies in at least 41 Pennsylvania counties that provide the agency with supplies and services.
Chellie Cameron, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, said the service reductions would create problems for employers whose workers depend on transit and result in a regional loss of 75,000 jobs, according to SEPTA’s projections.
“Workers, students, residents and visitors would lose a critical transportation option. Employers would experience increased hiring challenges. And worst of all, talent and businesses could leave the region altogether,” Cameron said.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said the cuts would cause “catastrophic damage” in her West Philly district, the only one where the majority of residents get to work using modes of transportation other than driving.
“Governor Shapiro bought us some time, but the clock is running out,” she said. “This is an emergency. The city of Philadelphia is investing in SEPTA but we need the Pennsylvania General Assembly to step up.”
