Credit: Screenshot/Youtube.com
Because the state legislature has not passed a public transportation funding bill, SEPTA will be forced to enact service cuts across a wide range of bus and train routes. Montgomery County riders will need to be prepared for forced changes to their schedules or to locate alternative travel options, and Montgomery County drivers will need to be prepared for additional volume on our roads and highways.
Bus and metro service cuts will be enacted this upcoming weekend, Sunday, Aug. 24. Regional rail service cuts will commence on Tuesday, Septe. 2. Additionally, fare increases will take effect Sept. 1, raising the base bus/metro fare from $2.50 to $2.90, and changing the base Zone 3 regional rail fare from $6.50 to $7.75.
A common change for bus service will be reducing service runs from 30 to 40 minutes; this means three buses on a route every two hours instead of four. On Regional Rail, all trains will only make local stops with significantly reduced service during the day and on weekends.
The following bus routes in Montgomery County will be eliminated:
80 – Horsham to Olney Transportation Center
88 – Bethayres to Frankford Transportation Center
91 – Norristown to Graterford
106 – Paoli to 69th Street via Ardmore
150 – Parx Casino to Plymouth Meeting Mall
201 – Fort Washington Office Center to Fort Washington Station
311 – Horsham Breeze Blue
The following bus routes in Montgomery County will see service reductions or route changes:
27 –Plymouth Meeting to South Philadelphia – 20% service cut, shortened to City Hall
44 – Ardmore to Old City (Front/Market) – Up to 20% service cut, Narberth and Gladwyne service eliminated
51 (L) – Plymouth Meeting to Olney Transportation Center – Up to 20% service cut
52 – Gladwyne to Southwest Philadelphia – Up to 20% service cut, Gladwyne service eliminated
93 – Pottstown to Norristown (via Ridge Pike/Main Street/High Street) - Up to 20% service cut
96 – Lansdale to Norristown (via Community College Main Campus) - Up to 20% service cut
98 – Plymouth Meeting to Norristown - Up to 20% service cut, Blue Bell service eliminated
99 – Phoenixville to Norristown - Up to 20% service cut
103 – Ardmore to 69th Street Transit Center – Up to 20% service cut
105 – Rosemont to 69th Street Transit Center – combined into one route with 106
123 – 69th Street Transit Center to King of Prussia – Up to 20% service cut
124 – Chesterbrook to Philadelphia - route shortened to Chesterbrook to Gulph Mills, no direct service to Philadelphia
125 – Valley Forge to Philadelphia - route shortened in Center City to 30th Street Station
131 – Audubon to Norristown - Up to 20% service cut
The following Regional Rail lines in Montgomery County will see service reductions:
Cynwyd – 33% total service cut
Lansdale/Doylestown, Manayunk/Norristown, Paoli/Thorndale:
Warminster, West Trenton:
If a funding solution is not reached, further cuts including the full suspension of several Regional Rail lines are scheduled to take effect in January 2026.
“With these impending SEPTA service cuts, our area would experience a devastating economic impact,” said Neil K. Makhija, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and SEPTA Board Member. “It would stifle job growth—costing us more than 76,000 jobs over the next 30 years. We’d lose $674 million in tax revenue each year. It would weaken our ability to attract and retain businesses and workers. It would make us a less desirable location for global and national events. We’d see a nearly a $20 billion decrease in property value across the region—$6.5 billion in single-family property value decreases in Montgomery County alone. We cannot let a handful of irresponsible people in Harrisburg harm 800,000 riders and our entire economy.”
Regional planning traffic modeling projects an additional 497,000 miles will be traveled by vehicles every day in Montgomery County, and the region could see 275,000 additional vehicles on roadways and highways.
Commute times will be longer: drivers can anticipate a 20% increase in expected travel time on I-76 (the Schuylkill Expressway) from King of Prussia to Center City.
Travel speeds will be slower: drivers can anticipate a 5 mile per hour drop on I-476 (the Blue Route).
Additionally, 55% of travel time increases will occur on local roadways, which will have quality-of-life, safety, and air quality impacts on communities across the region and in Montgomery County.
“These cuts will impact all of us in Montgomery County, not just train or bus riders,” said Jamila H. Winder, Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. “Public transit supports many other goals of the county, including affordable housing, safe streets, and healthy living. Our region generates 42% of Pennsylvania’s entire economy, with 32% of its population on just 5% of its land area—thanks to SEPTA. If people don’t have reliable transit service, they’ll be getting on the road, or they’ll be stuck in their homes and neighborhoods, with no options or opportunities.”
Montgomery County strongly encourages its residents and visitors to let their state legislators know that they should support the Governor’s proposal to fill SEPTA’s structural deficit with dedicated state sales tax revenues.
We also believe that SEPTA is a tremendous asset that could unlock convenient new ways of travel and living for the county if they received increased levels of funding like other major regional transit systems around the United States. Plans for bus and rail network redesigns have been put on hold, but the potential is there to realize frequent service and positively transformed communities with funding levels that match other regions.
SEPTA will have ambassadors available to answer questions and help riders plan at the following stations in Montgomery County:
Ambassadors will also be stationed at various other stations/transit centers in Philadelphia that provide service to areas in Montgomery County.
For more information regarding system-wide effects on bus, metro, and rail schedules, visit SEPTA’s website at https://wwww.septa.org/fundingcrisis/service-cuts/ .
