Pennsylvania’s Gov. Shapiro announced stop-gap funding that will help SEPTA fill its operating budget deficit for this year, Fiscal Year 2025, enabling SEPTA to postpone a major 21.5% fare increase that was proposed to start Jan. 1.

“The governor’s continued support for SEPTA and public transportation is greatly appreciated, and it gives us a lifeline,” said SEPTA COO Scott Sauer. “SEPTA will continue to focus on providing safe, clean and reliable public transportation while taking steps to cut costs and enhance efficiency throughout the organization.”

Stop-Gap Funding

The $153 million being flexed to SEPTA at the direction of Gov. Shapiro covers SEPTA’s projected operating budget gap through the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.

However, SEPTA still faces an annual, structural budget deficit of at least $240 million without a permanent solution to Pennsylvania’s public transportation funding crisis.

Like many other transit agencies across the nation, SEPTA has hit a fiscal cliff as a result of the pandemic. 

One-time federal COVID relief funds were used to help cover the everyday expenses of running the system — maintaining service during the pandemic and supporting the post-pandemic recovery. Those funds were exhausted this past spring, creating a near quarter billion-dollar annual budget deficit in the current fiscal year and beyond.

SEPTA’s Approval

SEPTA’s board approved a plan that will increase fares by an average of 7.5% starting on Dec. 1. That fare increase is not impacted by the Governor’s announcement. 

The larger, 21.5% proposal was announced recently, after the state legislature adjourned for the year without approving a plan proposed by Gov. Shapiro that would have provided new, sustainable funding for SEPTA and all public transit across the Commonwealth.

SEPTA said it will continue to work with its funding partners in Harrisburg on a long-term funding solution in the coming months. 

In the meantime, the agency will have to prepare for the possibility of large fare increases and service cuts starting in summer 2025 if new funding is not in place.