Without state funding approval by Aug. 14, SEPTA plans 20% service cuts, significantly impacting transit operations.

Philadelphia

SEPTA, the public transportation agency serving Philadelphia, has warned that it will implement major service cuts and fare increases if it does not receive additional state funding. The proposed changes include eliminating 32 bus routes, reducing rail trips, ending special services, and raising fares by over 21%. SEPTA officials say they need a minimum of ten days to prepare for these changes, which would affect about 20% of services across the region. 

The funding crisis comes as Pennsylvania lawmakers remain in a budget stalemate, with $168 million proposed for SEPTA in the new budget. Meanwhile, the Federal Transit Administration has requested information from SEPTA regarding safety protocols for decommissioned electric buses after a recent fire at a storage yard. SEPTA is working to remove affected vehicles and batteries to comply with federal safety requests.

SEPTA faces major cuts without state funding

Right now Pennsylvania lawmakers, advocates, and SEPTA riders are working and workers are calling on the state to help fund SEPTA before it's too late. The can that Harrisburg keeps kicking down the road when it comes to public transportation keeps getting kicked down the road. They don't care about us. A lot of passion out there as SEPTA is saying that time is running out for lawmakers to pass a state budget. They say, though, if funding isn't approved by August 14th the big changes we've been talking about for months will happen. Yeah, and we're talking about major cuts with dozens of bus routes and regional rail lines eliminated. That's on top of fare hikes. And Kelly, SEPTA officials spoke today. What are you learning? Jason and Don, SEPTA leaders say 10 days is the absolute minimum that they need in order to ensure a safe and efficient transition on August 24th. If it does come to that, they said today, if they receive the funding that they need, service will be restored like it is today, but it won't be a quick turnaround. It's gonna have a huge impact. Unfortunately, Kensington Kappa High School teacher Jesse Abrams Morley trying to stay optimistic, but says this SEPTA has to go through with devastating cuts. Schools will suffer. His family also doesn't own a car. We've just seen that, like any reason that puts up a roadblock in a kid getting to school makes it that much harder. I don't know how I'm gonna get to work. I don't. I cannot afford a car. I can't. Fund SEPTA now! Fund SEPTA now! The push for SEPTA funding loud and clear at a rally outside City Hall just an hour after SEPTA announced a new deadline, August 14th. The agency says 10 days is the bare minimum they need to prepare for the 20% cut of all services starting August 24th to ensure it's done safely and efficiently. The cuts include eliminating 32 bus routes and reducing trips on the rails and an end to all special services, including express trips to the sports stadiums unless they receive new state funding. A 21.5% fare increase will go into effect September 1st, followed by a SEPTA wide hiring freeze later that month. They already printed the new schedules. We've tried everything we can to do this without cutting service or raising fares and unfortunately we've reached that threshold where we can't turn back. SEPTA leaders say they focused on cutting bus routes with 300 riders or less and routes where there's another option reasonably close by. No county, no municipality should feel more cuts than any other. It should all be about 20% across the region. The cuts loom as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers remain in a budget stalemate after more than a month. The proposed budget includes 168 million dollars for SEPTA. Democratic lawmakers have been critical of their GOP counterparts in Harrisburg who are currently on a break from session. They are calling for increased accountability and safety for SEPTA. I am completely aligned with with what their goal is to make SEPTA safer and better, more reliable for our customers. We are a transit agency on the rise. It's a matter of whether or not funding comes to keep us going in that direction. And Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman told Fox 29 he met with Governor Shapiro on Tuesday and he provided us a statement saying in part quote our Senate Republican caucus is focused on substantive actions and advancing fiscally responsible measures to address the needs of individuals and families across the Commonwealth. The Senate remains on a 24-hour call but we engage in discussions and work to reach common ground. Now we have links of where you can access these potential schedules and a trip planner to help you find alternate routes on Fox29.com. Dawn. All right Kelly thank you and while SEPTA waits to see if it can get funding the Federal Transit Administration wants SEPTA to explain how it stores decommissioned electric buses. The inquiry coming after a June fire at a SEPTA storage yard damaged dozens of buses which SEPTA says was started by a lithium-ion battery. The FTA wants information on handling protocols for the buses and any safety procedures that will decrease the chances of this happening again. We've been taking steps since then since that fire to to remove those vehicles from the property. We've made it we made it as safe as we can make it presently. We are working with an organization now to remove the batteries and get them off-site. The FTA asking SEPTA to respond to the inquiry by August 20th.

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