SEPTA cuts still looming as riders prepare to lose access to familiar routes

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With major cuts to SEPTA’s bus and train service looming next month, riders are concerned about the loss of service they rely on.

Janice Tosto of Germantown said she’s worried about how she’ll get around if there isn’t a major injection of funding from Pennsylvania lawmakers. She pointed out warnings on SEPTA’s website about the routes she cares about among others.

“It’s really scary checking your alerts and seeing these advisories,” Tosto said. “This one is the K line which I use a lot and the advisory is saying that service is going to be reduced by 20% on Route K on Aug. 24, 2025, if new state funding is not approved … I also used Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail. I’ve seen the advisory for that.”

This isn’t the first time the transit agency has proposed cuts to service and fare increases because of a lack of state funding. SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said the agency has to approve a balanced budget, which has forced planners to come up with a proposal that is not good for anyone.

“If the funding is not there, we don’t see an alternative but to go ahead with those cuts to start, and that would be to start on Aug. 24,” Busch said. The cuts would eliminate 20% of service across the board, including the end of three dozen bus lines. “Then, we would have an additional cut on Jan. 1 that would eliminate five Regional Rail lines and cut all rail service at 9:00 p.m. And then overall between those two cuts, it’s nearly half of all service is eliminated,” Busch said.

Is there any alternative?

But one longtime consumer activist doesn’t believe that’s the way things have to go. In a commentary for the Philadelphia Hall Monitor website, Lance Haver called on SEPTA to be more aggressive and use the money it has to keep all service running until it has to shut down the system completely. He spoke about the idea during an online town hall meeting.

“But yet, rather than stand up and do what’s right, follow Congressman John Lewis’ advice, cause good trouble, they’re using the fact that the law says they have to go ahead and pass a balanced budget as an excuse to harm the people that they swear they care about, their own riders,” Haver said.

Busch said Haver’s idea isn’t viable because the state can’t continue to give the city one-time infusions of cash, which saved SEPTA last year from what he called a “fiscal cliff.”

“The cliff is very real and it would have hit last year if not for the one-time funding that the governor flexed to us,” Busch said. “Of course, we know that our understanding is that can’t happen again. That was a one-time flex of federal funds. That’s not a long-term solution. That’s a stopgap.”

Busch said SEPTA is preparing for the cutbacks by printing 3,000 schedules to distribute to bus stops throughout the system.

“There isn’t a way for us to kick this down the road any further,” he said.

Like most riders, Tosto doesn’t want anything cut — she just wants the service she’s accustomed to and urges all sides to work out a solution.

“I want them to resolve this funding issue now, not just for this moment, but I really need them to dig in and to start thinking about how to fund SEPTA, how to fund all transportation systems in [Pennsylvania] permanently,” she said. “Whatever needs to be done to ensure a permanent stream of funding, so that we’re not at this point every single year, that’s what we need to do: Find a permanent solution to this funding issue.”

Busch agreed and said SEPTA would be first in line to accept a constant state funding source, so that it doesn’t have to go to Harrisburg every year for a handout.

“Right now, budget negotiations are still going on and we expect that that’s going to continue at least for the coming weeks through this month,” he said. “We’re hoping to see a resolution soon. The budget bill did go through the House … There’s still some work to do as it goes to the Senate. So, we know that there are discussions continuing.”

Elected leaders from around the Philadelphia region have gone to Harrisburg to ask for more money. Busch said SEPTA officials continue to lobby for a permanent funding source and are awaiting the outcome of the budget negotiations.

Editor’s note: This story came about as a result of community members’ conversations with WHYY News reporters as part of our pop-up newsroom event this week at City Hall.