As school nears, public transit cuts loom over students and families who rely on SEPTA

For Autumn Fingerhood, a single mother who works three jobs, public transportation is the reason her 15-year-old daughter can get to school and back every day. However, the bus her daughter relies on is slated to be cut in a matter of weeks if Pennsylvania’s Republican-led Senate doesn’t quickly pass a state budget or a separate standalone bill with funding for mass transit.

“How do you expect my daughter to get to school?” Fingerhood, a resident of northeast Philadelphia, said during an Aug. 10 press conference regarding looming transportation cuts.  “She will have no bus. How do you expect her to participate in after-school activities while there is no bus service? I’m a single mom who works hard every single day to support my children. Three jobs I work. I do not have others to rely on.”

“Who is going to drop my daughter off and pick her up? Am I supposed to quit my jobs?” Fingerhood continued.

With a state budget that’s now six weeks late, leadership at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the largest mass transit group in the state that’s often referred to as SEPTA, has said the agency will have to cut about half of its service, including eliminating entire bus and rail lines, if it doesn’t secure state funding by Aug. 14. Without state funding, service cuts are slated to begin on Aug. 25, one day after public school begins in Philadelphia. About 55,000 Philadelphia students rely on SEPTA to get to school, according to Shapiro, and the transit agency serves more than 700,000 riders daily.

While Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and the Democratic lawmakers who control the state House have pushed for a 2025-26 budget that includes an increase in funding for mass transit in all 67 of the state’s counties, as well as the funding for roads and bridges across the commonwealth, the Republican-controlled Senate has not voted on a budget and has been resistant to funding public transportation.

The state constitution mandates that Pennsylvania lawmakers pass a balanced budget by June 30 each year, though lawmakers often miss that deadline. Last year, it was slightly late, with Shapiro signing the budget legislation into law in July. In other years, budget impasses have stretched on for months — such as the budget in 2016 that was nine months late. While a budget that is late by a couple of weeks doesn’t typically cause financial issues for those who rely on state funding, this year’s ongoing impasse means a delay in funding for schools, county health departments, early childhood education programs, and others.

The Democratic-led House on July 14 passed its budget, and, due to the lack of movement from Senate Republicans to approve a budget, on Monday, Aug. 11 greenlit a bill that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding for mass transit agencies across the state. The Senate, which has been in session a total of 25 days since Shapiro presented his budget proposal on Feb. 4, is expected to return to session on Aug. 12, at which time they could take up the House bills before them.

Under House Bill 1788, an additional 1.75% of state sales tax revenue would go into a public transportation fund that supports transit systems across the state. That increase, from 4.4% to 6.15%, would represent an additional $292 million for public transportation. The legislation would also authorize the bonding of $325 million for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to maintain roads and bridges.

It appears unlikely that Republican senators will pass the legislation before them, and GOP lawmakers issued statements on Aug. 11 condemning the Democratic legislation that would boost funding for public transportation.

“Amid a month-long budget impasse, Democrats moved to take hundreds of millions more in state money and sent it to save Philadelphia’s failing public transit system,” Republic. Rep. Tim O’Neal said in a prepared statement. “These are taxpayer dollars meant to help all Pennsylvanians, not just those in one city.”

Shapiro and Democratic lawmakers were careful to point out that the funding would go to public transportation and road and bridge repairs across the state, including to SEPTA.

“The funding that I am fighting for, that these lawmakers are fighting for, these union leaders are fighting for, is funding that will go to supporting mass transit in each of our 67 counties,” Shapiro said during the Aug. 10 press conference at SEPTA’s headquarters in Philadelphia. “Don’t let anybody tell you this is just a Philadelphia issue or a Pittsburgh issue. This is a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania issue, and we are working to resolve it together.” 

“This is for that mom that wants to get home to her kid,” the governor continued. “It’s for that kid that wants to get to school. You know who else it’s for? That bus driver that wants to be able to provide for their families. Understand that if SEPTA is forced to go forward with these rollbacks, with these cuts, with these eliminations of lines and service, that means that that bus driver that was driving a bus for 40 or 45 hours may now only be driving it for 30 or 35 hours. That’s less food on the table for their families. That’s less opportunity that they can give to their children.”

Fingerhood also focused on the devastation these public transit cuts would cause for Pennsylvania’s workers. 

“I’ve been asking, and will continue to ask, who do these cuts serve?” Fingerhood said. “I know it’s not the workers. I know it’s not the taxpayers, and I know it’s not my daughter. I know it’s also not the students.” 

“It seems that there has been a war declared on our community,” Fingerhood continued. “And the politicians who serve Harrisburg — Harrisburg, you need to wake up. You need to get it together. You need to do your job, and you need to fund SEPTA.”