SEPTA wants to spend $2.6 billion to add police and upgrade cars but needs Harrisburg to step up with funding by June 30
The authority says it has won $524 million in competitive federal infrastructure grants for projects in Southeast Pennsylvania in the last three years, but state aid is still needed.
SEPTA plans to spend $2.6 billion over the next fiscal year, adding more police officers, increasing service frequency on Regional Rail and transit, and beginning to replace the cars on the Market-Frankford Line.
For the first time, the agency is consolidating its annual budget to include both operating expenses — $1.74 billion — and spending on capital projects — $922 million.
But there’s an asterisk in the plan for operations in the 2025 fiscal year as the last of SEPTA’s federal pandemic relief money dries up. The authority needs a cash infusion from the state to avoid service cuts of 20% and a fare increase.
“We cannot continue in the current form without knowing that those numbers … are coming our way,” CEO Leslie S. Richards said in an interview. “We won’t be able to hold the line.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed bumping up the share of state sales tax revenue devoted to operating assistance for all transit systems. It would generate $161 million extra for SEPTA, tied to $24 million from Philadelphia and the four suburban counties. The change wouldn’t completely solve the funding problem but would get SEPTA closer. The legislature has to agree to the proposal.
If the increase doesn’t pass the legislature by June 30, the agency will need to plan cuts to take effect in the fall, she said.
Despite the fiscal cliff, SEPTA is “poised to make historic investments,” Richards said.
That’s thanks in large part because the authority has had success winning federal discretionary grants for transit investments over the last three years, officials say — $524 million of the $957 million awarded under the 2021 infrastructure law for all Southeast Pennsylvania projects.
Capital program highlights:
SEPTA has budgeted $922.8 million for fiscal 2025 capital spending, including about $161 million for infrastructure improvements, repairs, and maintenance. Over the next 12 years, the agency plans to spend $14 billion.
Replacement of aging vehicles in the Market-Frankford Line, Broad Street Line, and trolley fleets are scheduled to be completed within 12 years. SEPTA says that it is guaranteed the federal and state money to fund the three acquisitions. It operates one of the older sets of rail cars in the nation.
New MFL cars, which workers in SEPTA shops have kept operating with repairs of cracks and breakdowns, are scheduled for delivery later this decade and the early 2030s. Bids for the job will be opened this year.
New trolleys, larger and ADA-accessible, are set to become part of SEPTA’s fleet at the end of this decade. Alstom was awarded a $714 million contract to build them in upstate New York.
And the BSL vehicles, which are in pretty good shape despite being more than 40 years old, will be replaced by the mid-2030s. Specs are set to be drawn up in 2026.
Operating budget highlights:
$72 million to hire 40 new transit police officers for patrol positions and 100 new workers to clean stations, vehicles, and tracks; and a bigger department for operational safety of the system. The amount would be double what SEPTA spent on these items in 2022.
Increasing Regional Rail service frequency and syncing schedules to make it easier for riders to transfer to transit, a first step in the planned retooling of commuter rail.
Continued expansion of the Key Advantage Program, in which employers pay wholesale for transit passes to offer free to their workers. It now has more than 50 participating employers with 91,000 beneficiaries, SEPTA says.
No fare increases or service cuts in 2025 — if the legislature passes increased operating assistance.
Even with more state aid, SEPTA says it will need to spend down almost all of its $539 service stabilization reserve funds over the next six years to close a projected yearly $76 million structural budget gap; that is in addition to what would be covered by increased state aid. The agency has been building the reserve fund since 2007. “It’s a little rough that it took us 15 years to save for it, and it will be spent in six,” Richards said. But “we’re happy to have it.”