SEPTA Created Service Crisis, Lower Bucks Co. Lawmaker Claims

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Several Lower Bucks County lawmakers are blasting SEPTA for being "unresponsive" in working with them on service cuts.

“SEPTA’s refusal to engage with us is unacceptable,” said State Sen. Frank Farry, who represents numerous Bucks County communities. “This is a SEPTA-created crisis, both financially and operationally, based on choices and mismanagement by SEPTA. We remain willing to work with SEPTA to find solutions. Unfortunately, SEPTA has shown no willingness to work with us and only seems to be interested in providing information to the House Democrats.”

The Pennsylvania Legislature was unable to strike a deal that the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican controlled-Senate could agree on, leaving SEPTA and its roughly 770,000 daily riders in the dust.

Starting on Sunday, 32 bus routes will be eliminated, and 16 will be shortened.

A 21.5 percent fare increase will be implemented on Sept. 1, as will a complete hiring freeze for all SEPTA jobs.

Should SEPTA still remain in the red, more austerity measures will be implemented Jan. 1, 2026, including the reduction of five regional rail lines.

There will be a significant reduction in trips on all rail services, an end to all special service including the Sports Express, 18 additional bus route eliminations, and a 9 p.m. curfew for all rail services.

The cutbacks will include the elimination of these regional rail lines: Cynwyd Line, Chestnut Hill West Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, Trenton Line, Wilmington/Newark Line.

Sen. Farry and two other state senators sent two letters to SEPTA, but heard from SEPTA once since the Senate vote.

"Since that vote, SEPTA has been unresponsive to our outreach," Farry said.

Last Friday, Farry and the two other senators sent a letter to SEPTA leadership addressing SEPTA’s request for clarification on the Senate proposal. With no reply, the senators sent a follow-up letter on Thursday.

In the letters, the senators clarify that the projected PTTF balance at the end of 2029, after funding all the capital projects and the HB 257 transfer, will be almost $2.9 billion.

On Wednesday, SEPTA’s General Manager Scott Sauer testified at the House Democratic Policy Committee hearing, claiming that Philadelphia sports fans will be unable to rely on the system to attend home sporting events.

"This is a choice that SEPTA is making that is not in the best interest of the public they serve, but it is a choice they are making knowing the negative impact are not only on the fans that use public transit but also adding to the traffic congestion to those that drive," the letter states.

"Ironically, SEPTA continues to pay for advertising at sporting events. Again, showing their poor decision making by choosing to invest into advertising rather than provide service to the commuters," the senators state.