SEPTA unveils $400 million plan to restore service
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SEPTA is angling to tap nearly $400 million from a special transit fund to restore all service and prevent cuts over the coming years, but the agency needs state approval.
Why it matters: It's the latest twist for SEPTA's roughly 800,000 daily riders, who deal with a constant whipsaw of on-again, off-again service changes.
Context: SEPTA's plan to redirect pre-apportioned funding for capital investments — infrastructure upgrades, maintenance and vehicle replacement — comes after a state judge ordered the transit agency to reverse and halt its service cuts rolled out last month.
- The order stems from a lawsuit brought by riders who argue SEPTA's cuts disproportionately affect people of color and lower-income riders.
State of play: The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation must sign off on allowing SEPTA to use the transit funding to plug its $213 million budget hole.
- SEPTA general manager Scott Sauer made the request on Friday.
- If approved, SEPTA could restore full service by Sept. 14, it says.
Yes, but: SEPTA plans on a systemwide 21.5% fare hike that same day, regardless of what the Shapiro administration decides.
What they're saying: Sauer said the $400 million would bankroll SEPTA operations for two years, giving state lawmakers more time to hash out a long-term plan to fund the agency.
- The plan will also allow SEPTA to provide full service in 2026, when millions of people descend on Philly for the World Cup, MLB All-Star Game and other big events.
- The Shapiro administration is reviewing the request and determining next steps, Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder tells Axios.
In the meantime, existing service cuts to bus, metro and trolley lines will continue.
- However, some are getting relief as SEPTA restores partial bus and metro service that's heavily used by students.
By the numbers: Over the last two weeks, riders have been hit hard by the cuts.
- The agency saw a more than 26% uptick in buses running late compared to regular service.
- At the school district, absences rose 54% and late arrivals shot up 63% during the first three days of the new school year compared with the same time in 2024, per the district.
The intrigue: State Senate Republicans, who control the chamber, proposed a similar plan to use capital funding to fill SEPTA's budget gap weeks ago.
- But Shapiro and the Democrat-led House rejected it, maintaining a budget stalemate that's dragged on for more than two months.
- But the governor has since warmed to the idea of using the special transit fund to help SEPTA, Spotlight PA reports.
The bottom line: Sauer warned that the proposal isn't a long-term solution to SEPTA's budget crisis.
- "This is a Band-Aid," he said.