(The Center Square) – Mass transit riders in the Philadelphia region must brace for service cuts and fare increases this summer as the battle for more state funding gears up.
On Thursday, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, announced plans to raise prices 21.5%, close 66 stations, eliminate 50 bus and five regional lines, implement a 9 p.m. curfew, and cancel all special service lines for events.
The changes will go into effect on July 1 to balance the agency’s $213 million budget deficit and will impact more than 800,000 riders who rely upon the system to get to work, school and doctor’s appointments, among other necessities.
On Friday, Democratic lawmakers gathered at Philadelphia City Hall to press for more legislative support to stave off the cuts, blaming Senate Republicans for withholding additional funding and chanting “no cuts, no way, we ride SEPTA every day.”
“We are clear-eyed about the deadly seriousness of what brings us together today,” said Sen. Nikil Saval, D-Philadelphia. “The future of our communities, of our city, of our entire region are dependent on SEPTA.”
State government covers more than half of operational costs for mass transit systems in Pennsylvania’s largest cities.
Notably, it’s not rider fares or contributions from local taxing authorities. In 2022, the latter represented just 7.5% of funding for both SEPTA in the Philadelphia region and the Pittsburgh Transit Authority, which operates 300 miles to the west in Allegheny County.
This stands in stark contrast to systems in Boston, Chicago and New York City, where state governments pay between 9% and 30%. The data, compiled by the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Harrisburg, raises questions about the amount Pennsylvania spends to prop up its mass transit systems.
It’s also why Senate Republicans have been reticent to approve Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to boost state support to more than $330 million by the end of the decade.
The governor wants to divert a larger portion of the state’s sales tax revenues to pay for the increased spending. Currently, more than $1.2 billion of all sales taxes collected in Pennsylvania are earmarked for public transportation.
In July, the Republican majority Senate, the Democratic majority House and Shapiro, as part of the finalized budget, agreed to a one-time funding increase of $80.5 million for mass transit throughout the state, of which roughly $51 million went to SEPTA.
That funding, say legislative Republicans, was contingent on a review of the mass transit funding delivery model, given recent reductions in ridership and rider safety concerns. According to SEPTA, its systemwide ridership in December was approximately 71% of what it was prior to COVID-19; before, ridership had been declining year-over-year since it hit a 23-year peak in 2012. In 2012, SEPTA reported its annual ridership at 339.3 million trips; a year before COVID-19, ridership had declined to 292.9 million trips, and then it dropped to 223.5 million trips in 2020.
In November, with SEPTA threatening rate hikes and service cuts to help address their ongoing budget deficit, Shapiro diverted federal highway funds earmarked for seven projects around the state, which he said were years away from being started. The diversion prompted additional legislative Republican criticisms that the governor wasn’t interested in the root causes of mass transit financial problems, instead engaging in a policy of “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Of the additional money the governor has proposed for Pennsylvania mass transit systems, roughly 57% is expected to go to SEPTA.
The Department of Transportation has said that the money currently allocated is “a direct result of the funding approach established and approved by the General Assembly” – and that it supports public transit that exists in every county, in some form, and upon which millions of people rely.
In a November statement to The Center Square, spokeswoman Alexis Campbell noted the statewide impact of the funding.
“We’re hopeful that the continued conversation will ultimately lead us to a future where transit is recognized for the life-sustaining public service – and economic engine – that it is, and is sustainably funded and supported,” she said.
