SEPTA budget proposal includes sweeping bus, rail cuts and fare increases

PHILADELPHIA - SEPTA officials gathered for a press conference on Thursday to unveil their latest budget proposal that included sweeping service cuts, fare increases and limited service hours.  

The announcement comes as SEPTA has dealt with several years of financial difficulties and a decrease in ridership due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SEPTA officials say the proposal includes a total of 45% in service cuts and a 21.5% fare increase, if a new, sustainable funding solution cannot be agreed upon. 

SEPTA announces proposed service cuts, fare increases 

What we know:

SEPTA says their Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which would go into effect in July 2025, would include multiple stages of cuts impacting service as early as August. 

According to the proposal, a 20% service cut would go into effect on August 24, eliminating 32 bus routes while shortening 16 others. The 88 bus, Metro, and Regional Rail lines would also undergo service cuts and special services like express transportation to sporting events would end. 

Starting in September, a 21.5% fare increase would go into effect, increasing base fares to $2.90. The September fare increase would be accompanied by a complete hiring freeze on all employees, including operators. 

Come January 2026, an additional 25% service cuts would go into effect on the first of the month. Those cuts would include the elimination of 5 Regional Rail routes, 18 bus routes, as well as the Broad-Ridge Spur. 

Trolley routes T1 (10) and G1 (15) would be converted to buses.

For the metro and regional rail services that remain, a 9 p.m. curfew would be implemented on all Metro and Regional Rail services. 

What they're saying:

"Today SEPTA releases it’s fiscal year 2026 budget that will bring massive service cuts and fare increases in the face of an historic funding gap," SEPTA’s Interim General Manager Scott Sauer said. "For more than two years, we’ve been warning that this moment was coming." 

Sauer added that the proposal comes as the transit agency faces the start of their new fiscal year on July 1 and no state funding solution in place. 

"Without new sustainable funding for transit, as proposed by Governor Shapiro, SEPTA will reduce service by 45% in the coming year," Sauer said, and repeated a second time. 

"Given the dramatic impact that these measures will have on ridership, the reality is that we would start the dismantlement of public transit for our city and region as we know if today," Sauer added.  

"Nearly 800,00 trips are taken on SEPTA on an average weekday. We expect to lose 350,000 of those with these cuts," said Sauer. 

Sauer also stressed that the cuts are avoidable if the Pennsylvania State Legislature passes Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget, including his transit proposals. Shaprio previously stepped in to prevent proposed service cuts and fare increases in fall of 2024 when Sauer says he provided a one-time lifeline by flexing federal highway dollars to SEPTA.

Sauer says the cuts announced Thursday go much deeper than their original projections as they look to ‘make wholesale changes’ to the way SEPTA does business. 

Governor Shapiro took to social media following SEPTA's announcement of their budget proposal. 

"These cuts would be devastating - but they're completely avoidable," he wrote on X. "I've proposed a plan to support mass transit for two years in a row and flexed funding directly to give the Legislature time to act. The House passed my plan three times. The Senate needs to get this done." 

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman in a post on X urged Pennsylvania's leaders to "come together to fix this funding issue soon and prevent these devastating impacts from rolling out."

"These cuts would devastate public transit throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania," Fetterman said in a statement. "If enacted, the August service cuts would result in 1 million fewer service hours per year. The potential January 2026 cuts would be even more drastic, dismantling the public transit system hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on."

What SEPTA routes could be eliminated?

Dig deeper:

The proposed service cuts that would go into effect in August 2025 includes the elimination of the following routes: 1,8, 12, 19, 30, 31, 35, 47M, 50, 62, 73, 78, 80, 88, 89, 91, 106, 120, 126, 133, 150, 201, 204, 206, 311, BLVDDIR, 452, 461, 462, 476, 478, 484. 

In January 2026, 24 more routes, including buses, the Broad-Ridge spur, and 5 Regional Rail lines would be eliminated. The bus routes include: 28, 32, 44, 77, 90, 922, 95, 103, 118, 127, 128, 132, B1 OWL,  446, 447, 448, 490. 

Regional Rail lines included in the service eliminations are the Cynwyd Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Trenton Line, Wilmington Newark Line. 

During Thursday’s presser, Sauer noted that the Regional Rail lines facing potential elimination all run on Amtrak territory, and that SEPTA pays over $65 million annually to lease those tracks. 

"That’s an expense that we can no longer afford," Sauers said. 

What's next:

Beyond the proposed cuts and fare increases, SEPTA says they expect to continue reducing service in the coming years by closing bus districts and other facilities across the transit system. 

SEPTA will be holding a public comment period following the budget proposal announcement and public hearings will be held on May 19 and May 20. 

The SEPTA Board of Directors will hold a vote on the budget on June 26. 

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