The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, at the direction of Gov. Josh Shapiro, has approved SEPTA’s request to use nearly $400 million in capital funding to undo the cuts implemented late last month, state officials said Monday.
SEPTA intends to use the money to restore the 32 bus routes that were eliminated; the 16 others that were shortened; and the 20% reduction that was applied to all bus and Metro services. Full service is set to resume Sunday, Sept. 14, authority leaders have said.
On the same day, SEPTA will roll out a 21.5% fare hike, raising the base rate for bus, subway and trolley tips to $2.90, up from $2.50, said Scott Sauer, the authority’s general manager.
Sauer announced the decision to seek PennDOT’s permission to use the capital dollars on Friday, one day after a Philadelphia judge ordered SEPTA to reverse all cutbacks associated with the agency’s ‘doomsday’ plan to plug a $213 million budget deficit.
He said the funding would allow the transport authority to forgo any reductions for two years.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
