‘Much more difficult’: SEPTA says students who rely on public transit should make alternate plans

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The clock is ticking ever closer to massive cutbacks in SEPTA service that are scheduled to go into effect next month. Officials are cautioning both commuters and families who use mass transit to go back to school, do some homework and find a new travel path.

The transit agency is preparing some 3,000 signs to post at bus stops where routes will be shuttered directing people to alternate routes in the area.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said the first round of service cuts will happen Aug. 24. That’s just one day before students in the School District of Philadelphia return to school.

“Typically we’re adding service to accommodate students. Some of that service gets reduced in the summer months and then ramps back up in the fall and then continues through the school year. This year, unfortunately, could be very different with students having to navigate around these cuts,” Busch said.

SEPTA’s website provides details of which routes and stops will be cut. A total of 32 routes will be completely cut, another 16 routes will be shortened and 88 routes will have reduced service.

The agency will recalibrate their route guidance programs next month to adjust to the changes. Busch said families should act now to plot out routes to school using the alternate schedule that goes into effect Aug. 24, so that they aren’t caught off guard come the first day of school.

With the elimination of so many bus routes in the first round of cuts, it’s likely that students will be traveling over unfamiliar routes, so pre-planning could make things smoother. Busch added that buses that are running will likely be crowded, not just with students but with adults who also will be shifting their commutes to adapt to the new schedules.

“In general, you’re going to have more crowded conditions on vehicles, reliability’s going to suffer, and that’s going to make the process of getting to school much more difficult,” Busch said.

SEPTA is still hoping for state funding to fill its nearly quarter-billion-dollar budget gap and to stave off the cuts. If there is no money forthcoming, there could be even deeper cuts and fare hikes in January, when five rail routes will be shut down, because there would be no money to pay Amtrak to rent the rails they use.

The second phase would also cut off service on the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines at 9 p.m., which would create havoc for many Philadelphians.