SEPTA aims to restore service cuts, raise fares on Sept. 14

PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority plans to restore all service it had cut as of Sept. 14, and will also enact its delayed fare increase at that time, the agency said today (Friday, Sept. 5).

The agency has asked the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to approve its use of capital funds to pay for operations, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said at a press conference. The restoration plans are contingent on PennDOT approval.

“This is not a solution,” Sauer said of the request to release $394 million in capital funding, according to public broadcaster WHYY. “This is a Band-Aid.”

Restoration of service was ordered by Philadelphia Judge Sierra Thomas-Street of the Court of Common Pleas after a Thursday hearing on a lawsuit brought by three SEPTA users [see “Judge orders SEPTA to reinstate all service,” Trains.com, Sept. 5, 2025]. Thomas-Street ordered restoration of cuts made on Aug. 24 and thereafter and prohibited further cuts which she had previously blocked with a temporary injunction, but allowed the fare increase to go forward. The ruling called for “immediate” restoration of service, but SEPTA had said it would take time to reverse the cuts. It had planned the 20% reduction in service to address a $213 million budget deficit, with further cuts planned for January 2026.

Sauer said that since the cuts were enacted, bus and trolley operators had left more than 4,400 people behind at stops because of overcrowding, while the number of bus trips running behind schedule increased by 26%.

He also said there was “tremendous risk to SEPTA” because of the plan to use capital funds for operation: “Now we have to go back yet again and look for 400 million more dollars that we can defer on projects.”

A PennDOT representative said the agency is currently reviewing the SEPTA request and determining next steps.