SEPTA to cut service by 45% and raise fares by more than 20% due to lack of state funding.
SEPTA’s new fiscal year began on July 1, 2025, and we now face a $213 million budget deficit. While SEPTA is already one of the most efficient transit agencies in the country, additional austerity measures, such as a hiring freeze and administrative cuts, have reduced the size of this deficit from $240 million to $213 million.
There is nothing left to cut from the budget but service.
To avoid service cuts and drastic fare increases, the State must approve a budget that would enable SEPTA to maintain service levels while implementing modest fare increases. This would position SEPTA and Pennsylvania to welcome visitors from around the globe to America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, the FIFA World Cup games, MLB All-Star Week and other events of 2026, and to ensure reliable service for all for the next five years.
Without a permanent funding solution, SEPTA will be forced to take drastic steps to irreversibly shrink the system.
50 Eliminated
Bus routes
5 Eliminated
Regional Rail lines
20% Reduction
in service on all remaining routes
9 pm Curfew
on Metro and Regional Rail services
Elimination
of all special service (e.g., Sports Express)
Closure
of 66 stations
Without adoption of a statewide solution to help fund the everyday operating expenses of public transportation systems, SEPTA is forced to move forward with another fare increase that raises rates more than 20% across all modes and methods of payment. With this increase, SEPTA’s transit fares will be among the highest in the country.
In order to close the structural operating budget deficit, SEPTA is forced to cut nearly half of its service, reducing service levels across the region and eliminating dozens of routes. Service cuts will be implemented in August 2025 and January 2026.
This impacts all SEPTA riders. Some people in our region are left without access to any transit service or have a much longer trip.
Service Reductions
Effective August 2025
32 Routes Eliminated
Bus: 1, 8, 12, 19, 30, 31, 35, 47M, 50, 62, 73, 78, 80, 88, 89, 91, 106, 120, 126, 133, 150, 201, 204, 206, 311, BLVDDIR, 452, 461, 462, 476, 478, 484
16 Routes Shortened
Bus: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 17, 27, 43, 61, 84, 115, 124, 125, 433, 441, 495
88 Routes with Reduced Service
Bus: 4, 6, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51 (L), 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63 (G), 64, 65, 66, 67, 70, 71 (H), 79, 81 (XH), 82 (R), 93, 96, 98, 99, 103, 104, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 117, 118, 123, 131, K, B1 OWL, L1 OWL
Metro: BSL [B1, B2, B3], MFL [L,] 101 [D1], 102 [D2], 10 [T1], 34 [T2], 13 [T3], 11 [T4], 36 [T5], 15 [G1]
Regional Rail: Airport Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Cynwyd Line, Fox Chase Line, Landsdale/Doylestown Line, Media/ Wawa Line, Manayunk/Norristown Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Trenton Line, Warminster Line, Wilmington/Newark Line, West Trenton Line
Service Reductions
Effective January 2026
24 More Routes Eliminated
Bus: 28, 32, 44, 77, 90, 92, 95, 103, 118, 127, 128, 132, B1 OWL, L1 OWL, 446, 447, 448, 490
Metro: BSL B3
Regional Rail: Cynwyd Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Trenton Line, Wilmington/Newark Line
2 Trolleys Become Buses
Metro: 10 [T1], 15 [G1]
9 pm Curfew on All Remaining Metro & Regional Rail Lines
Metro: BSL [B1, B2], MFL [L], NHSL [M], 101 [D1], 102 [D2], 34 [T2], 13 [T3], 11 [T4], 36 [T5]
Regional Rail: Airport Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, Fox Chase Line, Lansdale/Doylestown Line, Media/Wawa Line, Manayunk/Norristown Line, Warminster Line, West Trenton Line
All special services (sports, concerts, major events) eliminated.
How would your ride be affected? See the complete table breakdown to find out. Additional information on what future routes could look like is in the Service Reduction Packet (PDF).
As fare increases and service reductions push our region toward gridlock, Southeastern Pennsylvania will enter its own death spiral, pulling the rest of the state down with it.
Without state legislative action to address the funding crisis, the 45% service cuts and 21.5% fare increase will catastrophically change our region and Pennsylvania. The irreversible shrinking of SEPTA’s transit system will produce:
- $19.9 billion loss in household property values
- 76,700 potential jobs lost, with $6.0 billion in potential earnings lost
- $11.4 billion loss in tax revenue collections
- $674 million annual tax revenue loss to the region and Pennsylvania
SEPTA was created to maintain our region’s transit infrastructure but was never given adequate funding to meet this challenge. Over the years, SEPTA has received between one-half and one-third the level of funding compared to peer agencies.
This legacy of underinvestment has resulted in an untenable situation as long overdue investments in aging infrastructure, particularly railcar fleets, can no longer be delayed. With the current Capital Budget, SEPTA is forced to delay and defer $2 billion worth of projects previously programmed and leave other critical projects only partially funded.
While SEPTA continues to advance major maintenance and renewal projects, including Trolley Modernization and new Regional Rail vehicles, they lack adequate funding to realize their full benefits. SEPTA is again forced to defer more than a dozen station accessibility improvements, delaying improved access for millions who rely on Metro and Regional Rail services.
Latest News
On June 26, 2025, the SEPTA Board voted to approve the Fiscal Year 2026 Operating Budget, which will cut service by 45% and raise fares 21.5% to fill a $213 million recurring budget deficit. A Capital Budget has also been approved, which deferring $2 billion in improvements. Read the Press Release for detailed information.
- Funding Transit is Essential to the Justice System – City & State Pennsylvania. Op-ed by the Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association
- “3 of PA’s Largest Employers Urge: Fund SEPTA & Other Mass Transit Now” – The Philadelphia Inquirer. Op-ed by The University of Pennsylvania, CHOP and Comcast
- “Pennsylvania must solve the financial crisis threatening SEPTA, or the entire Commonwealth will suffer” – Commentary by SEPTA Board Chair Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. and PRT Board Chairwoman Jennifer Liptak
- “SEPTA’s Crisis is not just a ‘City of Philadelphia’ problem” – Commentary by the CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust
- “Transit in Crisis: SEPTA, State Funding and Philly’s Future” – WURD’s Solomon Jones and Sara Lomax interview SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer and other guests