On Thursday, the SEPTA board voted to cut service by 45% and raise fares by 23.5%. The cuts are devastating. Over 50 bus routes will be eliminated, and many others will be shortened; an across-the-board 20% reduction in service will be implemented for the remaining routes. Additionally, SEPTA’s fares will become the highest in the nation.
Six months after the City Transit division busses are eliminated, five regional rail lines will be abandoned, and service after 9 p.m. will be eliminated.
SEPTA’s General Manager, Scott Sauer, said after the vote that “this budget will effectively dismantle SEPTA – leaving the City and region without the frequent, reliable transit service”
The few SEPTA board members who spoke said they didn’t want to vote for the cuts and fare hikes. They claimed that because state law required SEPTA to pass a balanced budget, they had no choice.
A statement that wasn’t true and isn’t true.
SEPTA could have done what it did in past years, projected that its lobbying efforts would be successful, and it would get the funds it needed. Alternatively, SEPTA could have used a portion of the hundreds of millions it has in its “stabilization fund” to maintain current operations.
SEPTA’s new GM, who is on record as saying he is considering privatizing services, decided to reject the tactics that had worked in the past. The new GM said SEPTA could not budget on the hope that SEPTA’s lobbying efforts would be successful. Instead, SEPTA would budget on a projected failure of SEPTA’s lobbying efforts.
SEPTA says that there is still time for the state legislature to fully fund SEPTA. And if it does, SEPTA will rescind the service cuts and fare hikes. While the general manager and the SEPTA board have not said it in these words, the strategy is to tell the Republican-controlled State Senate they are willing to hurt the riders, the majority of whom are the working poor and African Americans. As to why SEPTA’s board believes the Republicans in Harrisburg, who supported President Donald Trump’s bill that cuts funding for Medicaid and SNAP, care what happens to Philadelphia’s working poor, the GM is quiet.
SEPTA, according to its executives, has more than enough money, at least for this fiscal year, to continue operating at the same levels and with the same fares.
However, they have continually refused to disclose this information to the public. The SEPTA board’s hearing examiner refused to order SEPTA to disclose how much of the $535 million in the fund remains.
GM Sauer, when questioned in an unaired TV interview, acknowledged that there was more than enough in the fund to keep SEPTA rolling, but said it would not solve SEPTA’s long-term financial problems. SEPTA’s Spokesperson Andrew Busch confirmed that “if a state budget is finished that includes increased funding for SEPTA, the agency’s board can amend the existing budget to reflect the new revenue, draw money from its stabilization fund, a cash account, and roll back or stop some or all the cuts.”
The numbers from SEPTA’s budget tell the story. Last year, there was $535 million in the fare stabilization fund. This year, it is $338 million. There has been no accounting for the loss of $200 million. SEPTA states that its operating deficit for this year is $213 million. If SEPTA were to put the riders ahead of the people who want to privatize the system, they could avoid all the service cuts and fare hikes by using a part of the $338 million.
There has not been a single elected official to challenge SEPTA’s decision to first “dismantle” the City’s Transit division and continue service on the regional rail lines for at least another six months. Nor have any elected officials asked the SEPTA board what would have happened had they voted against the cuts and fare hikes that will dismantle the system.
There is no explanation for why the Mayor is allowing SEPTA to harm city riders first, sparing suburban rail riders the pain for six months. No answers are available as to why SEPTA is being allowed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a profit-making bank while eliminating service for the working poor. No answers as to why not a single SEPTA board member had the courage to tell the public the truth. There is enough money to keep the system going.
Our reporters sit through hours of city council meetings, dig through piles of documents, and ask tough questions other media overlook. Because we’re committed to addressing Philadelphia’s poverty crisis — and challenging those who sustain it. If you think this work is important too, please support our journalism.
We’re counting on readers like you.
