PA: Public questions SEPTA's proposed 7.5% fare hike at hearing

A handful of people testified at a public hearing Wednesday on SEPTA's proposal to hike fares by an average of 7.5%, raising pointed questions about the supposed need for it and offering suggestions for increasing revenue.

The transit authority, however, says it has no choice but to increase some fares for the first time since 2017 — in part because of politics.

Gov. Josh Shapiro and a legislature with each party holding one chamber have not been able to agree on a deal increasing state funding for public transportation systems battered by the pandemic and facing shortfalls. SEPTA alone says it has a $240 million annual deficit.

The General Assembly has left Harrisburg for the last weeks of the campaign, but little of substance was being done anyway as the general election drew closer, at least not on an issue as big and divisive as subsidies for public transit.

"We haven't lost hope, but the session ends at the end of this month," Erik Johanson, senior director of budgets and transformation at SEPTA, said after the morning hearing. "We have to prepare for anything."

If the SEPTA board approves the plan, the new rates would go into effect Dec. 1.

SEPTA says it has reduced budgeted spending by about $20 million. It has also reinstated fees on parking at lots and garages at transportation centers and Regional Rail stations, projected to raise $4 million.

SEPTA says its proposed fare increases will raise $14.2 million a year.

The biggest change: The cash fare for riding SEPTA Metro, bus, subway, and trolleys would stay at $2.50 a ride. But people who pay with the Key, credit or debit cards, or payment apps will also pay $2.50, up from $2, losing a discount.

Regional Rail rides in Zone 1, from city stations to Center City, would be lowered and more stations would be included. Prices for passes would stay the same.

Consumer advocate Lance Haver grilled SEPTA officials with questions, getting them to acknowledge that the fare increase would be 25% for Key Card and debit and credit card users, and that the agency had $565 million as of June 30 in a reserve fare-stabilization fund.

He questioned why SEPTA doesn't use more of that money sooner to stave off the increased fares. SEPTA says it is asking for what it calls "moderate" increase to postpone having to cut service 20% and raise fares a total of 30%.

Officials at the transit agency decided to seek a lower amount now in case a deal can come together in the state Capitol but have warned that the slashing could begin early in 2025 if nothing happens.

After the public testimony is collected — SEPTA had also scheduled a 4 p.m. session Wednesday and people can comment through Oct. 18 — hearing examiner Sarah D. Boutros will make a recommendation to SEPTA's board, though that is not binding.

SEPTA rider Raul Colón said people who beat the fare, or underpay by throwing a few coins in the box next to the bus driver, are not going to change their behavior because of the fiscal crisis, but honest riders will be punished by having to pay more.

"Too many people get on the bus for free, and I think that is the problem here," Colón, who takes the Routes 4 and 47 buses, testified. "You lose a lot of money with the free riders, and then you want to make everyone pay the price for that deficit?"

Last month, the agency approved spending $6.9 million for 97 fare evasion-resistant barriers to install at seven El stations: Somerset, Huntingdon, 11th Street, 13th Street, the Frankford Transportation Center, Allegheny, and 52nd Street. They will also be installed at the Cecil B. Moore and City Hall stops.

The high-tech gates are in place at the 69th Street transportation center and have reduced fare evasion there. SEPTA police have resumed issuing criminal summonses to people for evasion after five years. The agency says it loses up to $68 million annually to fare evasion.

Colón said the agency should do more, such as summoning transit police to throw deadbeats off buses and fine them. "Let the media know, let people know, 'Hey, we're not playing around,'" he said.

Earlier in the year, Shapiro proposed increasing the allocation of state sales tax going to transit systems by 1.75% — not the tax rate, which would have generated $283 million for transit systems, and $161 million for SEPTA.

His proposal didn't make the budget passed July 12 because Republicans who control the state Senate wouldn't support it. They wanted more money for roads and bridges along with transit aid and to tax skill games, slot-machine look-alikes that are unregulated and untaxed, to pay for at least some of the new spending.

In the end the legislature passed one-time infusions of $80.5 million for transit and an equal amount for local road and bridge repairs.

SEPTA received $47 million in state grants from that appropriation, plus $7 million in stepped-up local contributions from Philadelphia and the collar counties.

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