The Hub 2/6/2026: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“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.
Want to be more involved in the fight for public transit? Apply today for the Community Organizing Fellowship In Lancaster and the Lehigh Valley! Apply with TransitForAll PA here.
TransitForAll PA: Shapiro’s Budget Address Does Not meet the Moment for Transit Riders & Workers – Governor Shapiro’s budget address this week noted the lack of secure and recurring transit funding for the state, however his response did not properly address the transit needs of Pennsylvanians, especially those outside the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh region. Shapiro’s proposed solution moves sales tax money around, offering a band-aid to a system riddled with financial problems. This funding will not come into play until fiscal year 2027-2028, and in the meantime seven small, fixed-route transit systems across the state will hit their stated fiscal cliffs, meaning fair hikes and service cuts.
The Inquirer: Other Pa. transit systems are dealing with the fiscal crunch that hit SEPTA last year – Public transit systems across Pennsylvania are facing financial cliffs, resulting in fare hikes and service cuts. LANTA, the bus system in Lehigh and Northampton Counties, serves 11,000 daily riders and is the third-largest mass transit system in the state. Last week, service was cut 5%, with the number of trips reduced on 13 bus lines. Without dedicated funding coming, further cuts can be expected as well. The “flex-spending” solution offered by Governor Shapiro over the past two years mostly covers SEPTA in Philadelphia and PRT in Pittsburgh. The state’s other 33 smaller mass transit systems don’t typically see that assistance. Dollars promised to these systems by the governor also will not be seen until 2027, and not all systems have the time to wait. Without dedicated funding in the state budget from Harrisburg, these smaller systems are at the highest risk, and riders will have to be left behind.
NBC: SEPTA to cease using social media for trip cancellation alerts – Starting Monday, February 9th, SEPTA will no longer be sending out social media alerts to commuters about canceled trips. In the past, SEPTA has sent out tweets about specific route cancellations, and the reasons why, when available. The agency seeks to end alerts that are too general and might not reflect ongoing situations. An operator calling out no longer means delays on specific routes over the course of 8 hours. That was a result of COVID-era staffing shortages. There are better programs in place now to handle service disruptions, with better real-time updates available on the SEPTA app or website. Third-party apps, such as Google and Apple Maps, will still receive cancellation data as well.
Other Stories
SEPTA: Transit Equity Day 2026
NBC: SEPTA rolls out leased rail cars to ease Regional Rail overcrowding
CBS Philadelphia: Philadelphia Parking Authority resumed enforcing meters, towing cars Tuesday
