Casey Announces $96 Million for SEPTA from American Rescue Plan

March 4, 2022

At a press conference today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey announced SEPTA will be receiving $96,017,640 in new funding from the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan, passed in March 2021, provided relief to families, businesses, local governments and others to help ease the burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan to help jumpstart our economy during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Senator Casey. “Lower ridership during the pandemic led to lost revenue and service cuts for SEPTA. When Pennsylvanians can't rely on public transportation to get to work, our entire region suffers. This funding will help SEPTA get back on track and recover from the pandemic, which in turn will be a boon for Philadelphia and all of Southeastern Pennsylvania.”

Also present were U.S. Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, U.S. Representative Chrissy Houlahan, SEPTA General Manager/CEO Leslie Richards, and SEPTA Board Member Daniel R. Muroff, Esquire.

“SEPTA has been providing essential service throughout the pandemic, and we are committed to supporting the recovery ahead,” said SEPTA General Manager/CEO Leslie S. Richards. “As the region continues to reopen and more riders return to SEPTA, this emergency operating assistance will allow SEPTA to maintain the safe, efficient and vital transit service our region needs.”  

The coronavirus pandemic has had a severe impact on SEPTA’s operations and financial condition.  In spring 2020, when statewide stay-at-home orders were put into place, ridership on buses, subways and trolleys immediately declined by 92 percent and by 98 percent on Regional Rail, and we were losing $1 million in revenue every day. 

The federal COVID relief packages passed by Congress in 2020, and the American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden last March have provided critical relief to help offset these steep revenue shortfalls, maintain transit operations, and support employee health and safety initiatives.

In the face of multiple COVID variants and prolonged teleworking policies, however, we expect that the funding SEPTA has received through the three COVID relief bills will run out before ridership fully returns. That is why the grant funding announced today is so important.  This additional emergency operating assistance will allow SEPTA to maintain the safe, efficient and vital transit service our region needs into recovery and beyond.

The federal emergency operating assistance has provided SEPTA the resources to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on our workforce

• We provided masks, sanitizers and personal protective equipment to SEPTA employees

• Implemented enhanced cleaning protocols on vehicles and in stations

• Installed operator protective barriers in vehicles

• Partnered with the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium to provide free testing

• Launched a vaccination effort for SEPTA employees

• And we reached a new labor agreement for our frontline workforce, including paid parental leave, that recognizes our essential employees’ hard work, particularly with the challenges of COVID-19.

The federal emergency assistance has also allowed SEPTA to invest in a number of customer and employee safety initiatives, including:

• SCOPE – our Safety, Cleaning, Ownership, Partnership and Engagement initiative

• SAVE – a program that adds social outreach workers to patrols with SEPTA Transit Police officers

• And the new GUIDES program that was just approved by the SEPTA Board

More than anything, though, these funds have empowered SEPTA employees to do what they do best – serve our customers and move the region. This is especially important now as the City and region push forward with recovery as people return to their offices and restore the vibrancy of our great downtowns and business centers.  As the region continues to reopen, SEPTA is ready today to welcome more riders and help bring our City and region back.

This additional emergency operating assistance is vital to SEPTA’s future and our ability to maintain service and fulfill our commitments to our customers.

We continue to be very grateful to Senator Casey and the Members of our regional Congressional delegation who worked to ensure that this critical emergency operating assistance grant funding was available to support SEPTA’s operations for our riders and the communities we serve. We appreciate their leadership and thank them for making transit a priority in the nation’s coronavirus recovery.