More people are back in the office, but commuters say SEPTA service isn’t back to pre-pandemic norms

On Wednesday morning, SEPTA sent 39 notifications of Regional Rail trains running at least 10 minutes late and warned of potential delays or cancellations on 18 bus and trolley lines “due to operator unavailability.”

“It’s a gamble” trying to catch the bus, said a Pennsylvania state employee from West Philadelphia, who asked to remain nameless out of concern for their job. “There were times I would wake up earlier to get an earlier bus, and that wouldn’t show up.”

They have taken a rideshare to work on multiple occasions because their bus route options were canceled or late. Walking to a further bus stop isn’t an option because they have a disability. A lifelong bus rider, they said the system was more dependable before COVID-19.

“You have to laugh to keep from crying,” the West Philly bus rider said. “People could lose their jobs” if they’re late for work.

In mid-September, Philadelphia offices were fuller than they’ve been since early 2020, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks office occupancy using security-card swipe data. Philadelphia offices were about 43% occupied post-Labor Day, peaking on Tuesdays and quietest on Fridays. The uptick is in-line with a nationwide push back to in-person office work.

Despite the trend, SEPTA hasn’t fully restored service schedules to their pre-pandemic state. So workers are faced not only with resuming their old commute, but often adopting one that’s less flexible or less reliable than their pre-pandemic routine.

While the transit agency isn’t back to 100%, neither are commuters, given that offices are still less than half full.

But, at a time when city stakeholders are adamant about reviving weekday activity in the business district, would people be willing to commute more if transit and rail schedules were more robust and reliable?

SEPTA buses, subways, trolleys and Norristown High Speed Line — what the authority refers to as “transit” — are operating at 90% of pre-COVID service levels. Regional Rail is at 77% of pre-COVID service.

“Ridership is approximately 65% of pre-COVID levels, so there is capacity on the trains and buses that are operating today to carry more riders,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said.

But some riders say the limited choices leave less room for error on days when their ride of choice is canceled, delayed or especially crowded.

Regina Vicoli recently tweeted at SEPTA during her morning commute, frustrated that her Trenton Line train was short a few cars, forcing riders to pack in tight. “I never tweet,” Vicoli said, but “I was so angry.”

Trains are late often enough that she wonders why SEPTA doesn’t just change the timetables, said Vicoli, who works at Comcast. She’s noticed not all train doors open at each stop, so it takes longer for passengers to board and exit. (This is because older trains lack automatic doors, and often have too few conductors to manually open all doors, Busch explained.)

Some relief came, perhaps ironically, when SEPTA temporarily added capacity to the Trenton, West Trenton, and Fox Chase lines after a portion of I-95 collapsed.

“It was great,” said Vicoli, who normally takes a 6:45 a.m. train, but also had a 7 a.m. option during that time. “It was nice having that little buffer,” she said, but it was short-lived.

For those who stopped commuting for a year or more due to COVID-19, it might be hard to remember what the pre-pandemic options were. SEPTA hasn’t shied away from sharing that comparison, providing detailed charts on their website.

On Regional Rail, where departure times were already less frequent than other modes, several lines show continued lower service levels compared to early 2020, especially during morning and evening rush hour.

Between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., the Manayunk/Norristown Line went from 15 trains pre-COVID to nine now.

The Media/Wawa and Lansdale/Doylestown Lines went from 15 trains to 10 during the same three-hour window. Chestnut Hill West went from 10 trains to eight.

“Our schedule is terrible,” said a Mount Airy resident who works for the city and asked not to be named so as to not compromise their employment. “If you miss the 8:17 there’s not another train until around 9.”

Like any public transit system, SEPTA suffers from delays and disruptions the system cannot control, like weather or police activity. But understaffing and old equipment also play a role.

Regardless of the reason, anxious commuters frequently mention the @SEPTA_SOCIAL customer service account on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) alongside concerns about getting to work on time.

The transportation system, meanwhile, is facing its own ticking clocks.

SEPTA is approaching a huge budget deficit next year that will cause major service reductions and fare increases, unless leadership can secure new sources of government funding.

The system is also negotiating contracts with multiple unions at one time, including the 4,500-member Transport Workers Union Local 234, which voted to authorize a strike if they don’t get a contract by the end of this month. Regional Rail conductors and engineers have been working without a contract for months.

SEPTA wants to avoid a work stoppage, but CEO Leslie S. Richards has said meeting the union’s requests is difficult with such an uncertain financial future. “Our focus remains on reaching an agreement before the current contract expires,” spokesperson Busch said Thursday.

The union and management agree that SEPTA needs to hire more people. Busch noted that “Like many large employers, staffing continues to be a challenge,” that impacts current service levels. For example, SEPTA currently employs 2,540 bus operators, but is budgeted for 2,700 people in that role.

SEPTA takes staffing into account when planning schedules, Busch said, but individual absences are unpredictable.

One bus operator absence may only affect one trip, leaving several more options in the same hour. But SEPTA’s systems currently don’t allow it to announce which individual bus is canceled, only that the whole line may be impacted, leaving riders in the dark about their remaining options. Busch said they’re working on new web features so riders can more easily track buses by GPS.

On Regional Rail, understaffing and equipment are challenges. Two-thirds of the fleet “dates back to the Nixon administration,” Busch said, noting SEPTA’s historically low capital funding levels compared to peer agencies.

Not only do they lack features that speed up service, like automatic doors, but they break down more easily. When that happens “delays start to cascade through the system,” Busch said. Without newer equipment “some of these issues are unavoidable.”

SEPTA is making efforts to solve its staffing issues, Busch said. They’ve been holding job fairs and partnering with community organizations to find new hires, and expanded training class sizes for bus operators and Regional Rail trainees, he said.

Union leaders say better pay and more predictable work schedules would help. “Right now, we’re at a pivot point; negotiations can go either way. It’s also a pivotal time for SEPTA,” TWU Local 234 president Brian Pollitt recently told The Inquirer.

In the longer term, SEPTA wants to take hybrid schedules and more flexible work arrangements into account, bulking up midday, evening and weekend service. It’s part of a larger strategic plan, “to be more useful to more people,” pillared by projects whose names evoke substantial transformation, like “Bus Revolution” and “Reimagining Regional Rail.”

Meanwhile, Philly employers and Center City stakeholders are eager to get more workers back into downtown offices. Most of Comcast’s 8,000-person Center City workforce is now coming in four days a week, up from three in the prior year. Center City District has been holding free events like pop-up concerts and ping pong tournaments to celebrate the return of office workers.

“It’s been busier,” said Le Ma, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, who worked in person through the COVID shutdowns. He’s seen a gradual increase in office workers on the Lansdale/Doylestown Line for a while, with a bigger uptick more recently. But it’s still not like pre-COVID times, he said.

Even though trains aren’t overly crowded under the current schedule, Ma added, “It would be nice if it was more frequent.”