[Image Description: A large crowd of people with signs at Philadelphia City Hall.]
No budget without transit! SEPTA announced major service cuts and fare increases beginning August 2025.
What does this mean for riders?
Catastrophic cuts to transit service included in SEPTA’s proposed budget for the next year, impacting the whole Philadelphia metro area.
In the last decade, the funding formula for public transportation has remained stagnant, even as costs for transit agencies have continued to rise. Now we are fully at a crisis point: SEPTA has announced fixed route service cuts up to 45% and fare increases of 21.5%.
This would effectively kill public transit in our region, and the ensuing damage to our riders, our economy, our healthcare system, our road congestion, and air quality is incalculable.
On April 10th, SEPTA announced the cuts they would have to make in order to operate under the proposed budget, and they will impact every rider no matter if you’re traveling from Overbrook or South Philly. If enacted, the cuts would increase fares to New York City prices with a shadow of the service that Philadelphia used to receive. And the impacts on disabled riders would be even more profound, with 40,000 paratransit trips per year no longer served by SEPTA ACCESS, and fares increased by 35%.
But transit riders and workers are ready with a response that meets the scale of the crisis.
Our statewide coalition, Transit For All PA!, is organizing thousands of riders across the state to push for a new, dedicated funding source for public transit in the state budget. From Pittsburgh to Pottstown, Erie to Philly, we all need abundant, protected public transportation. And we can win it, together!
Use our tool to email your state elected officials, Want to take your actions further? Sign up to visit your legislator, join an issue coalition focused on disability or human services, or join one of our regular committees. Our actions and tools are being updated all the time right here.
Email your representatives Join the Transit for All PA! campaign
Remember, better transit–not worse–is possible, necessary, and transformative. We’re ready to bring this challenge to our state elected leaders: are you ready to meet this moment with us?
Now that you’ve taken action, let’s get into the nitty gritty. What exactly did SEPTA propose at their announcement on April 10th? Keep reading for our guide on the biggest impacts, and check out SEPTA’s funding crisis website and the Econsult Impact Report:
General & Infrastructure Impacts
Let’s start at a high level. SEPTA is at 80% ridership compared to pre pandemic levels and through cutbacks, SEPTA was able to shrink a $240 million budget deficit into a $213 million budget deficit. However, in order to continue operating the only path forward is by drastically reducing services, raising fares, and laying off larger numbers of their workforce. Or in SEPTA’s words “There is nothing left to cut from the budget but service.”
In SEPTA’s analysis, the proposed cuts would have decimating effects on the entire state’s economy, with disabled riders and night shift works particularly impacted:
- All Metro and Regional Rail service after 9 PM will be eliminated, with no exceptions for sporting events in the South Philadelphia Stadium District, stranding fans and workers.
- Over 50 bus lines across the region will be eliminated and an additional 104 lines will either be shortened or their service will be reduced. Is your bus on the chopping block?
- 5 major Regional Rail lines will be eliminated, including the Paoli/Thorndale line which has some of the highest ridership in the region.
- Over $19 billion loss in household property values
- Estimated 76,700 potential jobs lost and $6.0 billion in potential earnings lost
- A projected $11.4 billion loss in tax revenue collections
- And if all that isn’t compelling enough, the region and state will lose $674 million annual tax revenue
On top of all this, such drastic service cuts would also create a traffic crunch on our streets, and more crowding on buses and trains–as well as worsening impacts to climate change and air pollution by forcing more people into personal vehicles.
[Image Description: Map of the Philadelphia Metro showing the current regional rail, metro, bus, and trolley lines in different colors to signify the impacts of the budget cuts.]
The above map shows the wide reaching impacts of the cuts, the red lines show the eliminated routes. The proposed cuts will greatly impact riders in the surrounding counties including Trenton, New Jersey and Wilmington, Delaware.
Bus routes eliminated entirely (56)
- 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, 28, 32, 44, 77, 90, 92, 95, 103, 118, 127, 128, 132, B1 OWL, L1 OWL, 446, 447, 448, 490
Bus routes with major service reductions (63)
- 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
Bus routes shortened (16)
- 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 17, 27, 43, 61, 84, 115, 124, 125, 433, 441, 495
Regional Rail eliminated entirely (5)
- Cynwyd Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Paoli/ Thorndale Line, Trenton Line, Wilmington/ Newark Line
Metro and Trolley lines with major service reduction (12)
- B1 [BSL], B2 [BSL], B3 [BSL], L [MFL], D1 [101], D2 [102], T1 [10], T2 [34], T3 [13], T4 [11], T5 [36], G1 [15]
Regional Rail lines with major service reduction (7)
- Airport Line, Chestnut Hill East Line, Chestnut Hill West Line (eliminated after Jan 2026), Cynwyd Line (eliminated after Jan 2026), Fox Chase Line, Lansdale/ Doylestown Line, Media/Wawa Line, Manayunk/ Norristown Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line (eliminated after Jan 2026), Trenton Line (eliminated after Jan 2026), Warminster Line, Wilmington/Newark Line, and West Trenton Line.
9pm Curfew On All Remaining Metro & Regional Rail Lines
- B1 [BSL], B2 [BSL], L [MFL], M [NHSL], D1 [101], D2 [102], T2 [34], T3 [13], T4 [11], T5 [36]
- 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.
This is A LOT! What do I do now?
These cuts don’t have to happen–we can still act now to save our system! If you haven’t already, use our tool to contact your elected officials. Print out “Your [bus/train/trolley] could be cut” flyer and paste it up in your area. Then, sign up for our statewide organizing call where we’ll start to put pressure on the state government to champion transit funding for big cities and small towns alike.
SEPTA also needs to hear from you! Public comments are being accepted NOW through May 28. Click here for details. Show up in person in May at the times below!
OPERATIONS BUDGET PUBLIC HEARINGS AT 1234 MARKET ST
Monday, May 19, 11am. Details & registration
Monday, May 19, 5pm. Details & registration
Tuesday, May 20, 10am. Details & registration
Tuesday, May 20, 4pm. Details & registration
Wednesday, May 21, 10am. Details & registration
Wednesday, May 21, 4pm. Details & registration
Stay tuned to our newsletter, blog, and social media for more updates as they develop!
[Image Description: Blue flyer with red text that reads "Your Bus Line Could Be Cut: But the state government can save it! Use the QR code or call the Governor and tell them what SEPTA means to you. Call the Governor's Office: 717-787-2500" There is an image of a the 125 bus to King of Prussia, the Transit 4 All PA logo, the Transit Forward Philadelphia logo, text that reads "Take Action", and a QR code linking to the Transit 4 All PA take action page.]
