September 10, 2025

Philadelphia, PA – The SEPTA Youth Advisory Council’s Special Committee to Save SEPTA rejects Governor Josh Shapiro’s call to end transit funding negotiations in lieu of SEPTA’s receipt of ~$400m from Pennsylvania’s Public Transportation Trust Fund, which effectively cannibalizes SEPTA’s capital budget to fund its operations.

Between stalled conversations between republicans and democrats in the State Legislature, Governor Shapiro’s ineffective mass public transit advocacy, and a lawsuit that threatened the financial stability of SEPTA, SEPTA had no choice but to draw from this fund. While the Commonwealth let SEPTA slide into a death spiral, fingers were pointed across the aisle and even at SEPTA for its financial woes.

Decision-makers frequently cite the safety and stability of SEPTA’s system. They argue that SEPTA should be cleaner, more efficient, safer, and have more accountability. They do not take into account the improvements to customer satisfaction, new end station cleaning practices, higher transit police headcounts, lower crime rates, fare evasion reduction and persecution, and many other improvements that SEPTA has made over the past few years in its case for more funding from the State Legislature.

The senate, under majority leader Joe Pittman, has attempted to legislate additional fare hikes and reallocations of transit dollars towards roads and bridges, all without the promise of a sustainable funding solution that allocates the dollars needed to ensure our transit agencies don’t once more face this crisis. While we urge Senate republicans to support equitable statewide mass transit funding that uplifts all Pennsylvanians, we must recognize that the responsibility is on the House, the Senate, and the Governor to continue to advocate for mass public transit funding in Southeastern Pennsylvania and across our Commonwealth.

Find full statement here

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