Some popular SEPTA bus routes may disappear before others with low ridership. Here’s why

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Residents living in West Philadelphia neighborhoods of Overbrook Park, Carroll Park, Mill Creek and Mantua who rely on the 31 bus to head into Center City will have to find alternative transportation in the coming months.

The 31 bus is expected to stop running in the fall. But it’s not because there aren’t any riders on board.

Instead, there are about 35 people each hour on average who ride it between 76th Street and City Hall, according to SEPTA’s route performance data.

That’s more passengers than 32 other bus routes that will continue operating, data shows.

And the cost of operation is about $5.20 per passenger for the 31 bus, which is below average.

So why eliminate a bus route that has a steady stream of passengers and a lower cost to operate than similar routes?

SEPTA cuts and its budget shortfall

SEPTA officials told WHYY News that the transit agency tried to make sure the first round of service cuts were equitably spread across the system.

“It was a lot more about rebalancing the system for geographic scope as opposed to frequency or ridership,” said Erik Johanson, SEPTA’s senior director of budgets and transformation, about the service cuts.

But the second round of service cuts was about targeting the best ways to save money.

“When you’re cutting something so deeply there’s no way of doing it equitably, you have to focus on your fastest way to save money,” Johanson said. “We are getting a lot of pressure to show to our stakeholders from whom we’re requesting funding to fix the structural deficit to prove to them that we’re doing everything we can to make that budget gap as small as possible.”

SEPTA must balance its budget and is trying to whittle down its $213 million structural deficit as it asks the state for more public subsidy to cover the shortfall.

SEPTA spends $65 million annually to lease Amtrak-owned tracks that carry riders on the Paoli-Thorndale, Chestnut Hill West, Trenton, Wilmington-Newark and Cynwyd Regional Rail lines. Now, facing a budget shortfall, the transit agency has proposed to stop running them entirely in 2026.

The Cynwyd Line has, on average, 32 riders each hour, more than 11 other routes that will continue operating, data shows.

The elimination of the Chestnut Hill West Line will also threaten SEPTA’s revenue-generating ventures, such as its transit-oriented community projects. Land around the Chelten station stop in Germantown was selected for a mixed-use development that would feature apartments and commercial space with a public green space near the train stop.

SEPTA already is leasing five train station properties to Northwest Philadelphia developer Ken Weinstein on both the Chestnut Hill East and Chestnut Hill West lines for redevelopment.

SEPTA’s office of accountability and efficiency has already identified dozens of initiatives estimated to either save or generate $76 million over the next three years. But it’s difficult to plan for growth with such an uncertain future.

“We find ourselves in this interesting situation of being really aggressive and trying to generate as much revenue as possible while trying to cut costs as much as possible,” Johanson said.

By ending Regional Rail service after 9 p.m., SEPTA plans to eliminate third-shift operators, a cost-cutting move aimed at saving the transit agency money.

For 31 bus riders, there are some alternatives nearby that SEPTA asserts overlap with its service like subways and trolleys. But it’s unclear whether riders will adjust or simply stop using public transportation.

“I think that’s one of the sad parts about this is when you’re talking about the cuts this deep, you really are talking about something versus nothing, as opposed to the quality of the system,” Johanson said.

The first public hearing about SEPTA’s service cuts and budget shortfall is scheduled for May 19 at 11 a.m. at its headquarters on 12th and Market streets.