Andrew Busch, a SEPTA spokesperson, said that because the agency's budget needs to be balanced by July 1, the board is set to vote on a proposal that includes a 21.5% fare increase and a 45% reduction in service.
"This is a real doomsday scenario," Busch told Action News. "Overall, half of all service that is running today would be gone by January 1. For Regional Rail riders, we would be eliminating five lines. This includes the Paoli-Thorndale line, which is our heaviest-traveled."
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SEPTA officials were back in Harrisburg on Wednesday to continue pushing for public transportation funding to be included in the state budget.
Without that money, SEPTA says 50 bus routes and five Regional Rail lines will be eliminated. There will also be a 20% reduction in service on all remaining routes.
Plus, SEPTA says a 9 p.m. curfew will be implemented, all special services will be cut, and 66 stations will close.
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Busch explained, "We would do these service cuts in two phases - on August 24 and then on January 1."
According to SEPTA, a 20% service cut will go into effect on August 24. Then, in September, the agency says a 21.5% fare increase will be implemented, a complete hiring freeze will begin, and the base fare will be bumped up to $2.90.
Without state funding, additional 25% service cuts will start on January 1, 2026, when the 9 p.m. curfew will go into effect for the remaining Metro and Regional Rail lines.
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"These are all things we don't want to do, but we had to come up with a plan that was going to allow us to exist in some form with some core services left," Busch said. "But it really would start the dismantling of the system as we know it today."
If this budget proposal, which includes fare increases and service cuts, is approved on Thursday, but state lawmakers eventually find funding for the agency in the 2026 budget, Busch said SEPTA's board could make amendments to save service.
"They could take a vote to come back and amend it (the budget) so that those cuts wouldn't go into place. But we don't have a whole lot of time to work with."