Good Samaritans help save riders from school bus fire in Camden County
SEPTA is delaying buying new buses, an accessibility project and construction so the transit agency can move funds in an effort to continue running at full service for riders, officials said.
According to the transit agency, delaying these projects allows them to transfer $394 million in funds to their operating budget to keep services moving.
PennDOT had approved SEPTA request to delay these items back in September and the transit agency said none of the projects that are being delayed will compromise safety.
- Buying 247 new hybrid diesel-electric buses
- Construction at Bristol Station to bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act
- The last phase of expanding the Frazer Railroad Facility
- Buying hydrogen and electric-powered buses
- Updating existing hybrid buses to run solely on electric power
These projects that are being delayed are among the 44 others that were previously paused.
This announcement comes one week after Philadelphia’s City Council held a public hearing addressing SEPTA’s aging Silverliner IV train cars.
The government had given SEPTA until Oct. 31, 2025, to get all of these train cars inspected, but SEPTA General Manager, Scott Sauer admitted to the council that SEPTA may miss that deadline.
“We are fully committed to making every effort, working around the clock to meet that deadline,” he said at the meeting. “We realize that there is potential, should some condition emerge, that we may not.”
In recent months, SEPTA has faced a pair of lawsuits amid their longstanding fiscal cliff that claim the transit agency is making up their budget crisis in order to get more money from the government.
One lawsuit argues that SEPTA’s claims that it cannot operate at the same level of service without new funding leading to drastic service cuts and fare hikes are “bunk.”
