SEPTA riders are in trouble. Looming budget cuts will cause a reduction of services, fare hikes. and a guaranteed disruption to passengers.
“If these service cuts happen, I will either need to start driving on 76 and deal with traffic every day,” said Noah Nachmani of Old City.
“I may even need to move away or find a job in the city,” he said.
Nachmani commutes to Norristown. Every weekday morning he takes the 2nd street Market-Frankford Line stop to Suburban Station and takes the regional rail to Norristown.
His reasoning for living in Philadelphia could soon be disrupted.
“Philly being one of the few cities with reliable and usable public transportation is one of the main drivers towards me living here,” said Nachmani.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) announced a 45% budget cut for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The cuts would eliminate bus stops and Regional Rail lines. Buses and the metro would not run as often, and there would be a 9 p.m. curfew for Regional Rail and metro lines. Along with these service cuts, fare would be increased to $2.90—the same cost for a New York City subway.
SEPTA raised their fare prices in December of last year and will have another increase in September to try and combat a budget deficit.
There are 1.551 million people are living in Philadelphia, and as of January 2025, SEPTA sees 705,848 passengers daily system-wide.
Bridget Frame, a South Philadelphia resident, works a non-traditional job and relies on SEPTA to get home after she clocks out.
“SEPTA is the most cost-effective way for me to get around the city,” said Frame, “A 9 p.m. curfew would make it difficult for me to get home. I’m talking a three-mile walk at 11 p.m.”
She said Philadelphia is a working-class city that needs low-cost, reliable mass transit.
“All workers deserve readily available transit, regardless of punched in or time punched out,” she said.
Caroline Wilson of South Philadelphia said her family heavily relies on SEPTA.
“My husband doesn’t drive, so he takes SEPTA to work, and my middle schooler rides SEPTA every day to and from school,” said Wilson, “I have a 15-year-old car I’m not planning on replacing once it dies because SEPTA gets us everywhere we need to go.”
Since the budget proposal was announced April 10, there has been mass outreach and petitioning, a protest at City Hall and a social media petition. SEPTA has released an interactive map to show what services would be affected by these cuts.
SEPTA will vote on the FY26 budget proposal on June 26. To learn more about the SEPTA funding crisis, go to www.septa.org/fundingcrisis/.
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