Shapiro urges action from state lawmakers just days before SEPTA deadline

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined other commonwealth and transit leaders Sunday at SEPTA headquarters in Philadelphia for a last-stitch pitch to fund transit and infrastructure projects, just days before the first round of massive service cuts to the city’s mass transit system.

“I presented my state budget that fully funded mass transit along with roads and bridges 187 days ago,” Shapiro said. “And in that time, the Senate of Pennsylvania has been in session for a mere 25 days. The time to act is now.”

SEPTA faces a $213 million shortfall and needs to secure additional, long-lasting funding by Aug. 14 to avoid a 20% cut to service that would begin Aug. 24.

Students and families brace for service cuts

The first day of cuts comes just one day before thousands of Philadelphia public school students and teachers — many of whom rely on SEPTA — are set to return to the classroom Aug. 25.

Autumn Fingerhood, a single mother from Northeast Philly who juggles multiple jobs, is worried about how the cuts could affect her 10th-grade daughter’s ride to school. The bus route she relies on is one of the dozens set to be cut unless funding comes through.

She criticized Republicans, including state Sen. Joe Picozzi, R-Philadelphia, for not doing enough to secure funding for the ailing transit system that serviced an average of 708,000 customers daily in June.

“I cannot be late for work or leave work, which lately seems to be what the Republicans have been doing,” she said. “Who is going to drop my daughter off and pick her up? Am I supposed to quit my jobs?”

Picozzi and other Philly-area Republicans introduced a measure last month for additional state oversight for SEPTA, but the bill stopped short of providing any funding.

Fingerhood, who works at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex and is with the Unite Here Local 274 union, brought up the impacts cuts could have on the upcoming FIFA World Cup matches and the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, as the Sports Express special service on the Broad Street Line is set to be cut.

“Without special services to the Sports Complex, how do you expect people to get to these events? How do you expect my coworkers to get to work who make these events possible? I’ve been asking and will continue to ask, who do these cuts serve? I know it’s not the workers, I know it’s not the taxpayers, and I know it’s not my daughter,” Fingerhood said.

Funding SEPTA is ‘common sense’

Shapiro said SEPTA supports more than 26,000 jobs within the region and generates more than $4 billion for the state’s economy. He said fully funding SEPTA is “common sense.”

“Our son Reuben asked me, ‘What’s holding everything up?’ And I said, ‘You know, a big piece of what’s holding it up is there are some folks who don’t believe in funding our buses and our trolleys and our trains and our subways,’” Shapiro said. “My 14-year-old looked up and just said, ‘How are people supposed to get to work, Dad?’”

Without the additional funding, SEPTA also has plans to raise the base fare to $2.90, up from $2.50, beginning in September. A complete hiring freeze, including operators, would also go into effect. By Jan. 1, 2026, more service cuts would be on the way, including a 9 p.m. curfew on all train service and the elimination of five Regional Rail routes and the Broad-Ridge Spur.