“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Join Transit for All PA, Transit Forward Philadelphia, and more, on Wednesday, August 6th, 11:00 AM at City Hall, to rally for transit funding that keeps SEPTA running and hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on. Register here.
Mass Transit: PA: As Philly residents and schools brace for SEPTA cuts and late state funds, there’s no rush for a budget in Harrisburg – 52,000 public school students who rely on SEPTA services to commute to school may soon have to figure out alternative transportation, as the start of the school year looms without resolution on the overdue state budget. Without more funding, SEPTA will be forced to enact drastic service reductions beginning August 24th. School district officials, who are scheduled to meet with SEPTA officials next week, are also contending with the possibility of starting the school year without state funding.
Philly Voice: New swing bridge along Schuylkill River Trail in South Philly nears completion – This winter, a long-awaited swing bridge connecting Grays Ferry Crescent Park to Bartram’s Garden will be completed, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Schuylkill River. Dubbed “Schuylkill Crossing,” the project will extend the River Trail by 1.5 miles farther south. Crucially, the mechanism of a swing bridge allows it to swing open, on its vertical axis, to allow boats to pass.
WHYY: Glassboro-Camden Line closer than ever, but hurdles remain before construction can begin – The proposed 18-mile Glassboro-Camden Line would connect Glassboro to Camden’s Walter Rand Transportation Station, a nexus for Philadelphia rail connections and the River Line. Although the line would connect communities with sites like Rowan University and ultimately Philly, potentially boosting economic prosperity in South Jersey, residents have raised concerns over noise
Other Stories
BillyPenn: The Philly airport ranked 3rd-worst in the U.S. in a recent survey. Is it really that bad?
The Inquirer: A plan to improve SEPTA emerges from the GOP state Senate, with no funding attached
Trenton Daily: Mercer County Announces New Shuttle Service Between Trenton Mercer and Philadelphia Airport
MSN: Extreme heat causes SEPTA & Amtrak delays in Philadelphia
The Inquirer: As SEPTA cuts loom, patience is wearing thin for Democrats in Harrisburg
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Join Transit For All PA for a State-wide All Hands call to learn about what’s happening with the PA budget, and how we can win mass transit for all! Register here.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: What’s at stake over proposed increase in mass transit funding in PA? – Public transit riders from Philadelphia to Harrisburg discuss what losing access to public transit could mean for them. Mass transit is a lifeline for so many across the state; it’s how people access their jobs, their healthcare, their families, grocery stores, and much more. The RabbitTransit program, based in York County, serves 11 counties across southcentral PA and offers free passes for seniors 65 and older. This program could lose 25% of its bus routes with the impending funding cuts. Much of the public transportation across the state is smaller routes focused on assisting seniors, disabled individuals, and other vulnerable populations. Stripping these Pennsylvanians of these programs would harm our communities, and lawmakers need to do everything in their power to avoid it.
6ABC: SEPTA urges Philadelphia students to plan ahead due to possible service cuts – Upcoming service cuts could be a result of the doomsday budget passed by SEPTA in June of this year, with cuts starting as early as August. Parents and students of Philadelphia are being urged to find alternate routes and be aware that the first wave of cuts will begin on August 24, 2025. A SEPTA representative said the cuts will impact the 55,000 Philadelphia students who utilize public transit to get to and from school, which is an estimated 25% of students in the city. School district leaders are meeting with SEPTA to better understand these cuts and what to tell parents and students. Universities are also bracing for these cuts. Temple University released a statement that 12,000 students, faculty, and staff relied on public transit in 2022, and to expect more cars in and around campus.
CBS News: SEPTA begins warning riders a month out from significant service cuts – Several stops had signs posted by SEPTA this week, warning riders that routes and stops will be eliminated, as the agency grapples with a $213 million budget shortfall. Changes will impact close to 50 bus routes at the end of August. 32 bus routes are set to be eliminated, 16 to be shortened, and an overall reduction in service on 88 bus, subway, and regional rail lines. 5 regional rail lines would also be eliminated in later phases of SEPTA cuts. September will also see a nearly 22% fare increase, and cuts will begin one day after Philadelphia kids go back to school.
Other Stories
The Inquirer: Canvassers have a message for Bucks County SEPTA riders: It’s not too late to save your train
Transportation Today: NJ Transit adopts budget advancing infrastructure investments
The Inquirer: Seniors aren’t ‘getting any younger.’ So why do their SEPTA fare cards expire?
WHYY: New Jersey offers grants to tackle the urban heat island effect
Mass Transit: SEPTA customer satisfaction scores reach all-time high
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Join the Transit For All PA campaign for sustainable transit funding to keep our State moving forward.
CBS News: SEPTA begins charging for parking on weekends, holidays at lots and garages – SEPTA is reinstating parking fees at its parking lots and garages in another effort to reel in more money before impending service cuts. Beginning Monday, SEPTA will charge $2 for surfaced lots and $4 for garages, on both weekends and holidays.
Plan Philly: Penn’s Landing park over I-95 in Philly is taking shape. Here’s what to know – After a series of overnight closures, a busy section of I-95 will reopen at the end of this week with a portion of the new overhead cap completed. The entire cap, consisting of three sections, is expected to be completed by 2029. The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC), under a separate contract and in partnership with the city, will build a new park that will include green space situated over the then-completed I-95 cap.
Chalkbeat: Planned SEPTA service cuts will mean slower, less reliable commutes for Philly students – Philly middle and high school students, who are eligible for free SEPTA cards via a contract with the school district and SEPTA, are generally expected to use public transportation to get to school. These students are slated to experience unreliable transport, delays and inefficient routes if planned SEPTA cuts go through. Philadelphia’s Northeast neighborhoods, which show high student ridership on public transport, are expected to be hit particularly hard by cuts.
Other Stories
The Inquirer: From alerting riders to changing Google Maps, here’s how SEPTA is preparing for service cuts
StreetsBlog USA: Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill
Metro Philadelphia: SEPTA to shut down Center City trolley tunnel for maintenance
6abc: Meter price increase takes effect in Center City Philadelphia
PlanPhilly: Passenger count at Wilmington Airport tops half a million amid expansion efforts
