State Intervention Minimizes SEPTA Disruptions

The rattle of buses, the clatter of the trolleys, and the roar of the subway trains have reverberated through Philly for generations. Masterman students rely on SEPTA to get to school, along with 55,000 others in the district. Thousands of others use it to navigate through their everyday lives. In November 2024, SEPTA had an average of 762,673 unlinked passenger trips per day across all modes. Philadelphia is dependent on SEPTA—or at least it tries to be. Public transportation can be a hassle and cause inconveniences. Just in time for the holiday season, there has been an uproar of disputes expressed by the SEPTA community to protect the workers’ rights and balance the business’s financial challenges. Solutions range from fare increases to service cuts to even several mentioned strikes. 

Founded in 1964, SEPTA quickly became one of the largest transit systems in the nation. Though public transportation use has skyrocketed over time, SEPTA has faced structural, funding, and management issues. Throughout the years, the agency has expressed that it spends more money on day-to-day operations than what it earns in revenues, keeping the organization itself difficult to uphold. Along with managing the old infrastructure and facilities, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reduced ridership, with all modes declining by 92 percent between March and May of 2020. These issues further contribute to the massive $240 million structural deficit. Since the agency struggles to stay afloat financially, it cannot properly provide for the employees' wages and safety. Since 1975, union members of SEPTA have performed 12 strikes, shutting down some sort of public transit, in the fight for their rights. 

This year, at the beginning of November, SEPTA workers threatened to go on strike, voicing concerns about the organization's future, worker-wise. Questions floated around about the need to shut down or minimize the transit system to make it more manageable. SEPTA board chair Ken Lawrence described the agency's risk of entering a “death spiral” if it had to significantly raise fares to pay for the operating deficit. Trolleys, buses, and railway lines were supposedly going to be shut down temporarily, or even indefinitely. However, this news frightened the public and Masterman students alike, since many people rely on SEPTA to get to their jobs or schools. “I use SEPTA to and from school, so if they were to go on strike I would have to wake up a lot earlier and maybe not make it to school at all,” stated Maram Osman (‘28). “I’d be really frightened if they were to close down my line since I’d have no efficient way to get here.” Shutting down would inhibit thousands, making people drive to their activities and inconvenience everyone. Not only is it harmful to the environment, but parking within city quarters would become more difficult. “With the lack of SEPTA, there is an issue for the city overall,” explained 9th-grade English teacher, Mr. Kamison. “SEPTA already doesn’t offer enough services to get people around the city. And so what we do is rely on cars and parking, which takes up space.” 

By January 1st, SEPTA plans to make fares as high as $2.90 while all the Regional Rail lines fares also increase, prices varying by zone. Montgomery County, which SEPTA supports, also claimed to increase its contribution to the agency’s budget from $8.3 million to $9.4 million in 2025. Additionally, a one-year tentative plan was implemented to increase workers' pay, pensions, and safety. Workers will receive a 5% wage increase in their wages and pension and new upgrades, such as bulletproof enclosures for bus drivers' safety. All these changes were made to prevent over 5,000 SEPTA employees from stepping out and keeping the agency alive. However, the workers' contract only lasts a year, leaving questions about the agency’s future sustainability. It raises questions like: What will happen once the government cannot assist? As Mr Kamison puts it, “Having a working and healthy public transportation option is crucial to living in a large metropolitan area like this.” The next 6-12 months will determine SEPTA’s trajectory, seeing what may be in store for the future and how SEPTA will continue to change.