Philadelphia region preparing with SEPTA cuts just a few days away
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- SEPTA leaders say there is no doubt: major cuts are set to go into effect this weekend.
Starting Sunday, bus and metro service will be cut by 20 percent, with 32 bus routes being eliminated. Then, on September 1, a fare increase will go into effect. On September 2, there will be cuts to regional rail service.
Andrew Busch, a SEPTA spokesperson, told Action News on Thursday, "Certainly everybody is alarmed by the fact that we have to do these drastic service cuts, but I think we're all coming around to the fact that we have to make the best out of it."
"This would be the first step of making significant cuts that would really reshape SEPTA and leave it a shell of itself," he added.
The cuts come as the agency faces a massive budget deficit, and as state lawmakers remain at a stalemate over transit funding in the budget.
Governor Josh Shapiro is urging both parties to come to an agreement.
He said during an event on Thursday, "We're now at a point where the leaders, senate Republicans and house Democrats, have to make some choices to close this out."
Action News spoke with Democratic State Senator Steven Santarsiero about the stalemate. He said, "We should be getting to work and getting this done. It's really on the senate Republicans because they've dragged their feet up until now to even discuss the issue."
RELATED: SEPTA warns of transit chaos for Philadelphia Eagles home opener amid service cuts
On Thursday, three Republican state senators, including Senator Frank Farry, penned a letter to SEPTA saying the agency needs to better communicate with them about this crisis.
Sen. Farry told Action News, "We want accountability. We want safety measures in place. We want it to be better for the SEPTA workforce, as well as those who commute on SEPTA."
In the meantime, the City of Philadelphia is preparing for delays and disruptions because of these impending cuts.
Philadelphia Deputy Managing Director Michael Carroll said the city is increasing staffing to monitor traffic and to adjust signal timing when necessary.
Carroll said, "We're going to make sure we're coordinating with PPA to enforce what we call peak hour parking restrictions, so we have maximum capacity we can on roads that have that."
The city is also asking people to look at park and ride opportunities or to carpool.
RELATED: SEPTA service cuts could add 275,000 vehicles to local roads, experts warn
Also on Thursday, SEPTA addressed recent delays and cancellations on the regional rail lines. Busch said they are due to two fires on regional rail cars this year. Those fires, Busch said, led to federal officials intervening to inspect cars when there are any issues.
"It is certainly causing delays and cancellations that people are seeing. So we're looking at the best ways to deal with that moving forward," Busch said.
New SEPTA schedules reflecting service cuts as of August 24:
-Fall bus and metro schedule changes HERE
-Fall Regional Rail schedule changes HERE
