Shapiro said the money can help SEPTA maintain services and avoid steeper fare increases.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro said Friday that he will divert more than $150 million in federal highway funding to provide a one-time injection of cash into Philadelphia’s mass transit system to help it avoid near-term service cutbacks and delay fare increases.Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
The nation’s sixth-largest mass transit system, SEPTA is facing an annual structural budget deficit of $240 million. The service cuts were planned to take effect July 1 and would include eliminating and shortening routes, and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley, subway, and Regional Rail service. The cuts would save an estimated $92 million in the first year.
Diverting highway funds is allowable under federal law. Former Gov. Ed Rendell did it in 2005 and 2010 to help transit agencies, and shifting the money is routine in some other states.when the Republican-controlled state Senate didn’t go along with Shapiro’s proposal for $283 million in new state aid to public transit. Instead, lawmakers approved a one-time payment to the state trust fund for transit systems, of which SEPTA got $46 million.
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