Signs and chants supplemented personal testimonies as nearly a hundred attendees packed the sidewalk in front of the transit agency’s headquarters, calling for the Governor and General Assembly to fully fund SEPTA and transit throughout the Commonwealth to prevent devastating service cuts.
Philadelphia, PA − May 19, 2025 − State lawmakers from Philadelphia and the surrounding counties rallied today outside of SEPTA’s headquarters in Center City as the transit agency began a series of public hearings on its proposed 2025–2026 budget, including the severe service cuts and steep fare hikes it will be forced to implement without crucial state funding.
SEPTA’s announcement of its funding crisis last month follows years of chronic underfunding of SEPTA and transportation authorities across the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania spends less per capita on transit than any other state in the Northeast with a major transit system.
“Across Pennsylvania, traditional modes of transportation—our buses, trains, trolleys, and subways—have played a crucial role in building our towns and cities. The greater Philadelphia region is just 5% of Pennsylvania’s land area, but we produce 41% of its economic activity,” said State Senator Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia), who chairs the PA Senate’s Philadelphia Delegation and serves as Democratic Chair of the Senate’s Urban Affairs and Housing Committee. “If SEPTA is forced to cut services, we face the loss of nearly 80,000 jobs and $6 billion in wages, while Pennsylvania stands to lose more than $11 billion in tax revenue. We are united in our demands for fully funded SEPTA as legislators, advocates, riders, and neighbors who care about the health and wellbeing of our city and our Commonwealth, because we know that investing in SEPTA is investing in us.”
“Investing in SEPTA is an investment in a crucial economic development engine,” said State Representative Morgan Cephas (D–Philadelphia), who chairs the PA House’s Philadelphia Delegation. “Reliable public transit attracts businesses, creates jobs, and stimulates local economies. A funded public transportation system supported the Philadelphia Eagles’ Championship Parade and is needed for the 250th Anniversary celebration of the nation’s founding in 2026. The current proposal, included in Governor Shapiro’s 2025–2026 budget and in House Bill 1364, would increase the portion of state sales and use tax revenue that is directed to public transportation authorities by 1.75% and add $282 million to the Public Transportation Trust Fund to support transit agency operations across the state without raising any taxes. Investing in SEPTA is an investment in our future, and without legislative action in Harrisburg, service cuts and fare hikes will hit our economy extremely hard.”
Nearly a hundred transit riders, advocates, and community leaders attended this morning’s rally. Speakers addressed the devastating impact of the proposed service cuts to their lives, their families, and their communities.
Transit for All PA, a coalition of elected officials, labor unions from across the Commonwealth, and dozens of community organizations and businesses, helped to coordinate today’s rally.
“Transit is an essential service for all 67 counties in Pennsylvania. But nowhere is that more literally true than in the SEPTA region,” said Connor Descheemaker, Statewide Campaign Manager for Transit for All PA. “When I-95 collapsed, we acted with coordinated, focused resolve. SEPTA serves four times as many people every day, so we must act with attendant, and greater urgency to win a dedicated, long-term solution.”
Dr. Spenser Chen, a resident physician with dual training in internal medicine and pediatrics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, spoke of public transit as a matter of public health.
“Every day, my colleagues and I—doctors, nurses, environmental service workers, and all of the workers who make our hospitals run—rely on SEPTA to show up and take care of our communities,” said Chen. “From early mornings, to rush hour, to the middle of the night, we travel across the city to care for our fellow Philadelphians in outpatient clinics, community hospitals, and in our neighborhoods. SEPTA brings us to work and back home again. We depend on SEPTA to care for our communities, and we also know our communities need SEPTA to thrive.”
Many members of the PA House and Senate Southeast Delegations traveled to the rally via SEPTA’s Paoli/Thorndale line, which is set to be eliminated in January 2026 without funding, along with four additional regional rail lines and 50 bus routes.
“We can’t abandon some of the greatest economic assets in our state,” said Senator Tim Kearney(D–Delaware County), who chairs the PA Senate’s Southeast Delegation. “We are at a critical moment across the country, as changes in the ways people live and work are transforming our real estate and transportation systems.”
Coming from the northern part of the Philadelphia region, members of the Save the Train Coalition traveled to this morning’s rally via both the Chestnut Hill East line and the Chestnut Hill West line—the latter of which is slated for elimination.
“Governor Shapiro and state leaders must avert this crisis and close SEPTA’s budget gap, but they must do far more than that,” said Bob Previdi, Policy Director for Save the Train. “Our leaders need to embrace a bold, forward-thinking investment strategy for public transit as part of a comprehensive statewide transportation plan that funds roads, bridges, highways, airports, and seaports to support a growing economy. We want SEPTA to not just survive but to thrive.”
Philadelphia City Councilmembers Kenyatta Johnson, who represents Philadelphia’s Second Council District and serves as Council President, and Nicolas O’Rourke, who serves as an At-Large member of City Council, attended the rally and spoke on SEPTA’s vital role in meeting the needs of people throughout the region.
“SEPTA and mass transit as whole are the backbone of Philadelphia and the entire region. It gets our children to school, our seniors to the doctor, and our workers to their jobs. Without SEPTA, this city doesn’t move, and without proper state funding, SEPTA can’t survive,” said Johnson. “The $213 million deficit SEPTA faces for the upcoming fiscal year threatens catastrophic service cuts, fare hikes, and station closures that would devastate working families and stall our city’s growth. We are calling on the General Assembly to pass Governor Shapiro’s proposed transit funding plan before the June 30 deadline. We must act now to keep Philadelphia and Pennsylvania moving forward!”
“Whether it’s getting to City Hall, the corner store, church, or the club, SEPTA is the great equalizer of our city and of this region,” said O’Rourke. “In a city as divided by race and wealth as ours, SEPTA is one of the few public goods that can still get us all to the same place, on the same vehicle.”
State Senator Christine Tartaglione, State Representative Joe Hohenstein, and State Representative Sean Dougherty (all D–Philadelphia) represent districts in Northeast Philadelphia, which face the prospect of losing crucial transit service via the termination of the Trenton line and several integral bus routes. The legislators addressed the urgent need for action on behalf of the communities that depend on SEPTA.
“In this city, SEPTA is how we live. When we hear talk about cutting 50 bus routes, shutting down rail lines, raising fares, and closing stations, we’re talking about cutting people off from their lives,” said Tartaglione. “The General Assembly must act now, because the cost of doing nothing is much higher than the cost of doing the right thing.”
“SEPTA moves more than 750,000 people every day throughout our region, and the economic impact is felt throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Hohenstein. “Our kids, seniors, members of the disability community, and neighbors across the region depend on SEPTA to get them to school, work, doctor’s appointments, sporting events, and so much more. Closing down valuable transit infrastructure in any capacity is not an option, and the legislature needs to act to keep our people and our economy moving.”
“If we don’t fund SEPTA now, then we will all be honking our horns in traffic together on 95, 76, and the Boulevard,” said Dougherty. “Our voices can be louder than our horns. We need to fund SEPTA, and we need to fund it now, not only for the city and county of Philadelphia, but for the Commonwealth as a whole. Every time we tap that card, that money is helping support roads and bridges in all 67 counties.”
After the rally, many of the attendees gathered moved inside SEPTA’s headquarters to provide their testimonies to SEPTA’s board.
The full recording of today’s event is available on Senator Saval’s website.