Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that he secured $153 million in federal funding for SEPTA at a press conference at Philadelphia’s Frankford Transportation Center last Friday, aiming to prevent significant fare increases planned for early next year.
The funding comes after a months-long struggle for federal support of SEPTA. The organization already approved a 7.5% fare increase to take effect on Dec. 1, increasing SEPTA Travel Wallet fares on buses and trolleys from $2 to $2.50, and increasing Regional Rail prices by a similar margin.
“For two years, we have been warning about the dire consequences facing SEPTA — and our region — due to the looming fiscal cliff,” SEPTA Board Chair and 2008 Fels Institute of Government graduate Kenneth Lawrence said in the announcement. “We have no choice but to continue plans to confront this stark reality.”
The new funding helps offset another proposal for fare increases and service that would have resulted in SEPTA rates increasing by another 20% and an overall 20% service cut across all platforms. The proposed cuts have also forced SEPTA to postpone its plans to overhaul its bus network scheduled for 2025. SEPTA announced it was postponing this initiative on Nov. 14.
Shapiro, an ex officio member of the University Board of Trustees, said that the new funding will pause the Jan 1. fare increases and that service cuts will be limited, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“My decision to take this action will provide immediate relief to SEPTA, but it is not a long-term solution,” Shapiro wrote in a letter announcing the funding. “It does, however, provide the Legislature with a window of opportunity to fully consider different proposals to fund mass transit and finally take necessary legislative action to address this critical need for the people of Pennsylvania.”
University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Kevin Mahoney wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the new funding “helps ensure [Penn Medicine] patients and staff who rely on public transit continue to have access to health care and reliable transportation.”
The announcement of the funding came a day after several Philadelphia City Council members, including Philadelphia Councilmember Jamie Gauthier — who represents Penn — signed a letter to Shapiro urging him to flex funding to SEPTA.
“SEPTA has estimated that the cost of rescuing the system will be far greater than the cost of taking action now. As a result, it is critical that we do whatever we can to avoid this impending crisis,” they wrote in the letter.
“We applaud Governor Shapiro for taking action,” Philadelphia City Council Minority Leader Kendra Brooks and Minority Whip Nicolas O’Rourke wrote in a joint statement following the announcement. “We must use these coming months to find solutions that grow ridership and ensure the longevity of SEPTA for all Pennsylvanians.”
Gauthier wrote in a separate statement that the funding means that “Philadelphia can breathe a big sigh of relief.”
“Thanks to Governor Shapiro, January 1st will not mark the beginning of the end of safe, frequent, and reliable mass transit in our city. I am grateful to the Governor for ‘getting stuff done’ and investing in the mobility and economic success of our communities,” she wrote, urging Senate Republicans to create a permanent SEPTA funding deal when the legislature returns to Harrisburg to “prevent this irreversible death spiral."
SEPTA previously announced that Stuart Weitzman School of Design professor and SEPTA general manager and CEO Leslie Richards will step down from her roles within the company at the end of this month amid the potential fare increases and service cuts.
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