Big changes are coming to SEPTA – including route cuts, fare hikes, and reduced service hours. Access to jobs, education, and small business success, could all be at stake.
Key SEPTA cut stats:
- 50 SEPTA bus routes eliminated
- 5 Regional Rail lines eliminated
- 21.5% fare increase
- 9 p.m. rail service curfew
- Express transportation for events, including sporting events, would end
Last Wednesday, local politicians gathered for a press conference at the Paoli Train Station to denounce a crippling cuts proposed by SEPTA to cover a $213 million deficit. To reach that number and return to the black, Southeast PA’s transit authority will need to reduce services by 45 percent starting this summer. On the chopping block are 50 bus routes and five Regional Rail lines, including, locally, the Paoli-Thorndale line.
“Public transportation is a necessity,” State Senator Carolyn Comitta told attendees. “It’s how we keep moving.”
Yes, but, as the West Chester Rail Restoration Committee, and now the Transportation Advisory Committee, has long been telling us, West Chester has pretty much been out of this conversation since 1986, the year the West Chester rail line stopped running. So, really, what more can they do to isolate us?
A bit, as it turns out. “I know a lot of times the conversation around public transit centers on trains, but our regional bus routes are extremely important to moving people around,” said Downtown West Chester Executive Director John O’Brien.
What’s a stake?
Currently, three SEPTA bus routes – 92, 104, and 135 – serve West Chester. Route 92 provides service between West Chester and King of Prussia, on its way stopping at Chester County Hospital, QVC, the Fern Hill Medical Campus, and the Mars Corporation. Route 104 connects West Chester University to Philadelphia’s 69th Street Station. Route 135 runs to Coatesville by way of the Exton Mall.
No West Chester service routes will be cut outright this summer. However, Route 104 faces a 20 percent route reduction starting in August, and if funding is not restored, Route 92 is set to be eliminated in January 2026.
“My biggest worry about the SEPTA cuts is in the restaurant industry.”
John O’Brien, Downtown West Chester Executive Director
Restaurant woes
“My biggest worry about the SEPTA cuts is in the restaurant industry,” said John. “It is already a struggle for restaurants to hire back-of-house workers (i.e., cooks, food prep, dishwashing), and there are a number of workers who ride the buses.”
Education impact
West Chester University has also voiced concerns over the cuts. In an email to students, the WCU’s Faculty Senate, the school’s advocates for shared governance, encouraged students to speak out against the changes. WCU argues the cuts disproportionately impact low-income students and those with disabilities, as well as hinder the university’s recruitment efforts.
“If realized, these cuts would cause our campus to be virtually isolated from the surrounding community in terms of public transportation,” President of the Senate Dr. Israel Sanz-Sanchez told WCU Student newspaper, The Quad, last month.
So, without these lines, what options are there for the workers and students who use them? “I can’t really think of alternatives except for driving,” said John.
In related news, Thursday is Bike to Work Day. Unfortunately, West Chester doesn’t really have this infrastructure either. You can, of course, find your own way to work. However, if you want to join the official ride (and score a free breakfast), you’ll have to head to Exton first.
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