{"id":2399093,"date":"2025-02-05T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T13:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/public-transit-funding-still-on-shapiros-mind-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T08:29:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T13:29:33","slug":"public-transit-funding-still-on-shapiros-mind-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/public-transit-funding-still-on-shapiros-mind-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Public transit funding still on Shapiro\u2019s mind &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpublic-transit-funding-still-on-shapiros-mind-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2399093&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a \u2064recent\u200b budget address, Pennsylvania \u2064Governor Josh Shapiro reiterated his commitment to\u200d enhancing \u200bfunding for the state\u2019s public transit systems, proposing\u2064 a funding increase of $292.5 million for the fiscal\u200b year 2025-26, which could rise to \u2063over $330 million by 2029-30. Shapiro emphasized the importance of mass \u200btransit for\u2064 residents across the state,highlighting that investing in public transportation \u2063can also benefit the economy by attracting businesses.To finance \u200cthis \u2064increased\u2062 spending, he suggested\u200c reallocating a \u2062larger share of state \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/16-5-billion-property-tax-relief-bill-soars-through-texas-senate-unanimously\/\" title=\".5 Billion Property Tax Relief Bill Soars Through Texas Senate Unanimously\">sales tax revenues<\/a>, currently\u2064 exceeding $1.2 billion dedicated \u2062to public\u2063 transit. <\/p>\n<p>However, Shapiro faced\u2063 challenges last year in \u200dsecuring support for his\u200d proposals, notably\u2062 from legislative Republicans who criticized his focus on mass transit at the expense of broader transportation needs. They expressed concerns regarding\u2062 the sustainability of funding after a one-time \u2064increase of $80.5 million for transit systems was provided\u200d last July.\u200d The situation is pressing for organizations like SEPTA, Philadelphia&#8217;s mass\u2064 transit authority, which has been struggling with a significant budget\u200d deficit \u2064despite a gradual recovery in ridership. While SEPTA&#8217;s ridership \u2064remains significantly\u200d lower\u2062 than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-dakota-lowers-unemployment-to-pre-pandemic-levels-after-state-rejected-lockdowns\/\" title=\"South Dakota Lowers Unemployment to Pre-Pandemic Levels After State Rejected Lockdowns\">pre-pandemic levels<\/a>, the proposed\u200c funding aims to \u2062address immediate gaps\u2063 in operations, although a long-term solution is still necesary.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Public transit funding still on Shapiro&rsquo;s mind<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1976718\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; Hoping this year&rsquo;s&nbsp; budget process will yield better results that the prior one, Gov. Josh Shapiro has again requested an increase of hundreds of millions of dollars for Pennsylvania&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-to-vote-on-1-9t-covid-relief-bill-this-week\/\" title=\"Senate to vote on .9T COVID relief bill this week\">mass transit systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>During his budget address on Tuesday before a joint session of the General Assembly, the governor &ndash; just as he did last year &ndash; proposed a 1.75% hike in funding for all Pennsylvania public transportation systems. The request would increase available funding by $292.5 million in 2025-26, rising to more than $330 million in 2029-30.<\/p>\n<p>Shapiro told the joint session we, as a state, &ldquo;owe it to Pennsylvanians in Pittsburgh and Lancaster and yes, in Philadelphia, who rely on mass transit. And so, my budget delivers to keep our mass transit running all across the commonwealth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;By investing in our roads, bridges and public transit, we not only help Pennsylvanians get where they need to go, we also attracting businesses and growing our economy,&rdquo; he later added.<\/p>\n<p>To pay for the increased spending, the governor wants to divert a larger portion of the state&rsquo;s sales tax revenues. Currently, of all collected sales taxes in Pennsylvania, more than $1.2 billion is earmarked for public transportation.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Shapiro could not win approval for his proposal. Legislative Republicans criticized the governor for what they claimed was a lack of focus on mass transit and transportation while he worked to secure billions in new spending elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>They argued the governor made little effort to reach a fair deal for all transportation funding, not just mass transit, and instead, during the fall, took $153 million in federal highway project money and gave it to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA. The agency is the nation&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">sixth-largest mass transit system<\/a>, primarily serving Philadelphia but also offering regional transportation services, and has a more than $200 million annual budget deficit.<\/p>\n<p>In July, the Republican-controlled Senate, the Democrat-controlled House and Shapiro, as part of the finalized budget, agreed to a one-time funding increase of $80.5 million for mass transit throughout the state, of which roughly $51 million went to SEPTA.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>That funding, say legislative Republicans, was contingent on a review of the mass transit funding delivery model given recent reductions in ridership and rider safety concerns. According to SEPTA, its systemwide ridership in December was approximately 71% of what it was prior to COVID-19; before, ridership had been declining year-over-year since it hit a 23-year peak in 2012. In 2012, SEPTA reported its annual ridership at 339.3 million trips; a year before COVID-19, ridership had declined to 292.9 million trips, and then it dropped to 223.5 million trips in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>In November, with SEPTA threatening rate hikes and service cuts to help address their ongoing budget deficit, Shapiro diverted federal highway funds earmarked for seven projects around the state, which he argued were years away from being started. The diversion prompted additional legislative Republican criticisms that the governor wasn&rsquo;t interested in the root causes of mass transit financial problems, instead engaging in a policy of &ldquo;robbing Peter to pay Paul.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The diverted funds represented a one-time influx of money for SEPTA to avoid fare hikes and service cuts in the short term; SEPTA still has a $240 million annual gap between what it needs to operate and the funds it receives from fares, state and local governments, and other sources.<\/p>\n<p>Of the additional money the governor has proposed for Pennsylvania mass transit systems, roughly 57% is expected to go to SEPTA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1976718\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1976718\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shapiro seeks more funding for PA public transit systems<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3661,"featured_media":2399094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/septa.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6513,40582,5013,42251,32076],"class_list":["post-2399093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-funding","tag-public-transit","tag-shapiro","tag-transportation-policy","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/septa.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399093"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399097,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399093\/revisions\/2399097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}