SEPTA wants to buy 247 new buses and install more fare evasion gates as part of proposed budget
SEPTA’s proposed new budget promises less drama with some improvements.
SEPTA plans to bring the new super-tall turnstiles to deter fare evaders at 13 subway and elevated stations and to start purchasing 247 new hybrid buses that had been deferred for three years.
Those are some of the highlights of the proposed $1.84 billion operating budget for fiscal 2027 that SEPTA will release on Thursday.
SEPTA is proposing to spend just 1.9% over the current budget, despite continued inflation and higher labor costs.
“It’s going to feel a lot different from it felt last year, obviously — this budget will have no fare increases and no service cuts,“ General Manager Scott Sauer said.
Doomsday was postponed.
When the Pennsylvania legislature couldn’t get a transit funding deal done in 2025, Gov. Josh Shapiro allowed SEPTA to shift $394 million in state-allocated funds for its infrastructure projects to pay for two years’ worth of operations.
That means the transit agency will be able to make it through the fiscal year that begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 2027 without the kind of drama that dominated last year.
At the same time, SEPTA will be able to continue with its bulked-up station cleaning program, hire new Transit Police officers and make other improvements, including implementing a new network of bus routes in the fall, agency executives said.
The repurposed state capital funds won’t last forever, though.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to seamlessly move into fiscal year 2028 with a long-term funding solution in place,” Sauer said. “Otherwise we’ll be having a much different conversation.”
SEPTA’s ongoing efforts to control discretionary spending are saving an average of $30 million a year, enabling the fiscal 2027 operating budget to come in under inflation, said Erik Johanson, treasurer and chief financial officer for SEPTA.
“To get to 1.9%, we had to hold every other nonlabor category flat, Johanson said. “And that’s precisely what we did.”
For example, SEPTA projects it will have reduced overtime pay by about $8 million by the end of this fiscal year, June 30, compared to fiscal 2025.
About 70% of the operating budget goes to wages and benefits, and new contracts gave 3.5% raises over two years to unionized employees.
As a result, the deferred bus replacement project can restart in 2027, Johanson said.
SEPTA Transit Police hired six officers from other forces and they will start next week, and 16 cadets are scheduled to graduate from the police academy in June.
The 10 existing evasion-resistant gates have generated effectively about $15 million in “found” revenue to invest in adding the new gates to reduce fare evasion, SEPTA calculated.
Eventually, the gates “should pay for themselves many times over,” Johanson said.
When Shapiro’s shifted capital money runs out, SEPTA will have a $192 million structural deficit to account for, rather than the $213 million it was dealing with last year, he said.
On the capital side of the fiscal 2027 budget, SEPTA is looking to continue progress toward purchasing new trolleys, Market-Frankford El cars, and Silverliner IVs.
When asking for increased funding from the legislature, SEPTA wants to show it’s helping itself by cost-cutting and with new revenue, while keeping new transit vehicle purchases moving.
“We want to tell a tale of … look how good we could be if we did fully fund mass transit in Pennsylvania,” Sauer said. “Imagine what we could be.”
Public hearings on the operating budget will be held in person at SEPTA headquarters, 1234 Market St. and available virtually on www.septa.org:
May 11 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
May 12 at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Two public hearings are scheduled for the capital budget, in person at SEPTA headquarters, 1234 Market St. and available virtually on www.septa.org:
May 13 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.