SEPTA strike averted, but funding woes continue

SEPTA’s largest union has called off a potentially crippling strike after reaching a tentative contract agreement with the transit agency.

Officials warn, though, that the deal will not help SEPTA avoid major fare hikes in January and possible deep service cuts next summer due to a $240 million annual budget deficit.

Brian Pollitt, president of the 5,000-member Transit Workers Union Local 234, said he was close to calling a strike this week, but held off to avoid inconveniencing SEPTA riders.

“I was a former bus operator, so I know how the patrons need the system. I didn’t want them to have to go through a stoppage,” he said at a press conference Wednesday. “I would definitely call it, but I tried to continue talking, continue talking, and I guess my strategy worked.”

The one-year contract extension increases worker pay and pensions 5%, and SEPTA will move ahead with initiatives to improve worker safety that the union has been demanding, including a pilot project to install bulletproof enclosures for bus drivers.

But SEPTA chief operating officer Scott Sauer said the agreement will not have a major impact, positive or negative, on the system’s plans to hike fares 29% in January and possibly shut down some routes later in the year, as it struggles with an annual deficit of $240 million. Sauer said the shortage for the current fiscal year is $153 million.

He called once again on the legislature to approve a budget boost for transit programs statewide that has been proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“Our customers don’t want to go through this cycle every single year of, will we go on strike? Will we not go on strike? Will we be funded? Will we not be funded? That structural deficit has to be plugged at some point, and it’s going to take legislative action to do that,” Sauer said.

The agency has also reportedly reached a tentative agreement with SMART Local 1594, the union representing workers on the Norristown High-Speed Line and suburban bus and trolley lines.

As it feels the crunch of the budget crisis, SEPTA has expanded an existing hiring freeze to cover open management and administrative positions that are not critical to safety or operations and reducing contract and consulting services, Sauer said. Additional cost-cutting measures will be put in place by the end of the year.

Shapiro pledges to save SEPTA, eventually

Pollitt thanked Shapiro for helping in the negotiations, but both sides said they haven’t heard anything to indicate that a financial rescue plan is forthcoming.

Transit advocates and some elected officials from Philadelphia have urged Shapiro to shift or “flex” some federal funding from highway and transportation budgets to transit, saying it would allow the agency to delay fare hikes and cuts.

The governor expressed support for SEPTA on Tuesday, saying he “will not let SEPTA fail” and his administration was “working hard to consider what steps we can take to shore up SEPTA,” Spotlight PA reported. He said they will “have some more to say on that over the coming weeks.”

Shapiro has declined so far to flex funding, calling it a “stopgap measure.” Then-Gov. Ed Rendell flexed funds to transit in 2005 and 2010, which brought criticism from Republican legislators.

The state sends close to $2 billion a year to transit agencies, with $757 million in state sales tax money going to SEPTA in 2023 to cover operating costs, per Spotlight PA.

SEPTA’s board will vote Thursday on fare hikes averaging 7.5% across the system, which will go into effect next month. It has scheduled public hearings for Dec. 13 on an additional increase, averaging 21.5%, that would hit on Jan.1.

Sauer said the agency will announce its plans for a 20% cut in services in late winter or early spring and implement them next summer. Those could include shutting down some Regional Rail routes and reducing the frequency of trips on rail, bus, and trolley lines. 

If a state funding boost is announced in the first few months of 2025, SEPTA could drop the plan to cut services.

Legislators in the Republican-led state Senate have declined to consider an increase in transit funding proposed by Shapiro and approved in the Democrat-led House, but have discussed an alternative plan to tax video gambling machines and spend the revenue on both transit and other road and transportation needs.

However, the legislators are divided on the amount of the tax and other issues, and no bills have been introduced. The legislature held its last scheduled meetings last week and is unlikely to schedule any additional sessions before the end of the year.

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