This story is unfolding hour by hour. More updates will be added.
On Friday, September 5, it was announced that Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) and SEPTA – our two largest transit systems – will request to use transit capital dollars from the Public Transportation Trust Fund to pay for operations and pause their proposed major service cuts.
It is an embarrassment that our transit agencies feel the only solution to our service crisis is to cannibalize their needed capital funds that keep our buses and trains safe, maintained and accessible. Over the last two months, our legislators have failed to pass a budget that keeps PA moving, and so we are left with this deeply flawed, stopgap solution.
Reversing and stopping service cuts in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will bring needed relief to riders in those regions, but it will only lead to further crises and safety risks in the future. And no other transit agencies can even access capital dollars to flex to operations in this way. We need new dedicated and long-term transit funding that will serve the needs of all communities in the Commonwealth. This ain’t it.
BUT, our legislature failing us doesn’t mean that we failed.
This year, we have succeeded in making transit the top issue in our Commonwealth. Our movement has tripled in size in the past six months, activating more than 30,000 riders in every legislative district in the Commonwealth. We have stopped service cuts because of you – because of us, together – and how we wrote, we called, we marched, we rallied, and how we stood up for Transit for All Pennsylvanians.
We need more funding to restore and expand our transit service in all 67 counties, with no communities left behind. This fight isn’t over, and we’ll share more as soon as we know it. Thank you for organizing with us for transit that moves all of Pennsylvania.
