SEPTA will receive $153 million in funding to battle a significant shortfall, which threaten major rate hikes for riders.
Gov. Josh Shapiro was joined by PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll to make the announcement at SEPTA’s Frankford Transportation Center alongside Mayor Cherelle Parker. State, local and federal leaders from Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties as well as SEPTA leadership and transportation workers stood in unison with the governor during the announcement.
“As governor, I have a responsibility to serve every region of our commonwealth, rural, suburban and urban,” said Shapiro. “Over the past two years, we’ve come together on a bipartisan basis to invest $330.5 million in additional funding for Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges, repairing more poor-condition bridges than any other state and improving more miles of roadway than at any time in the past decade. But while we’ve made great progress on our roadways, we must also address the needs of mass transit riders, particularly those in Southeastern Pennsylvania who rely on SEPTA every day to get to work, school, medical appointments and more.”
SEPTA is facing a significant gap in funding due to the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds. As a result, Shapiro directed PennDOT to begin transferring $153 million in federal highway capital funds to SEPTA.
Officials said it will prevent immediate service cuts and a planned 21 percent fare increase. Approximately 800,000 people across Southeastern Pennsylvania use public transit. Officials said the funding should maintain critical operations through at least July.
“While the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed bipartisan legislation modeled off my budget proposal three times in 2024 to increase funding to SEPTA and other public transit agencies statewide, the state Senate did not act on those bills or their own version of funding for mass transit,” said Shapiro. “In order to prevent critically damaging service cuts and fare increases ahead of our next state budget, I have directed PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll to begin the process of flexing $153 million of federal highway capital funds to SEPTA. This action allows for continued service and for SEPTA to avoid immediate service cuts and delay more significant fare increases until July 1, 2025.”
This practice temporarily reallocates funds from projects that have not started. The governor said it does not jeopardize or halt any ongoing infrastructure projects already underway across the commonwealth.
Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke issued a statement on the redirection of funding.
“Public transit is essential to Philadelphia’s working families. A well-funded, healthy transit system makes life better for hundreds of thousands of people across our region: young people who need to get to school, seniors who need to get to medical appointments, workers who need to get to their jobs at the hospitals, stores, restaurants and offices that make up our economy.
“When public transit advocates and riders sounded the alarm about service cuts, fare hikes and the ‘death spiral’ of our transit system, we knew how disastrous this would be for working families. Under our leadership, all 17 members of City Council called on Gov. Shapiro to swiftly redirect federal highway funds to prevent SEPTA’s collapse. Today, Gov. Shapiro did just that.
“We applaud Gov. Shapiro for taking action. Now every level of government must prioritize permanent revenues for our transit system. Like many Philadelphians, we still worry about the pending rate hikes and structural deficit SEPTA faces. We must use these coming months to find solutions that grow ridership and ensure the longevity of SEPTA for all Pennsylvanians.”
