ARDMORE, PA — At a roundtable held on Thursday, June 5, State Representative Mary Jo Daley convened civic and business leaders to address the urgent need for dedicated funding for public transit in Pennsylvania. Amid growing concerns over SEPTA’s looming budget shortfall, Daley and other speakers emphasized the vital link between transit funding and economic stability.
“I have voted five times in the last two House legislative sessions to support statewide transit with dedicated funding,” said Daley, D-Montgomery. “Those measures have been ignored in the state Senate, but we’re still fighting to pass funding this session, possibly along with the state budget.”
SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer warned that without immediate financial support, the transit system faces significant service cuts. “Without new funding for transit, SEPTA will be forced to move forward with service cuts that would significantly reduce property values, depress job and earnings growth, and result in hundreds of millions of dollars of lost tax revenues,” Sauer explained.
SEPTA’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget outlines the drastic measures needed to tackle a $213 million structural deficit unless a long-term funding solution is reached. These include service reductions and fare increases, which officials say could ripple across the entire region, increasing traffic congestion and harming the workforce.
The impact of SEPTA service extends across Pennsylvania, as Main Line Chamber of Commerce President Bernard Dagenais highlighted. “The future of SEPTA is important not just for Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania, but for the entire state that benefits from the region’s economic activity,” he said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget proposal includes $292 million in new mass transit funding next year, with plans to expand to $1.5 billion over five years. The funding would bolster 52 systems serving nearly 1 million daily riders statewide. Representative Daley indicated strong support for Shapiro’s plan, expressing readiness to prioritize transit in the budget.
Public transit advocates underscored the wider benefits of funding systems like SEPTA, referencing data from the American Public Transportation Association that shows a $5 economic return for every dollar spent on transit. Furthermore, every $1 million investment in public transportation generates 500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.
Bob Previdi, policy director for Save the Train, summed up the stakes, stating, “Reliable public transit is critical to our economy and quality of life. Now is the time to strengthen our investment in SEPTA and all transit systems to ensure that Philadelphia and Pennsylvania continue to lead in a globally competitive economy.”
With SEPTA and its supporters making an urgent appeal, attention now shifts to the state legislature as they finalize the upcoming budget. Advocates hope that 2025-26 will mark a turning point for Pennsylvania’s transit funding trajectory.
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