PHILADELPHIA — The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has become the latest transit agency to unveil plans for draconian service cuts because of a funding shortage.
Five Regional Rail lines and 50 bus lines would be eliminated, rail service would end at 9 p.m., and 66 stations would be closed under the budget for fiscal 2026, the agency said. Overall, the budget calls for a 45% reduction in service and a 21.5% fare increase to address a projected $213 million deficit.
Under the budget plan, all remaining routes would see a 20% reduction in service, and all special services, such as those linked to sporting events, would be eliminated.
“We have no choice but to budget based on the resources we have available,” interim SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said at a press conference today (Thursday, April 10), as reported by KYW-TV. “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.”
Like many agencies, SEPTA is experiencing a financial squeeze because of lower post-pandemic ridership and the end of federal funding that helped offset the effects of the pandemic. But SEPTA is also facing a budget shortfall because increases in state funding proposed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and passed by the state House, controlled by Democrats, have not passed the Republican-controlled Senate. Pittsburgh Regional Transit has also announced plans for extensive service cuts for the same reason [see “Pittsburgh transit agency outlines plans …,” Trains News Wire, March 22, 2025].
Shapiro, in a social media post, said the cuts “would be devastating — but they’re completely avoidable. I’ve proposed a plan to support mass transit for two years in a row and flexed funding directly to give the Legislature time to act. … The Senate needs to get this done.” Last year, Shapiro transferred, or “flexed,” $153 million in federal highway money to SEPTA to avoid cuts that would have begun in December [see “Pennsylvania governor’s move averts …,” News Wire, Nov. 23, 2024]. But that was a one-time solution.
SEPTA’s detailed plans for the cuts would see service reduced on virtually every bus and rail route as of August 2025, when the new fiscal year begins. Some 32 bus routes would be eliminated while another 16 would be shortened.
The dramatic cuts would come in January 2026. Service would end on the Chesnut Hill, Cynwyd, Paoli/Thorndale, Trenton, and Wilmington/Newark Regional Rail lines would be halted; two trolley lines would be replaced by buses; and all other rail service would end at 9 p.m. nightly. Another 24 bus lines would also be eliminated.
In between, in September, 2025, fares would increase. Philadelphia Magazine reports the base fare of $2.90 per ride would equal New York for the highest such fare in the country.
In a “Funding Crisis Fact Sheet,” SEPTA said actions it has already taken, such as a hiring freeze and administrative cuts, have reduced the size of the impending deficit from $240 million to $213 million. “There is nothing left to cut from the budget but service,” the agency said.
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