Commuters and students in Philadelphia braced for longer travel times and more crowded trains and buses on Monday, as the city entered its first workday following heavy cuts in transit service.
The region’s mass transit agency, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, said it had cut its bus and train services by 20 percent, the result of a budget shortfall that remains unresolved in the state legislature. On Sunday, SEPTA eliminated 32 bus routes, shortened 16 others and reduced the frequency of other bus and rail lines.
The system serves more than 700,000 riders daily, including thousands of students and staff members at the city’s public schools who were starting the new school year on Monday. Beginning next month, the agency will also increase the fare for all riders by 21.5 percent and make cuts to its regional rail service that extends into surrounding counties.
In a city known for its congested roadways, residents anticipated even more gridlock. On Sunday, some were scrambling for travel alternatives and looking to work from home. And some were already feeling the effects.
Jay Arzu, 33, who lives in North Philadelphia’s Norris Square neighborhood, said he moved to the city five years ago to pursue a master’s degree in city and regional planning and was drawn to the area in part because of the public transit system. He uses both the train and bus to get around the city, and the bus route he uses has been discontinued, causing delays for him and his neighbors.
And he said he’s far from alone. Transit commuters and drivers will be equally affected, he added. “Everyone’s going to feel the pinch,” Mr. Arzu said. “The roads are going to be more congested, which is going to affect commerce. All of these things are interconnected.”
The city of Philadelphia said this month that residents and commuters should be prepared for travel disruptions and encouraged drivers to avoid Center City, its downtown district, during rush hour. The city also said it would add staffing to monitor traffic conditions across the city, adjust traffic signal times and coordinate repair crews.
In a post on X last week, Mayor Cherelle Parker urged residents to “please make a plan now so you and your family are prepared.”
SEPTA is one of several mass transit agencies in major U.S. cities facing funding deficits from state and local governments, as federal aid that began during the coronavirus pandemic has run dry.
The agency, the fifth-largest transit system in the country, according to the advocacy group American Public Transit Association, said on its website that it had already issued a hiring freeze and made administrative cuts to reduce its deficit to $213 million from $240 million.
“There is nothing left to cut from the budget but service,” the agency said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, proposed a state budget that would move more of the revenue from sales taxes to the state’s public transportation trust fund, with a portion of that projected $292.5 million increase going directly to SEPTA.
But he and state lawmakers have been unable to agree on a budget, already almost two months past its June 30 deadline.
Democrats in the State House, where the party has a slim majority, have passed several funding packages that would allocate more sales tax to public transit, as Mr. Shapiro’s budget suggested.
Rather than divert tax funds, Senate Republicans have proposed using existing public transportation trust fund money to support daily operations of the state’s mass transit systems. The Pennsylvania State Senate will reconvene on Sept. 8.
Without a budget agreement, there could be more difficulties ahead. SEPTA said that more cuts are expected in January that would decrease its services overall by 45 percent.
For Caroline Wilson, 33, of the Point Breeze neighborhood, Sunday was painful enough. A manager of executive education at the University of Pennsylvania, she was getting backpacks ready for her two daughters, 12 and 3, for the morning commute. All three, along with her husband, use SEPTA to get to work and school.
Among the adjustments she was pondering was a new route for her older daughter. One possibility involved the train. “I’m not a fan of putting my 12-year-old on a subway by herself,” Ms. Wilson said.
She rattled off a list of alternatives: commuting with her daughter on the subway, or her husband taking the children when her work was too busy. It was all added stress.
“There’s a part of me that is sort of in denial,” she said.
Sonia A. Rao reports on disability issues as a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
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