SEPTA Transit Riders Respond to Catastrophic Service Cuts With Powerful Organizing Campaign to Win More Transit Funding Statewide

PHILADELPHIA, PA (Thursday, April 10, 2025) SEPTA is bleeding, and we need to stop the damage. In the last decade, the funding formula for public transportation has remained stagnant, even as costs for transit agencies have continued to rise. Now we are fully at a crisis point: SEPTA has announced fixed route service cuts up to 45% and fare increases of 21.5%. The impacts on disabled riders would be even more profound, with 40,000 paratransit trips per year no longer served by SEPTA ACCESS, and fares increased by 35%. This would effectively kill public transit in our region, and the ensuing damage to our riders, our economy, our healthcare system, our road congestion, and air quality is incalculable.

This is not just a Philadelphia issue. In all 67 counties of the Commonwealth, public transportation provides critical access for our elders, youth, disabled community members, and households without access to a personal vehicle. Transit systems statewide are hitting a funding “cliff,” which would devastate communities already suffering under similar cuts enacted over the past several years due to funding austerity. For instance, without new funding from the state, Pittsburgh Regional Transit will cut fixed route service by up to 40% with an additional 9% increase in fares. This is on top of 20% service cuts over just the last 5 years in Allegheny County. The lack of dedicated, expanded transit funding affects people riding to work in Allentown on LANTA, elders moving around their community safely in Erie, and disabled community members using paratransit in Harrisburg. The funding for all our transit agencies is tied to the same source, so the solution must be statewide, with input and support from communities all across the Commonwealth. 

Transit riders and workers are ready with a response that meets the scale of the crisis. Over the last several years, our statewide coalition Transit for All PA! has been organizing for a new, dedicated state funding source to fund the transit services riders across the Commonwealth need. We are a coalition of thousands, hailing from Philadelphia to Pottstown, Bellefonte to Bellevue. And together, we have a shared demand: for state legislators to pass a new, dedicated funding package for public transit, sufficient to restore transit service across the state to 2019 levels– and to expand transit service in communities outside Pittsburgh and Philadelphia by an additional 10%. In the last three weeks, more than 10,000 Transit for All PA! supporters have contacted their state legislators and leadership in the House and Senate with this demand. This Transit for All PA funding package would go beyond austerity, and ensure transit funding stability and service restoration for all 67 counties statewide. 

Better transit- not worse- is possible, is necessary, and is transformative. We’re ready to bring this challenge to our state elected leaders: will you meet this moment with us?

“It’s not enough to say that Philadelphians depend on SEPTA. SEPTA is part of the fabric of this city, and these cuts will have disastrous impacts on the quality of life in the Southeast, not to mention the larger state’s economy. It’s time for Harrisburg to stand up and say no budget without transit funding.” – Transit Forward Philadelphia

“Dependable public transit is the backbone of our region, connecting all neighborhoods to each other. With these proposed cuts and fare increases, our residents, environment, and economy would be devastated,” said Titania Markland, Clean Air Council’s Sustainable Transportation Program Manager. “We need a reliable funding source for public transit so we can get to where we need to go in a sustainable and equitable way.”