Image courtesy of SEPTA Facebook
SEPTA will reverse recently enacted service cuts after Gov. Josh Shapiro and PennDOT approved a plan to use $394 million in capital funds for the agency’s operating expenses.
The decision, which came in a letter sent Monday morning by PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll, follows a request late last week from SEPTA leadership after lawmakers have failed to agree on a longterm funding solution.
The move provides SEPTA with funding for the next two years and averts further cuts, including the closing of the Trenton Regional Rail Line in early 2026.
SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said service cuts, including a 20% systemwide reduction implemented this month, will be reversed Sunday. A 21.5% fare increase will be reinstated on the same day.
“This is not the long-term funding solution we need to address our $213 million budget deficit,” Sauer said. “But over the last two weeks, we have seen the devastating effects of the service cuts on our customers. Our riders deserve better, and they deserve stability.”
Shapiro, a Democrat, said he felt he had to take executive action after the legislature couldn’t agree on a funding plan.
Speaking to reporters after an event in Philadelphia, the governor said the impact of the cuts on students in Philadelphia was a factor in his decision.
The governor, who laid blame for the funding impasse on Pennsylvania Senate Republicans, said the flexing of capital funds is separate from a plan proposed by the GOP-led Senate.
“I called on the legislature to act,” Shapiro said, noting that both of the last two state budgets have been late. He said he acted after Senate leadership indicated they did not plan to work on a long-term solution.
The decision to use SEPTA’s capital funds for operating expenses is not a long-term plan, according to SEPTA officials.
In a statement, SEPTA noted a 12-year system capital project is already facing a $1.6 billion delay in projects.
Carroll wrote to SEPTA in response to their request that they “do not believe this one-time deferral of capital projects will jeopardize the safety of riders on the system.”
Andrew Busch, SEPTA’s media relations director, told this news organization SEPTA has sought a “sustainable funding solution,” and didn’t wish to immediately pull from capital funds.
“But with things now seemingly at a stalemate, and after seeing how negatively the service cuts have impacted our riders over the last two weeks, we realized we could not wait any longer,” he said.
State Sen. Frank Farry, a Republican from Langhorne Borough, said he was pleased SEPTA would be back to normal operations.
Farry said the governor’s action was “very simple” and was the “foundation of what we (the GOP-led Senate) passed on Aug. 12 – and every democrat voted against – and then a House committee rejected it.”
Farry said the GOP plan would have used money not presently being used for capital projects and came from a fund that was constantly being replenished.
“All of this could have been avoided if people stayed away from the partisanship that has ruled this issued for the past month,” Farry said.
Farry said he did not support the Democratic plan to use sales tax revenue for public transit, arguing the money is needed in the general fund. He has proposed taxing skill games to fund public transit.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat from Lower Makefield Township, called the governor’s decision a temporary fix.
Echoing statements made recently, he said the move “does not solve the need for long-term, sustainable funding from the state.”
“This plan diverts funds from equipment and station repairs and improvements, and it puts those needed projects at risk, unless the money is replaced and soon,” Santarsiero said. He added that the flexing of capital funds was “not what the Senate Republicans proposed in August. That plan … would have diverted $419 million from transit capital projects to rural road and bridge repairs, and it would have required SEPTA to impose an automatic fare increase every two years, forever.”
Bucks County Commissioner Chairperson Bob Harvie, a Democrat and member of the SEPTA Board of Directors, thanked the governor for taking action.
“He understands the critical role Septa plays in this region and the Commonwealth. I only wish the leadership of the state senate cared as much about the people of this region to enact the budget SEPTA really needs. Because while this funding will help in the short term, it is not a long term solution and will require SEPTA to delay needed improvements for years to come,” Harvie said.
A judge in Philadelphia had issued an order last week prohibiting SEPTA from making some service cuts after looking at the money in SEPTA’s capital fund.
Shapiro said Monday that both sides were moving closer to a budget deal, but he does not expect it to include a long-term public transit deal.
Public transit agencies, both rural and urban, have been seeking more state funding.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Scott Martin, a Republican from Lancaster, told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that there are still “other major issues that we have to discuss” on the overall state budget, which was supposed to be passed by June 30.
“One of the biggest being the fact that we have this massive structural deficit and what are we going to do to rein this in as best as possible,” Martin said.
