SEPTA will increase fares Sept. 14 and seek PennDOT funds to cover full service for two years

SEPTA is moving forward with a 21.5% fare increase on Sept. 14 and will aim to restore full service across the transit system by the same date as part of a funding proposal submitted to PennDOT on Friday afternoon, officials said.

With the state budget overdue and no long-term funding solution in place for transportation agencies, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said he has made a request to PennDOT to use nearly $400 million of SEPTA's annual capital funding to cover operational costs for the next two years.

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If the one-time request is approved by PennDOT, SEPTA will avoid all of the drastic service cuts it had planned as a way to close the annual $213 million deficit in its operating budget. Sauer said he is optimistic to have a decision from PennDOT early next week.

"This is a Band-Aid," he said. "This will get us through a couple years, but at the expense of future capital programming. We still need a solution. We need something long term. We need legislators to continue this discussion."

On Thursday, a ruling in Philadelphia Common Pleas court ordered SEPTA to restore the service that it had already cut on Aug. 24. The ruling was initiated by a lawsuit filed on behalf of three SEPTA riders who claimed the budget crisis was deliberately overstated and that SEPTA officials were not pursuing all available options for fiscal solvency. The suit also argued the initial round of cuts — which slashed 32 bus routes and reduced service by 20% — disproportionately impacted low-income riders and threatened the economic well-being of the region.

Sauer said SEPTA's request to PennDOT is not a direct result of the court ruling, which he said is being appealed. SEPTA had told the court it could not safely restore full service before Sept. 14.

The PennDOT funding SEPTA is seeking would come from the state's Public Transit Trust Fund. SEPTA's annual $400 million allotment for capital projects would be shifted to maintaining operations at full service for the next two years. SEPTA would need to defer capital projects and repairs that the funds would otherwise have been used to complete, adding to an existing backlog of capital projects.

"We've talked all along about the risk of moving money from capital to operating," Sauer said. "Make no mistake about it, there's risk here — tremendous risk to SEPTA."

Sauer added the request to PennDOT was made because it became clear budget negotiations for transportation funding had reached a stalemate in Harrisburg. He said buying time will give SEPTA and lawmakers more of an opportunity to address concerns about transit safety and reliability that have held up a deal. The plan to use capital funding also would ensure that SEPTA is able to maintain service needed for next year's semiquincentennial and other major events.

"We think this is the best decision we can make at this moment," he said.

Regardless of whether PennDOT approves the request, the fare increase going into effect will rise SEPTA's base fare from $2.50 to $2.90

SEPTA officials noted the Aug. 24 service cuts were having an immediate impact on thousands of customers. From Monday to Friday of last week, Sauer said more than 4,400 people were left behind at bus and trolley stops because of crowded conditions caused by running less service. The number of bus trips running late was up about 26% compared with normal conditions.

"The service is just not what customers need to have and this really upset how people were moving around the region," Sauer said.

SEPTA's funding request from PennDOT is similar to a path recommended by Senate Republicans several weeks ago, with the exception of allocating money for roads and bridges statewide. This request would only impact SEPTA's capital funding, creating a short-term fix that will leave lawmakers with the same problem to address in two years.

"What we're doing here today is not sustainable," Sauer said. "I guess the confidence I have at this moment is we have two more years now to keep pushing the ball forward. It's not going to be easy."

SEPTA officials did not say what would be done if the funding request from PennDOT is denied.

"The plan right now is to utilize this funding to reinstitute service as quickly as possible," Sauer said.