PHILADELPHIA – Responding to allegations supporters of public transport in southeastern Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro directed Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll to immediately transfer $153 million in federal highway capital funds to SEPTA.
“This money will prevent service cuts, and this money will prevent the dramatic fare increases that SEPTA has been considering until at least next July,” Shapiro said Friday at the Frankford Transportation Center in Philadelphia. “This will ensure that Southeastern Pennsylvanians who rely on SEPTA every day will be able to get where they need to go without having to pay higher costs.”
SEPTA officials have been sounding the alarm for months about funding challenges and on November 12 proposed increasing fees until over 20% until January 1. Although the boost was averted, a smaller boost of 7.5% will come into effect on December 1.
“SEPTA has been in a difficult situation for two years and we are headed to the bottom, and today Governor Shapiro came to our rescue,” Ken Lawrence, chairman of the SEPTA board, said at a press conference Friday. “While today’s announcement halts the death spiral and allows us to tread water, we still desperately need a permanent, sustainable funding solution for SEPTA and mass transit in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
“While mass transit agencies across the Commonwealth are struggling, it is true and beyond question that there is one agency that will not make it through next summer with the status quo, and that is SEPTA,” Shapiro said before the announcement.
Shapiro said the federal funding would create “a bridge, some time and space” for the House and Senate to work toward an agreement on statewide mass transit funding.
Carroll said Shapiro’s solution Friday wasn’t the first time the governor had stretched public transportation funding.
“Governor Rendell did this many years ago and it led to the passage of the transportation bill,” Carroll said. “I also hope that this flexing that is happening today will result in a serious conversation that can and will hopefully result in a transportation bill that will land on his desk next June.”
Where do the funds come from?
After the press conference, Carroll told reporters that funds would be siphoned from the following interstate projects: I-79 in Mercer County, I-80 in Columbia County, I-95 in Philadelphia County, I-83 York County, two I-80 projects in the county Jefferson and I-70 in Washington County.
“Let’s be clear: While this funding will come from seven different highway projects across the state, none of them are under construction yet. In fact, none of them were even put up for auction,” Shapiro said. “They’re far from here.”
“And listen to me, there is no reason to keep this money on our balance sheet in the state when we can now invest it in SEPTA,” Shapiro said.
In addition to donating highway funds to SEPTA, Shapiro said he has received commitments from each of the five counties that fund SEPTA to boost their local share by millions of dollars.
Local Democratic elected officials were on hand for the announcement, some sharing anecdotes about SEPTA’s impact on their lives and applauding Shapiro’s move.
“You can’t say you want a Pennsylvania that’s pro-growth and pro-business and you want SEPTA to spiral, because it’s the heart of the economic engine in Pennsylvania, in southeastern Pennsylvania,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said: saying Shapiro “walked the walk ” with his announcement.
Legislative response
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill that would triple funding for transportation in the state, although it failed to gain approval in the Republican-majority state Senate.
At the beginning of the week Shapiro said “the ball is in the Senate’s court.” on the adoption of the transit bill and added that he agreed to consider combining it with financing roads and bridges and regulating and taxing skill games.
But on Friday, Republicans criticized Shapiro’s actions and said their position had not changed.
“Governor Josh Shapiro’s announcement today to address the mass transit crisis facing SEPTA is a crisis of his own making,” Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) said in a statement.
“Gub. “Shapiro and House Democrats chose education over mass transit by approving the largest-ever budget increase for a traditional education system that continues to throw Philadelphia children into failing schools,” Ward added. “The bottom line is this: Pennsylvanians – especially those in the Southeast – are losing not because of divided government, but because Pennsylvania Democrats have chosen to focus their priorities and spending in just one area.”
But Democrats said transportation funding will remain a top issue next session.
“We must continue this fight and remain vigilant. When we return to Harrisburg in January, this will remain at the forefront of our agenda,” House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) said on the passage of the transportation funding bill.
State Representative Ed Neilson (Philadelphia) is chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He told the Capital-Star on Friday that they intend to pass a “comprehensive package” of transportation financing that would include ports, roads, bridges and mass transit.
State Rep. Jordan Harris (Philadelphia), who will serve as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee next session, called the federal flex funds for SEPTA “just a stopgap.”
“This is not the end of the road and we know that,” Harris said, adding that he thinks they will come together in a bipartisan way to pass a mass transit funding bill.
State Sen. Vince Hughes (R-Philadelphia) will serve as minority chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee next session. He also called transit funding “an extremely important and high priority.”
“What you’re seeing here is the recovery of all of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the business community, workers, elected officials – everyone is rallying around this system and sending a message that this needs to be addressed,” Hughes told the Capital-Star in an interview in Friday. “And we’re willing to address it, not just for our own interest in southeastern Pennsylvania, but we’re willing to address it for the interest of the entire state. Let’s do this for the entire Pennsylvania community.”
However, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (Indiana) and Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Wayne Langerholc (Clearfield) issued a joint statement saying they had not changed their previous position.
“Our Senate Republican Caucus has made it clear from the beginning that we will explore transit funding that makes sense and can be justified for the Commonwealth taxpayers who are asked to foot the bill,” Pittman and Langerholc said.
“In July, we reached a bipartisan agreement to provide $80.5 million in temporary funding for SEPTA and other transit agencies. The terms of this funding included a re-examination of the service delivery model, taking into account recent passenger reductions which are a direct result of Covid, people not working full-time in cities and the serious safety issues in the system,” they added. “Instead of making careful and sensible changes, they have chosen to politicize and plunder critical infrastructure projects for other districts that are far beyond SEPTA’s reach, ironically most of them in Republican districts.”
State Rep. Martina White is the only Republican currently serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly whose district is in Philadelphia. Recently, on October 22, she voted in support bill that would boost funding for public transport.
However, she told the Capital-Star that she does not support Shapiro allocating federal funds to SEPTA.
“Diverting federal highway funds from an already underfunded highway system to SEPTA funding is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” White told the Capital-Star. “While funding public transport is undeniably crucial, withdrawing funds from our already stressed highway infrastructure is not a sustainable solution.”
“This decision highlights the failure to create a long-term, dedicated funding plan for SEPTA, leaving both public transit riders and Pennsylvania drivers vulnerable,” she added. “Rather than stopgap solutions and last-minute maneuvers, we need real leadership and proactive solutions to address these challenges comprehensively.”
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