SEPTA's board appointed Scott Sauer general manager of the transit authority on Monday, removing the interim title he received when Leslie Richards stepped down in November, officials said.
Sauer, who began his career as a SEPTA trolley driver in 1990, will continue leading the agency through a period of financial peril that may bring drastic service cuts and a steep fare increase in the coming months.
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"I am confident that he is the best person to guide SEPTA through these challenging times ahead," SEPTA board chair Scott E. Lawrence said in a statement.
SEPTA faces a $213 million operating deficit if state lawmakers are unable to agree on a deal for new funding in this year's budget.
In April, Sauer presented a dire picture of SEPTA's plan to balance its budget — which is required by law. SEPTA would slash service by 20% beginning in late August and increase fares by 21.5% on Sept. 1. By the beginning of next year, service would be reduced by 45% and all remaining Regional Rail lines, subways and trolleys would have a 9 p.m. cutoff.
Sauer said SEPTA will be "a shadow of itself" if lawmakers in Harrisburg can't find a solution.
SEPTA's board voted unanimously to stick with Sauer after a nationwide search for candidates to replace Richards. Sauer said Monday he will embrace a "back-to-basics" approach that stresses safety, customer service and reliability across the system.
Last month, SEPTA heard public comments on its proposed budget and service cuts ahead of a June 26 board vote to approve the spending plan.
Transit advocates and state lawmakers have spent months sounding the alarm over the impact the region will feel if SEPTA eliminates five Regional Rail lines and 50 bus routes next year.
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission has forecast that the proposed service cuts will put another 275,000 cars on the road every day across Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. The advisory agency warned that the loss of vital public transit service will create significantly more traffic on highways and local roads, choking the state's economy and lowering air quality in the Philadelphia region.
SEPTA has had to contend with uncertain funding over the past few years due to the expiration of Act 89, the state law that had long supported the budgets of transportation agencies across Pennsylvania. Temporary federal funding provided during the COVID-19 pandemic has since run out, and dwindling funds from PennDOT have left SEPTA and other agencies reliant on state lawmakers to agree on a long-term funding model.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic lawmakers have faced resistance to transit funding proposals from Senate Republicans, who have said the state needs to address its own structural budget deficit.
Shapiro's proposed budget this year would raise funding for public transportation by committing a larger share of the state's sales tax to transit agencies. The governor helped SEPTA avert a fare increase and service cuts last year by diverting federal highway funds to the authority as a stop-gap measure.
Potential funding solutions have failed to garner enough support in Harrisburg in recent legislative sessions.
Two years ago, state Reps. Joseph Hohenstein (D) and Ben Waxman (D) proposed giving counties in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions the authority to levy local taxes to pay for transportation projects and ease pressure on operating budgets.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, have pushed for legislation that would tax games of skill to support public transportation and other spending increases. Talks around taxing the slot-style video game terminals fell apart last year.
Most recently, state Sens. Nikil Saval (D) and Lindsey Williams (D) proposed a bill in April that would raise money for public transportation by increasing taxes on ride-hailing companies, rental cars and vehicle leases. Saval said he's seen a groundswell of support from transit advocates and constituents who have been reaching out to Republican lawmakers to convey the urgent need for a solution.
"If we fail to fund transit, it will be a major economic blow to the commonwealth," Saval said during a recent phone interview.
The state faces a June 30 deadline to pass Shapiro's $51.5 billion budget proposal, which includes a 7.5% increase in spending over last year's budget.
