State legislators break promise to address transit funding ‘crisis’

With only two days in session remaining this year, it appears unlikely the state Legislature will follow through on a July promise to enact a sustainable funding source for public transit this fall.

And the fallout from the lack of additional funding already is beginning to show with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority raising fares for certain riders next month and warning of service cuts next spring, while Pittsburgh Regional Transit says it will be planning its own cuts for 2026 if funding doesn’t move forward next year.

The problem stems from sharp ridership losses that hit almost all transit agencies across the country during the pandemic. The federal government stepped forward with billions of dollars in grants to keep systems running, but now that money is running out at a time when many agencies are still more than 25% below pre-pandemic ridership levels.

Funding shortfall

In Pennsylvania, state funding for public transit hasn’t increased in more than 10 years. For the 2024-25 budget, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed raising the amount of money for transit drawn from the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Trust Fund by 1.75%, adding $282.2 million a year for five years for transit.

That was smaller than the state House’s unsuccessful effort last year for a 2% increase, but the state Senate still wouldn’t approve the measure. In July, with the passage of the state budget already two weeks late, Shapiro and legislative leaders struck a deal to provide a one-time increase of $80.5 million for transit to get the budget passed with a promise to handle long-term transit funding in the fall.

Since then, the House Transportation Committee has held a dozen hearings about the need for transit funding across the state and passed several options — including another one-time allotment passed in the House Tuesday that would use money from an unexpected 2% increase in state sales tax collections to provide another $200 million. The Senate adjourned for the week without considering the bill and only has two days in session after the Nov. 5 election, and those days traditionally are reserved for ceremonial actions.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Ed Neilson, D-Philadelphia, said Friday he’s “frustrated” about the lack of action in the Senate. The additional stop-gap money should be an easy decision, he said, because it involves reallocating money, not raising taxes.

“I think the Transportation Committee did our job,” Neilson said. “We held hearings and heard the needs across the state. We can’t allow the transit agencies to starve.”

Republican leaders in the Senate couldn’t be reached for comment, but since Shapiro’s January proposal they have expressed concern about providing more transit money. Although all 67 counties have transit programs, 87% of the funding goes to agencies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia because of the large volumes of riders they serve.

GOP leaders say that makes it hard for legislators from rural areas to support an increase. The one-time increase approved in July included additional money for local counties and municipalities to fix roads and bridges they own, and the bill passed Tuesday would have set aside 25% of the extra sale tax revenue for local communities.

Asked about the lack of transit funding during a visit to Pittsburgh two weeks ago, Shapiro said money is available and “You’ll have to ask Sen. Pittman” why it isn’t being allocated, referring to Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana. Pittman couldn’t be reached for comment.

Service cuts

SEPTA, which has already spent all of its pandemic money, is ready to make substantial changes.

The agency, which has been warning for more than a year that it could go into a death spiral without more funding, held hearings earlier this month on a plan to eliminate a 50-cents-a-ride incentive for riders who use the system’s prepaid fare system, similar to PRT’s ConnectCard. It also will double parking rates from $1 to $2 and from $2 to $4 at select park-and-ride lots that had been free for four years during and after the pandemic.

But the agency said in a news release those changes won’t eliminate a projected $240 million deficit next year. It expects to announce a round of major service cuts in the spring unless additional funding is approved.

Adding to the agency’s struggles, CEO and General Manager Leslie Richards, the former Pennsylvania Department of Transportation secretary who went to SEPTA five years ago, announced Friday that she is leaving the agency at the end of November.

At Pittsburgh Regional, CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said Friday her agency is on the same course as SEPTA but about two years later. That’s because it has been spending the federal pandemic money but saving a substantial portion of its state subsidy for several years.

Without funding changes, the agency is projecting a deficit of $120 million beginning in 2026.

“Then 2026 becomes a batten-down-the-hatches year,” she said. “We will be talking massive changes. We’re talking wholesale abandonment of services.”

Neilson and freshman Rep. Joe McAndrew, a Penn Hills Democrat who sits on the House Transportation Committee, used the same word in separate interview to describe proposed severe cuts in transit: “devastating.”

Neilson said SEPTA brings about 800,000 commuters into Philadelphia every day. The city only has about 50,000 parking spaces, so a severe reduction in transit service would make it difficult for workers to get to the state’s largest economic center.

Cuts in Allegheny County could cause the same difficulty because Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle and Oakland neighborhoods are the second- and third-largest economic centers in the state.

Pittsburghers for Public Transit said service cuts would hurt people who need service the most. About 30% of PRT riders have no other source of transportation to get to medical appointments, grocery stores or other important appointments.

McAndrew said it was “frightening” that the five Republican House members from Allegheny County all voted against this week’s effort to use extra sales tax funds for transit. He also wasn’t happy the Senate never voted on the bill.

“This was a one-time payment of $200 million to fill the gap for now,” he said. “All it did was take money that was already available and use it. The Senate left town before they could take action on this.”

Neilson said he “remains hopeful” that senators will get an earful from constituents on Election Day and take the bill in the remaining two sessions, but that isn’t likely.

Kelleman said PRT — as well as other agencies and transit advocates across the state — would continue “robust” lobbying efforts when the next legislative session begins in the spring. She stressed that smaller agencies across the state are facing the same problems, just on a different scale.

“It’s a crisis for the entire commonwealth,” she said.