{"id":154,"date":"2026-07-16T04:08:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanatlasmedia.com\/?p=154"},"modified":"2026-07-16T04:08:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T04:08:02","slug":"fifth-times-the-harm-pennsylvania-gov-shapiro-again-signed-a-budget-with-no-money-for-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanatlasmedia.com\/?p=154","title":{"rendered":"Fifth Time’s The Harm: Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Again Signed A Budget With No Money For Transit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Another year, another blow to Pennsylvania transit riders.<\/p>\n

Keystone State Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the annual budget into law last Sunday, and for the fifthyear in a row, public transportation has been left to financially starve. The approved budget contains no funding for transit operations, continuing a streak that forces every agency to scrounge for its own money, to varying degrees of success. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve been left out for far too long,\u201d remarked Connor Descheemaker, Statewide Campaign Manager for Transit for All, PA! The organization rallied transit riders to send more than 50,000 letters to state representatives and the White House-eying governor calling for transit funding, reaching every legislative district in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Those calls went largely unanswered. Riders in Lehigh Valley are now bracing for route eliminations and trip cancellations, despite already paying increased fares. Lancaster County paratransit riders will pay more as well, beginning next month.<\/p>\n

Low-income, disabled, and rural Pennsylvanians will lose access to jobs, healthcare, and loved ones. That reality hasn\u2019t stopped their governor from declaring victory.<\/p>\n

In a speech at last week\u2019s budget signing ceremony, Shapiro uttered a total of three words about the state-sponsored mobility crisis: \u201cThere\u2019s more I want to do \u2013 like raising the minimum wage, funding mass transit, and expanding access to affordable housing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shapiro seems to understand the need for well-funded transit. Last year, he sent $220 million to Philadelphia to boost SEPTA\u2019s barren maintenance fund following a series of onboard fires.<\/p>\n

One-time relief won\u2019t keep buses running, though.<\/p>\n

Shapiro has failed, and failed, and failed again to pass his landmark transit policy. His initial proposal would increase the share of sales tax revenue going to public transit by 2 percent. The blame isn\u2019t all his: Even after he watered down his proposal to a 1.75-percent increase, statehouse Republicans failed to support it.<\/p>\n

Even if it had succeeded, it\u2019s too little, too late: The sales tax change would still be $92 million short of the $384 million that Transit for All, PA! estimates is needed to prevent further service cuts in public transportation across the state.<\/p>\n

Transit for All, PA! , which would have increased taxes on car rentals and leases, and raised a new tax on ride shares.<\/p>\n

Like Shapiro\u2019s plan, that failed, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe General Assembly has deferred action to invest fully in public transit,\u201d state Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia), who had authored the ride share component of the legislative package. \u201cDespite the continued activation and involvement of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians \u2026 we will once again face this issue in 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania\u2019s last semblance of adequate transit funding ended in 2021 with the expiration of Act 89. The 10-year allocation covered statewide transportation expenses, including roadway maintenance and transit operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As soon as Act 89 money dried up, agencies turned to Covid relief grants to stay afloat. Those grants, provided through the American Rescue Plan, ended in 2024. Several agencies have gone so far as to pillage their own fixed-route budgets to continue federally mandated paratransit services.<\/p>\n

Call it luck, a Band-Aid, or a bad omen; riders on Philadelphia\u2019s SEPTA and Pittsburgh\u2019s PRT are momentarily safe from service cuts and fare hikes. Following last year\u2019s budget disaster, Shapiro permitted the two agencies to raid their own maintenance funds to temporarily pay for operations.<\/p>\n

Now, both are pausing upgrades, deferring basic maintenance, and reckoning with of operating \u2013 but not fixing \u2013 a large-scale transit system.<\/p>\n

State highways, on the other hand, received $775 million in new funding from Shapiro\u2019s budget deal.<\/p>\n

Transit advocates in Pennsylvania are shifting strategies to preserve essential transit services. A June decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, allowed slot machines to be taxed at a higher rate.<\/p>\n

Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have shown interest in using revenue from the so-called \u201cskill games tax\u201d to fund transit. The legislature must agree on a tax rate and structure, but declined to do so before finalizing the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime that there is a discussion of new revenue in Pennsylvania, it needs to include public transportation,\u201d Descheemaker said. \u201cWe are losing public transportation actively, right now in Pennsylvania. Public transportation needs to be at the center of those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Monday\u2019s Headlines Don\u2019t Need So Much Parking<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New budget refuses a single cent for transit, cuts service for most vulnerable residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transit-funding"],"yoast_head":"\nFifth Time’s The Harm: Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Again Signed A Budget With No Money For Transit - Urban Atlas Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbanatlasmedia.com\/?p=154\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fifth Time’s The Harm: Pennsylvania Gov. 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