Image Credits: Transportation for America
On Aug. 24, SEPTA approved cuts to services in Philadelphia and connecting counties. Currently, SEPTA clarifies that they are running at a 20% reduction of existing lines, upwards of a 3% fare increase across the board and the elimination of 32 bus routes.
SEPTA plans to further line eliminations and reductions on Jan. 1, 2026, including the regional rail lines that connect Philadelphia to Chester County, Delaware and New Jersey.
Basil, an English Major at West Chester University, currently takes the Paoli/Thorndale line from Devon to attend classes this fall semester, and had this past spring as well.
“It’s extremely shitty,” said Basil. “The Paoli/Thorndale line is used by tons of people and it’s gonna make my commute more of a hassle. Not impossible… but still it sucks.”
“I take the Paoli/Thorndale line and bus 92,” they wrote to The Quad. “I’m not exactly sure what’s gonna happen to those, but it’s likely that I’ll have to leave earlier to make it to class in time.”
Currently Basil’s commute is just under two hours. They worry future cuts might make that commute even longer next semester after the planned cuts to the regional rail line take effect entirely.
Many of our own professors have utilized the SEPTA system to commute from the city. These cuts leave only Amtrak’s service, which as it stands, is double the price of SEPTA’s current riders’ fares.
Last night could have been a bigger disaster for commuters than for the Cowboys
The biggest cuts in SEPTA converge with the beginning of the biggest sporting season fuels anxiety for fans and passengers.
A week after SEPTA’s first wave of cuts hit the city, the Philadelphia Eagles and Lincoln Financial Field staff asked that only fans who had purchased tickets make the journey to the Sports Complex, limiting any tailgating or exterior plans for non-ticket holders.
Those with tickets were asked to arrive a half-hour before kick off and plan to leave with extra travel time in mind.
“If tailgating at the Sports Complex, the team asks that setups be consolidated and that tailgaters set up within the white lines of their parked car,” NBC 10 relayed on Tuesday, Sep. 2.
FanDuel to the rescue?
On Wednesday, Sep. 3, FanDuel announced they would be covering the cost for the fares — a total of 10 express trains and six local trains starting at halftime, running until 70 minutes after the game ends. Originally only three trains on the BSL would be operating according to SEPTA’s updated schedule, but FanDuel’s last minute coverage allowed fans to ride extra shuttles for free.
The total cost of the night’s expenditure coverage amounted to $80,000, PhillyVoice and NBC10 corroborated, including fares and operation costs.
With this much of the service axed all at once, situations involving this much rider anxiety are sure to be more common and opinion news sources such as The Defector warn we can’t always rely on a $31 billion dollar company like FanDuel to pay on riders’ behalf.
Legal opponents to SEPTA’s service reduction
These new SEPTA cuts haven’t come without commuter pushbacks, however. Judge Sierra Thomas Street requested SEPTA to hold on their fare increases and any new service reductions on Aug. 29.
This hold does not require SEPTA to restore the 32 bus routes that were discontinued just a day prior to Judge Street’s request but does put SEPTA in legal limbo while Judge Street oversees the legality of the reduced service of current lines and fare increases as possibly discriminatory practice.
The lawsuit comes from George Bochetto Esq., who represents residents and is a consumer advocate. MetroPhiladelphia reported that Bochetto’s team has launched their suit to argue that SEPTA’s cuts were a harmful choice that affects minority communities primarily, as well a financial incompetency, as other services have not needed to make cuts as large as these to address budget issues, questioning the legitimacy of SEPTA’s “crisis.”
SEPTA’s internal investigation found that their upcoming fare raises do not disproportionately affect minority or low-income SEPTA riders.
SEPTA has also seen the independent relaunching of nine of the previous 32 bus routes emphasizing the need to offer them for young public-school students, alleviating some school districts who rely on SEPTA as their only transportation service for children.
Is SEPTA the right target?
Other consumer and transportation advocates question the productivity of Bochetto’s lawsuit. 5th Square, a local urbanist political action committee labeled the lawsuit a “dangerous distraction” in a statement on Aug. 27. They argued that the real focus should be on Pennsylvania State Republicans’ reallocation of the Public Transportation Trust Fund (PTTP), a large fund dedicated towards alleviating tight fiscal quarters.
“This fund was never intended to be used as a substitute for operating revenue,” Alex Milone of 5th Square warned, according to the organization’s statement. Milone argues that depleting this large fund solely for SEPTA’s operation would help prevent service reductions in the short term, but have lasting effects on not just SEPTA, but all Pennsylvania transportation projects and agencies soon.
The budget regarding state transportation funds has been fought over for much of August. State Republicans have legislated to take Public Transportation Trust Fund money and relocate it towards private agencies and construction projects.
Gov. Shapiro and other state Democrats have sought to increase the amount of sales tax towards public transportation instead of dipping into a fund that would ultimately be a larger debt to repay in the long term, the same fiscal outcome that 5th Square had warned.
Gaven Mitchell is a fifth-year History major and Journalism minor.