Travel Time From KOP To Center City Will Rise Significantly: Officials

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Starting this weekend, traffic and congestion could start getting a whole lot worse around Montgomery County, local officials warn.

That's because SEPTA budget cuts have led to widespread cuts and reduction in service, sending thousands of additional vehicles out onto local roadways.

The county has seen 7 of its bus routes fully eliminated and 14 routes slashed or significantly reduced in service, while regional rail lines will run significantly less. This will cause some 497,000 more miles to be traveled by vehicles per day in Montgomery County alone, with an estimated 20 percent increase in expected travel time on I-76 to Center City.

“These cuts will impact all of us in Montgomery County, not just train or bus riders,” Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila H. Winder said in a statement. "If people don’t have reliable transit service, they’ll be getting on the road, or they’ll be stuck in their homes and neighborhoods, with no options or opportunities.”

For drivers, the SEPTA cuts mean that drivers will also see an estimated 5 mile per hour drop on I-476, and safety and air quality impacts on communities where traffic intensifies on local roadways.

And officials warn that more is to come if the transit agency does not get the funding it needs to continue operating. By January 2026, all regional rail lines are set to cease operations, compounding the crisis that they say is just beginning.

The county projects that the SEPTA cuts will cause a loss of around 76,000 jobs over the next three decades. Property values will also plummet by some $20 billion.

“With these impending SEPTA service cuts, our area would experience a devastating economic impact,” Montgomery County Commissioner Neil K. Makhija said in a statement. “It would weaken our ability to attract and retain businesses and workers. It would make us a less desirable location for global and national events...we cannot let a handful of irresponsible people in Harrisburg harm 800,000 riders and our entire economy.”

The cuts below go into place on Sunday, Aug. 24. These routes will be eliminated:

• 80 – Horsham to Olney Transportation Center
• 88 – Bethayres to Frankford Transportation Center
• 91 – Norristown to Graterford
• 106 – Paoli to 69th Street via Ardmore
• 150 – Parx Casino to Plymouth Meeting Mall
• 201 – Fort Washington Office Center to Fort Washington Station
• 311 – Horsham Breeze Blue

Meanwhile, these routes will be slashed:

• 27 –Plymouth Meeting to South Philadelphia – 20 percent service cut, shortened to City Hall
• 44 – Ardmore to Old City (Front/Market) – Up to 20 percent service cut, Narberth and Gladwyne service eliminated
• 51 (L) – Plymouth Meeting to Olney Transportation Center – Up to 20 percent service cut
• 52 – Gladwyne to Southwest Philadelphia – Up to 20 percent service cut, Gladwyne service eliminated
• 93 – Pottstown to Norristown (via Ridge Pike/Main Street/High Street) - Up to 20 percent service cut
• 96 – Lansdale to Norristown (via Community College Main Campus) - Up to 20 percent service cut
• 98 – Plymouth Meeting to Norristown - Up to 20 percent service cut, Blue Bell service eliminated
• 99 – Phoenixville to Norristown - Up to 20 percent service cut
• 103 – Ardmore to 69th Street Transit Center – Up to 20 percent service cut
• 105 – Rosemont to 69th Street Transit Center – combined into one route with 106
• 123 – 69th Street Transit Center to King of Prussia – Up to 20 percent service cut
• 124 – Chesterbrook to Philadelphia - route shortened to Chesterbrook to Gulph Mills, no direct service to Philadelphia
• 125 – Valley Forge to Philadelphia - route shortened in Center City to 30th Street Station
• 131 – Audubon to Norristown - Up to 20 percent service cut

On the Lansdale/Doylestown, Manyaunk/Norristown, and Paoli/Thorndale regional rail lines, trains will only run every 30 minutes during rush hour, every hour during the week, and every two hours on the weekends.