In a change of course on Wednesday, Mayor Cherelle Parker said she will not scrap a program that gives free SEPTA rides to city employees and hopes to reach a deal that will extend another program subsidizing fares for thousands of low-income residents in Philadelphia.
The SEPTA Key Advantage program, which serves about 15,000 city workers, and the Zero Fare program, which has enrolled about 25,000 low-income residents, were introduced during former Mayor Jim Kenney's tenure.
In her budget proposal in March, Parker had planned to cut funding for both programs because they relied on one-time federal assistance from the COVID-era American Rescue Plan Act. Her plan to drop the programs was met with criticism from transit advocates and members of City Council. Kenney, who has largely kept out of the public eye since leaving office, even wrote an op-ed for the Inquirer arguing that the city has "a responsibility" to maintain the SEPTA subsidies for working families who need them.
In a statement Wednesday, Parker said the city has extended funding for SEPTA Key Advantage and is in negotiations to continue Zero Fare into the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
For the last two years, the city had based its subsidies to SEPTA on figures included in Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed state budget. Last year, when the approved budget fell short of the proposed amount for public transportation, Parker said her administration still honored its financial commitment and provided an additional $15 million to SEPTA.
SEPTA still remains in limbo over its long-term funding outlook after Shapiro reached a deal in November to provide $153 million in short-term funding to the transit agency. The state budget he proposed in February would give SEPTA an additional $165 million to help stave off service cuts.
On Thursday morning, SEPTA plans to propose a budget that will include fare increases and significant service cuts across all modes of travel, officials said.
In December, SEPTA raised its base fare on buses, subways and trolleys for the first time in seven years with a 7.5% increase to $2.50 for riders who use SEPTA Key cards and other contactless payment methods. The 50-cent increase made the cost for those payment methods the same as the existing cash fare. SEPTA avoided an additional 21.5% fare hike and cuts to service when the state provided its short-term lifeline. Without more funding or steep cost-cutting measures, the transit authority is facing annual budget shortfalls of $240 million.
The Zero Fare program offers unlimited fares on buses, subways, trolleys and Regional Rail. To quality, residents must have incomes at or near the federal poverty line — $15,650 for individuals and $32,150 for a family of four.
Since the program debuted, about two-thirds of those who received subsidized fare cards in the mail have utilized them, SEPTA officials said. The program had provided about 6.6 million trips as of the middle of last month, and it averaged about 100,000 trips during the final quarter of last year.
Residents can't apply directly for the Zero Fare program. Instead, most participants are randomly selected through a lottery system. After the first year of the program, the city said about 90% of participants were chosen through the lottery and the rest were enrolled through community organizations serving immigrant and refugee populations.
Earlier this month, City Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke, of the Working Families Party, said he plans to introduce legislation that would create a permanent Philadelphia Transit Access Fund that would offer free or reduced fares for eligible residents.
Parker said Wednesday that ensuring free SEPTA rides for city workers is an important first step in bolstering Philly's fare programs.
“We have kept our word to our workforce," Parker said.
