The following article is co-authored by Jah Yeboah-Gyasi and Kate Shuman. Post-note by Jason N. Peters.
For the many folks that live in the Southeastern region of Pennsylvania, SEPTA is a lifeline. Trains, trolleys, and buses connect hundreds of thousands of people across the area regularly. Last month (July 2025), the transportation authority estimated over 669,000 daily riders utilized their services. A noteworthy number of the people who ride SEPTA have no way of moving across the zone without it, Disabled Pennsylvanians depend on SEPTA to get to their appointments. Elderly Philadelphians depend on SEPTA to connect with their loved ones. Tired laborers depend on SEPTA to get home after exhausting days of work. Students depend on SEPTA to get to school and back. So why, instead of investing more thoroughly into sustaining these obviously important services, is SEPTA moving forward with Phase 1?
For those who don’t yet know, Phase 1 is the ominous introduction to sweeping cuts to SEPTA’s various bus and rail services. On August 24th and August 25th, most bus, trolley, and train riders experienced a reduction, discontinuation, or complete elimination to the services they depend on for transportation. On September 1st, riders will see the average fare increase 21.5 percent and bus/metro (trains/trolleys) fare will face a rise in fare from $2.50 to $2.90. This comes after SEPTA raised bus and metro fare 50 cents in December of 2024. Lastly, on September 2nd, Phase 1 will be complete and the Regional Rail will undergo service cuts as well. Altogether, this amounts to approximately 20 percent in service cuts and 32 bus routes, primarily in Philadelphia, entirely gone. So why? What’s the reason for these debilitating cuts to the lifeforce of Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania?
Well, SEPTA is undergoing a crisis, which is no surprise to those who use their services. However, this particular crisis is primarily due to conflict between Pennsylvania’s legislative members on where SEPTA’s funding should come from. PA House democrats say that the funding should come directly from an increase in SEPTA’s present share of the state’s sales tax, a 1.75 percent increase to be specific. PA Senate republicans argue that the Public Transportation Trust Fund and a portion of revenue from interactive gaming consoles should instead cover the bill. This quarrel played a hand in state budget disputes that had left SEPTA with a 240 million dollar budget deficit.
The Phase 1 service cuts that riders are forced to reckon with have only lowered SEPTA’s deficit to 213 million and the transportation agency isn’t done with their cuts yet. With more reductions to come, the future of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphians especially is up in the air. With over 1 in 5 households in Philly at or below the poverty line, the dwindling of SEPTA services is threatening to harm the already tenuous economy Philadelphians are forced to live within. Ready or not, the residents of Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania as a whole must come together and find meaningful ways to respond to the crisis we are facing, and prioritize the communities most in peril from these circumstances.
A few ideas people have come up with to navigate the issues that will inevitably come with these massive service cuts include offering carpool rides for folks who commute outside the city, buying bikes and/or walking and boycotting SEPTA, and offering rides to elderly neighbors for whatever the need. Many Philadelphians were hoping for a last-minute Hail Mary to save SEPTA, but now residents are turning to each other for solidarity and safety. Regardless of how meaningful these attempts are, it cannot realistically accommodate everyone’s needs.
It has been three days since the service cuts took effect—and honestly, the consequences of them are apparent to most just by being outside during rush hour. Streets are gridlocked with cars hitting every red light. People are running the length of multiple blocks in hopes of catching a bus for work. After being asked how they feel about this disastrous situation, these are some of the comments we received from riders:
“The MFL and BSL already would make me late at least once a week to work before the service cuts…I work in a restaurant and can’t afford to take on an additional $60+ a week in Ubers.” -Shel Chorney
“I’m a home health aide who travels to Jenkintown to work with a client with cerebral palsy. My shift ends at 9:00 and the last train from FTC is supposed to leave at 9:00 so I have to figure out what to do (unfortunately probably quit). Awful for everyone involved.” -Kimberly Mitchell
“It’s already a mess” -Krystle Griffin
“I’d love to protest in Harrisburg but they killed off the Keystone.” -Josh Walz
Others are angry with the PA state government for doing this to their residents, knowing well that politicians don’t have to rely on public transportation the way the rest of us do.
“Doug Mastriano looks like Grimace got turned into a human by a witch and I would love to see him spend an evening on the BSL peeing his pants and crying” -Matt Ramone
“At what point can we as a city decide to refuse to pay taxes to the state? [They] don’t do anything to help Philadelphia, why should Philadelphia tax dollars pay for [their] jobs?” – Becca Schack
Understanding the calculated, systematic injustices that coexist when we are made to face hardship due to neglect by the government is key to grasping the holistic nature of all current and future consequences. It is a form of economic persecution and it will significantly and negatively impact the lives of poor and working class people throughout the region. Denying entire populations of the resources they require to survive is class warfare. Under capitalism, when communities are revoked of their ability to work, they are revoked of their rights to basic necessities.
In many European countries, passengers of all economic backgrounds use public transportation. The trains are clean, maintained, safe and reliable. It is uniquely a problem of US society that mainly poor and working class people use public transportation, and our government knows that.
Post note:
On August 28th, two major developments took place in the SEPTA saga:
1.) SEPTA is restoring bus lines after a disastrous first week of school for students, according to NBC10 by pulling $135 million from “using a portion of the existing $135 million transit subsidy in the ‘One Philly 2.0’ Fiscal Year 2026 budget.”
2.) As reported by WHYY, a lawsuit has been filed against SEPTA by “lawyer George Bochetto, contending that SEPTA is ‘making up’ the ‘fiscal crisis’ in order to pressure state lawmakers for additional funding, using riders as bargaining chips… The complaint also argues that SEPTA has approximately $400 million in its Service Stabilization Fund — resources that could have been drawn upon instead of harming riders.”
It’s safe to say that the SEPTA saga isn’t over, the future remains uncertain with the current set of problems, and future problems linger when the full effects of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill hit state budgets.
Philly Plain Dealer 
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