Cutting Off Our Future: SEPTA's Budget Crisis

Saturday, June 28 2025

It’s no secret that SEPTA is facing a $240 million budget shortfall in 2026. Without new state funding, top officials warn that deep service cuts, layoffs, and significant fare hikes are coming. This isn’t a theoretical crisis—it’s a direct threat to over half a million daily riders. That includes students like me, employed parents, seniors, essential workers, and people with disabilities, many of whom simply don’t have another way to get around.

Let’s talk numbers. SEPTA may not be the flashiest system—obvious if you’ve ever been to City Hall on the BSL—but it’s one of the most efficient in the country. According to the National Transit Database, SEPTA provides more passenger trips per vehicle mile than nearly any other U.S. transit agency of its size. Its operating expense per unlinked trip is $4.66—significantly lower than peer agencies like WMATA in D.C. ($6.82) or MBTA in Boston ($6.91). That means SEPTA stretches every dollar further, serving more people with fewer resources.

And the people? SEPTA’s passengers are also overwhelmingly those who need transit the most. More than 50% come from households earning under $35,000 annually. For many, SEPTA isn’t just the best option, it’s the only one. If service is cut by 20%, as projected, that could mean entire neighborhoods, communities, and livelihoods losing basic access to jobs, healthcare, and education.

It would also set the Philly area’s climate and congestion goals back by years. Public transit emits 45% less carbon dioxide per passenger mile than private vehicles. SEPTA keeps more than 100,000 cars off the road every weekday. In 2022 alone, it reduced regional greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 320,000 metric tons. With SEPTA’s hybrid and electric buses expanding, those numbers will only grow if we give the system the funding to survive.

Some critics say SEPTA should “earn” its funding by regaining pre-pandemic ridership. But transit doesn’t recover through sheer austerity. Cuts drive people away, not toward public transit. And as ridership returns—which has been up nearly 20% over the last year—what’s needed now is support, not retreat. 

Speaking of highways, they only continue to get billions. PennDOT’s budget grew to $10.3 billion this year, with the vast majority going to roads. Public Transit is a public service, just like all the roads and highways. Isn’t it time we treated public transit like the essential infrastructure it is?

SEPTA has always ultimately been more than transportation—it’s how the city moves forward. Without it, we risk deepening inequality, worsening traffic, and abandoning the people who rely on it most. Is the traffic on I-76 not bad enough as is?

We need a real commitment from Harrisburg: recurring, dedicated transit funding, and the slash in the budget being delivered wounds not just Philadelphia, but the whole of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Saving SEPTA means investing in equity, climate action, and economic mobility. It means recognizing that mobility is a right, not a privilege. The numbers are clear. The need is urgent.

A SEPTA Budget Crisis would see the elimination of numerous significant Regional Rail Lines, crushing commuters.