Transportation
Transit advocates’ three-word message for state Senate: ‘Do your job’
SEPTA is set to have drastic service cuts and fare increases should the state budget not include transit funding soon
Lawmakers and transit advocates speak at a press conference outside Philadelphia City Hall on Wednesday, August 6, 2025. Harrison Cann
Public transit advocates and riders had a clear message for the state Senate Wednesday morning: Do your jobs so we can get to ours.
Hundreds of people joined Southeastern Pennsylvania lawmakers outside Philadelphia City Hall to once again call for public transit funding before the region’s transit system implements drastic service cuts later this month.
“Public transit is an essential, life-sustaining service, ensuring that people in every county in our commonwealth can get to jobs, schools, medical care and to loved ones and back home safely at the end of the day,” state Sen. Nikil Saval said to kick off the event. “Senate Republicans are stalling on finishing our state budget and, in doing so, holding hostage the crucial resources our communities need, including vital investment in public transit.”
SEPTA, facing a structural deficit of more than $200 million, said Wednesday that if it doesn’t get the funding it needs by Aug. 14, it will not be able to reverse previously announced schedule reductions and fare increases.
Reduced schedules are expected to take effect on Aug. 24 – one day before students return to classes in the School District of Philadelphia. On Sept. 1, fares would go up by 21.5% systemwide and Regional Rail lines would begin to see service cuts.
Saval noted that the Senate Democratic Caucus has 23 guaranteed votes for public transit funding in a budget, meaning just three of their Republican colleagues would be needed to pass legislation to provide that funding.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, who represents parts of nearby Bucks County, added that the Democrat-led state House has passed four different bills that would provide public transit funding on top of statewide transportation funding for roads and bridges.
“Suddenly, our friends on the other side of the aisle have had some kind of amnesia. They’ve forgotten how important transportation and mass transit are,” Santarsiero, referring to Act 89’s bipartisan approval in 2013, the last major transportation legislation. “They say that they want to do transportation infrastructure. That’s fine. The Democrats are on board for that. But what about mass transit?”
Harrisburg Republicans have reiterated the need for public transit systems such as SEPTA to be more efficient and accountable with public dollars, and have shied away from guaranteeing that funding will come in this state budget.
Speaking with Philadelphia talk radio station 1210 WPHT, Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward told host Dawn Stensland that a six-month budget could be an alternative should topics like mass transit continue to be a sticking point in negotiations.
“For us to hold everybody hostage because we can’t agree on mass transit and education issues is a travesty – and it shouldn’t happen. We shouldn’t let it happen,” Ward said Tuesday.
On the debate between chambers, Ward also commented on the ongoing debate over public transit funding in Pennsylvania, an issue that has received outsized attention in the commonwealth as regional transit organizations say more state funding is needed to stave off service cuts.
“We do need to ask these public transit authorities to make sure that they are doing everything administratively to keep costs down,” Ward said, while adding that commonwealth leaders could tap into a new source of revenue – taxes from currently unregulated skill gaming machines – to address funding concerns surrounding mass transit.
Jesse Abrams-Morley, an English and social studies teacher at Kensington CAPA High School and a School District of Philadelphia parent, stressed the importance of mass transit in helping not only students but faculty and staff to get to school on time.
“If you ask almost any high school teacher in the city, they’ll tell you that our city schools cannot function without SEPTA. On days when the (Market-Frankford Line) is delayed or bus routes are canceled or rerouted – attendance plummets and lateness increases,” Abrams-Morley, a member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday. “We are already fighting every day to keep our students in school engaged and motivated to reach their potential. We do not need another roadblock.”
House lawmakers voted 107-96 on June 17 to approve legislation from Democratic state Rep. Ed Neilson that would increase the percentage of sales tax revenue allocated to the Public Transportation Trust Fund from 4.4% to 6.15%, which would result in an additional $292.5 million transferred to the fund. The bill mirrors Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mass transit funding pitch, and is currently in the state Senate Transportation Committee, where it awaits a vote.