SEPTA ridership hits a post-pandemic high as Council's transit fund bill waits for a committee

SEPTA carried an average of 822,753 riders on weekdays in September, its highest since February 2020, just before the pandemic, PhillyVoice reported. That's up 8% from a year earlier and the seventh straight month of year-over-year growth.

Ridership matters for SEPTA's budget and for the fare programs City Council is debating. Council is weighing how to pay for free and discounted rides for low-income residents.

The numbers

According to PhillyVoice:

• Buses drove the growth: weekday boardings rose 14% to 444,269. Saturday bus ridership rose 10% and Sunday 8%.
• Metro ridership rose 4%, led by a 9% increase on the Broad Street Line.
• Regional Rail was the only mode to fall, down 4% to 86,653 weekday riders.
• SEPTA credits the bus gains to the first phase of its New Bus Network, formerly called Bus Revolution, which took effect Aug. 23-24.

General Manager Scott A. Sauer said riders are noticing cleaner stations and vehicles and service that is easier to use, PhillyVoice reported.

Ridership fell 90% between March and May 2020 and was still down 60% in July 2021, the outlet noted.

What our records add

This follows our story on the Transit Access Fund and our story on student passes and Zero Fare.

• The fund bill has a number now. At-large Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke's Transit Access Fund is Bill 260892. It would add a chapter to the city code creating the fund, setting what its money can be used for, and requiring public reports. It sets no dollar amount, the Inquirer reported.
• 14 sponsors. Our record lists O'Rourke as primary sponsor, with Anthony Phillips, Curtis Jones Jr., Jamie Gauthier, Jeffery Young Jr., Jim Harrity, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Kendra Brooks, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Mark Squilla, Mike Driscoll, Nina Ahmad, Quetcy Lozada and Rue Landau. The three members not listed are Cindy Bass, Brian O'Neill and Isaiah Thomas. Not signing on doesn't mean opposing.
• No referral yet. Five days after its Oct. 22 introduction, the bill's status is "In Council," with no committee assigned. The Inquirer reported that O'Rourke's earlier, larger version was never referred to a committee, so it never got a hearing.
• Zero Fare. Council adopted O'Rourke's Resolution 260901 on Oct. 22, recognizing early findings on Zero Fare, the program that gives free SEPTA rides to some low-income residents. The city said in an Oct. 13 release that the program is not enrolling new participants because more people qualify than its funding can cover.
• Student passes. Landau's hearing on expanding student passes, under Resolution 260441, took place Oct. 6. Our records show no bill to expand the passes.

What's next

Bill 260892 needs a committee referral, a hearing, a committee vote and two readings before a final vote. It isn't on the agenda for the Oct. 29 session. Council's remaining 2026 sessions in our calendar are Nov. 12, Nov. 19, Dec. 3 and Dec. 10. SEPTA's later phases of the bus network are still to come.