Heads Up, Philly! SEPTA Just Announced a Startling Historic Fare Increase for 2025

SEPTA — the area's largest transit agency in Philadelphia and the suburbs — just announced an historic fare increase that will certainly leave customers frustrated.

Additionally, they're warning of drastic cuts to service, which could have catastrophic effects on traffic and commuters throughout the region.

SEPTA Plans to Increase Fares By Nearly 30% Systemwide

There's no easy way to swallow this. SEPTA is looking to increase fares by about 30% over their current fares systemwide.

The first increase is slated for December 1, with an even larger increase slated for New Year's Day 2025, they say.

"This is painful and it's going to be painful for our customers," SEPTA"s Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer said on Tuesday during a press conference.

As if that's not bad enough, by next summer, they will be forced to make "severe service cuts," reports say.

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Just how much more will it cost? We have an analysis of that posted below.

SEPTA Faces Historic Shortfall

SEPTA is facing a historic financial shortfall totaling about $240 million in their operating budget next year.

READ MORE: SEPTA FINALLY Cracks Down on Fare Evasion

They've been looking to state officials to provide additional funding as most of the federally provided aid from the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

It's been a back and forth at the state level with the Pennsylvania State Senate blocking a proposal that would have given public transit a large chunk of the state's sales tax revenue. That fight has gone in since the summer.

SEPTA Fare Increases Could be Drastic

Here's a bit of a breakdown on how extreme the fare increases could be.

By the way, the current fare on the Broad Street Line is slated to increase from $2.00 to $2.50 on December 1. That is pending final approval by the SEPTA board, but it's expected to easily pass. Essentially, the savings of using a SEPTA keycard vs a cash fare are about to be eliminated in a few weeks.

READ MORE: Tap-to-Pay Finally Available on SEPTA

The furthter increases will take place on January 1. That's when riders on most city services would see fares increase from $2.50 to $2.90 (that's busses and inner city train services like the Broad Street Line).

That's steep considering those same fares today (November 12) are as little as $2.00.

So, yeah, that really means that riders will be paying almost $1 more per trip on the city's buses and trains.

Regional rail increases could be significant too.

Regional Rail rates would increase to be about $5 per ride in zone 1, $6.50 per ride in zone 2, $7.75 per ride in zone 3 and $8.75 per ride in zone 4, SEPTA says.

SEPTA's Service Cuts Could Be Extreme

As if increased fares weren't bad enough some services (including routes all together) could be cut.

The exact plans for which services would be cut was not immediately clear, but officials warned the media that it could be quite a lot.

In fact, SEPTA's Chief of Planning and Strategy, Judy Holton, warned the Inquirer just how drastic they could be.

"Cuts would include eliminating routes, shortening routes, and reducing the frequency of bus, trolley, subway, and Regional Rail service," Holton tells The Inquirer.

In fact, weekend service could be basically nonexistent it sounds like.

“There will be a lot of crowding on all of our [travel] modes, and we would basically have unusable service on weekends, on both Regional Rail and transit,” Holton said.

A final decision about service cuts would be made early next year as they evaluate their next fiscal budget.

SEPTA officials expressed their frustration with state officials who haven't reached a deal to fund their efforts.

“For the last two years, we have urged action in Harrisburg so that we could avoid these draconian measures,” SEPTA's Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer said in Wednesday's release. “We were hopeful a solution would come this fall, but it has not materialized. We now have no choice but to move forward with a proposal for major fare increases and service cuts."

He acknowledged that this will be difficult for all as well.

"This is going to be painful for all of our riders and will have major economic and social impacts on our city, region and the Commonwealth as a whole.”

STRIKE POSSIBLE: SEPTA Employees are Demanding Better Wages & Safety

Of course, amid all of this: there are still concerns about a SEPTA stoppage in the coming days.

The largest union representing SEPTA operators - Local 254 - has authorized a strike since their contract expired last week. In fact, they could have walked off the job as early as last Friday.

The two sides have continued negotiating, but it's not clear how close they are to an agreement.

The union says they're demanding better wages and increased safety on board. Meanwhile, SEPTA officials have been talking about how their budget shortfall makes it difficult for them to offer increased wages.