Pennsylvania House Approves Transit Funding Bill Including Pittsburgh Regional Transit Amid SEPTA Service Cuts and Deficit

septa SEPTA cuts loom as Pennsylvania Senate continues to debate state budget Pennsylvania Senate passes bill that includes $40M for Pittsburgh Regional Transit, now heads to House for vote Pennsylvania Senate to convene, but unknown if SEPTA is on the agenda after House passes sweeping public transit bill

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a transit funding bill that is now heading to the Pennsylvania Senate for approval. This bill includes funds for multiple transit systems across Pennsylvania, notably including Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

The action was taken as SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) faces a severe $213 million budget deficit, prompting what has been described as a 'doomsday budget' plan. This plan involves a 20% service cut across all routes, resulting in significantly reduced transit availability.

The potential cuts will impact approximately 55,000 Philadelphia students who rely on SEPTA passes to travel to and from school. SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch stated, "It's going to affect everyone who has to get to these schools, whether they're using SEPTA or trying to drive and there's more congestion on the roads. There's going to be an impact of this that ripples out to all modes of travel." He added, "When we're doing a 20% cut across the board, even when the route is running, there's going to be much less service on it."

Parents and students are urged to plan for these changes. Steph Davis, a South Philadelphia resident, said, "We have a 12-year-old who goes to school in West Philly, and she is going to have a very hard time getting there. She takes the Route 10 trolley, which I'm told is going to turn into a bus. It's hard enough to catch when it's a trolley."

The cuts are expected to lead to longer commutes, more crowded conditions, and less reliable service, especially in the Northeast and Northwest parts of Philadelphia. School teacher Andrew Saltz from South Philadelphia expressed concerns about the broader impact: "Everything for everybody is going to get a little worse. On top of what they've been through with COVID-19, on top of what they've been through just living in the city with the violence, now it's like, 'Yeah, you don't have a bus anymore.' Like what are we telling them?"

SEPTA is in ongoing discussions with the School District of Philadelphia and local universities to address potential impacts. In parallel, State Senator Costa hopes that including road-and-bridge funding in the transit bill will reduce opposition to it.

Meanwhile, transit funding challenges are not limited to SEPTA but extend to public transit systems across Pennsylvania, including areas served by GOP districts. Additionally, technical problems such as signal issues on SEPTA's Regional Rail lines are causing delays, compounding service challenges.

This multi-faceted situation highlights significant transit funding and operational difficulties facing Pennsylvania's public transportation providers at present.