Jonah Gottesman

SEPTA cuts, due to a budget deficit, impacted FSS students at the start of the new school year, increasing commute times and decreasing reliability for many. 

On Sunday, August 24, 2025, SEPTA cuts took effect, resulting in the elimination of 32 bus routes, the shortening of 16 routes, and the reduction of 88 other bus and subway lines. These cuts resulted from a failure in Pennsylvania’s budget legislation, leaving SEPTA with a $213 million deficit in its operating budget. 

These cuts affect over 800,000 daily riders who use SEPTA services for transportation and commuting, according to 6abc News. The cuts’ negative impact is especially pronounced for students in the School District of Philadelphia. In a news conference on September 8, 2025, Gov. Josh Shapiro stated, “As a result of SEPTA’s cutbacks, schools in Philadelphia reported a big increase in late student arrivals and absenteeism in the just-begun school year.”

In a voluntary survey sent to FSS Upper School students, two-thirds of the 51 students who responded reported that they take SEPTA to commute to school or use it as their primary mode of transportation. Of these students, 97% said that the cuts moderately to extremely affected their commutes. As a result of the cuts, 47% reported that their commutes were lengthened, 33% stated that a route they used was removed, and another 52% indicated that their route became more crowded. “The recent SEPTA cuts have made the wait for a trolley to and from school immensely long,” Abraham Planet ‘27 said. “Sometimes I have to wait up to a maximum of 45 minutes to get into a crammed trolley that will drop me off somewhat near where I live.”

On January 15, 2025, the SEPTA budget was fully restored for the next two years. The operating budget was injected with $394 million from the capital project fund, which would have been used for infrastructure and development projects. A fare increase of 21.5% will still be implemented despite the operating budget restoration, bringing in a predicted $31 million to help aid the funding crisis. This increase will not affect FSS students using student fare cards.

Bode Wild ‘26 felt relieved about the return to normal service and hopes it will help with his daily commute to school. This sentiment is echoed by other FSS students, who hope for a restored service and easier commutes.

Other students shared strong opinions on the state of SEPTA and its relation to a broader picture of the city of Philadelphia.

Theo Stanev-Potts ‘26 said, “It’s a disgrace and makes us look bad to the country. America needs to develop our public rail network, not defund it. It’s also shameful that a gambling company needs to pay to keep [SEPTA running] for one day for the opening game,” referring to FanDuel’s donation of $80,000 to SEPTA in order to support increased service for an Eagles game.

Izzie Claxton ‘27 said, “Philly is a body, and the transportation is the stomach organs. With them working so slowly, it’s like the city is constipated and won’t function.”