Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trains are seen parked in the vicinity of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Pa. House Democrats advance mass transit funding ahead of looming SEPTA cuts
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Jaxon White/WITF
Matt Rourke / AP Photo
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trains are seen parked in the vicinity of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
HARRISBURG — A deadline for potential service cuts to Philadelphia’s transit system pushed House Democrats on Wednesday to advance a funding proposal with new transparency measures championed by a Senate Republican.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority said in a news release this week that it needs lawmakers to reach a funding agreement by next week to avert a 20% service cut threatening tens of thousands of passengers, including schoolchildren, and the implementation of a 9 p.m. transit curfew.
“Our planning and operations staff have worked hard to compress the timeline for pre-schedule changework, but we cannot push it beyond Aug. 14,” Scott Sauer, general manager of SEPTA, said in a statement. “If funding is not secured by then, these painful service cuts will go into effect on Aug. 24.”
The looming cuts would end 32 bus routes and reduce rail offerings, according to SEPTA. The agency has said it’s facing a $213 million budget deficit.
“These cuts will be devastating to my neighbors, who rely on SEPTA every single day to get to work, school and medical appointments,” the funding bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Sean Dougherty, of Philadelphia, said during Wednesday’s committee meeting.
Approving the legislation before the deadline would allow SEPTA to prepare its equipment and digital schedule offerings, and finalize work schedules for its employees, the agency said in the release.
Dougherty’s legislation, passed out of the Transportation Committee in a 16-10 vote (two Republicans favored it), mirrors funding proposed earlier this year by Gov. Josh Shapiro — allocating $292 million from the state’s sales tax for public transit agencies statewide, including more than $167 million allocated for SEPTA and $40 million for Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
The bill also includes several of Philadelphia Republican Sen. Joe Picozzi’s oversight proposals, including requiring SEPTA and PRT to report to the General Assembly every other year their efforts to improve long-term financial health.
Other agencies would not be held to the same requirements, but SEPTA isn’t alone in facing potential service cuts.
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority and Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees transit lines like rabbittransit and Capital Area Transit across 11 southcentral Pennsylvania counties, have said they, too, would reduce services if they don’t receive additional funds this year.
Shapiro pitched boosts of $6.5 million for Lehigh and Northampton and $5.7 million for Susquehanna.
“This crisis is not just about SEPTA. Other transit systems statewide are preparing to make cuts of their own,” Dougherty said. “These cuts will hurt real people, destroy jobs and hurt businesses of every size. These cuts do not need to happen.”
Mass transit funding has been a major sticking point this year as lawmakers have overshot by more than a month their June 30 deadline to pass a state budget.
House Democrats have advanced several transit-funding bills this year, but Senate Republican leadership has largely contested that it is not one of their caucus’ priorities. Some GOP members have opposed pulling from the sales tax to cover the increase.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, did not speak on the transit debate in a statement Wednesday, but he noted that budget negotiations are ongoing.
Pittman said he met with Shapiro on Tuesday and was “optimistic that consensus on a responsible budget can be reached.”
The Senate isn’t scheduled to return to Harrisburg until September, but members remain on a 24-hour call for a voting session.
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