SEPTA

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, abbreviated as SEPTA, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people throughout five counties in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It also manages projects that maintain, replace, and expand its infrastructure, facilities, and vehicles.
SEPTA is the major transit provider for Philadelphia and four surrounding counties within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, including Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester counties. It is a state-created authority, with the majority of its board appointed by the five counties it serves. Several SEPTA commuter rail and bus services serve New Castle County, Delaware and Mercer County, New Jersey, although service to Philadelphia from South Jersey is provided by the PATCO Speedline, which is run by the Delaware River Port Authority, a bi-state agency, and NJ Transit, which operates many bus lines and a commuter rail line to Philadelphia.
SEPTA has the sixth-largest U.S. rapid transit system in the nation by ridership, and the fifth-largest overall transit system in the nation, with about 302 million annual unlinked trips as of 2018. It controls 290 active stations, over of track, 2,350 revenue vehicles, and 196 routes. It also oversees shared-ride services in Philadelphia and ADA services across the region, which are operated by third-party contractors, Amtrak, and NJ Transit.
SEPTA is the only U.S. transit authority that operates all five major types of terrestrial transit vehicles: regional commuter rail trains, rapid transit subway and elevated trains, light rail trolleys, trolleybuses, and motorbuses. This title was shared with Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which also ran ferryboat service, until trolleybuses in Greater Boston were discontinued in 2023, leaving SEPTA as the sole remaining U.S. transit authority operating all five terrestrial transit vehicle types.

History

Formation

SEPTA was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, on August 17, 1963, to coordinate government funding to various transit and railroad companies in southeastern Pennsylvania. It commenced operations on February 18, 1964.
On November 1, 1965, SEPTA absorbed two predecessor agencies:

The Passenger Service Improvement Corporation, was created on January 20, 1960, to work with the Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad to improve commuter rail service and help the railroads maintain otherwise unprofitable passenger rail service.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Compact, was created September 8, 1961, by the City of Philadelphia and the Counties of Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester to coordinate regional transport issues.

By 1966, the Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad commuter railroad lines were operated under contract to SEPTA. On February 1, 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with the New York Central railroad to become Penn Central. On June 21, 1970, it filed for bankruptcy. Penn Central continued to operate in bankruptcy until 1976, when Conrail took over its assets along with those of several other bankrupt railroads, including the Reading Company. Conrail operated commuter services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA took over operations and acquired track, rolling stock, and other assets to form the Railroad Division.

Subsequent expansion

Like New York City's Second Avenue Subway, the original proposal for the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway dates back to 1913, but construction has remained elusive. Instead, after completing the Market–Frankford Line in and around the city stagnated until the early 2000s.
On September 30, 1968, SEPTA acquired the Philadelphia Transportation Company, which operated a citywide system of bus, trolley, and trackless trolley routes, the Market–Frankford Line, the Broad Street Line, and the Delaware River Bridge Line which became SEPTA's City Transit Division. The PTC had been created in 1940 with the merger of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, and a group of smaller, then-independent transit companies operating within the city and its environs.
On January 30, 1970, SEPTA acquired the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, also known as the Red Arrow Lines, which included the Philadelphia and Western Railroad route now called the Norristown High Speed Line, the Media–Sharon Hill Line, and several suburban bus routes in Delaware County. Today, this is known as the Victory Division, though it is sometimes referred to as the Red Arrow Division.
On March 1, 1976, SEPTA acquired the transit operations of Schuylkill Valley Lines, known today as the Frontier Division. Meanwhile, SEPTA gradually began to take over the Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading Company commuter trains. SEPTA primarily sought to consolidate the formerly-competing services, leading to severe cutbacks in the mid-1980s. Subsequent proposals have since been made to restore service to Allentown, Bethlehem, West Chester, and Newtown, with support from commuters, local officials, and pro-train advocates.
SEPTA's planning department focused on the Schuylkill Valley Metro, a "cross-county metro" that would re-establish service to Phoenixville, Pottstown, and Reading without requiring the rider to go into Philadelphia. However, ridership projections were dubious, and the Federal Railroad Administration refused to fund the project.
Many derelict lines under SEPTA ownership have been converted to rail trails, postponing any restoration proposals for the foreseeable future. Proposals have also been made for increased service on existing lines, including later evenings and Sundays to Wilmington, Delaware, and Newark. Maryland's MARC commuter rail system is considering extending its service as far as, which would allow passengers to connect directly between SEPTA and MARC. Other recent proposals have also focused on extending and enhancing SEPTA's other transit services. Senator of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, has supported recent proposals expanding the Broad Street Line to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard., SEPTA had completed an Environmental Impact Statement to extend the Norristown High Speed Line to the King of Prussia area. However, the project was discontinued mid-way through.
In September 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit services, the Market–Frankford Line, Broad Street Line, Subway–Surface trolley lines, Norristown High Speed Line, Route 15 trolley, and the Media–Sharon Hill Line) as the "SEPTA Metro", in order to make the system easier to navigate. Under this proposal, new maps, station signage, and line designations would be created. Under the proposed nomenclature, trunk lines would receive a letter and a color, with services having a numeric suffix and service name to make wayfinding easier. Services on the current Market–Frankford Line, for instance, would be called "the L" and colored blue, with local service becoming the "L1 Market–Frankford Local". SEPTA budgeted $40 million for the rebranding in June 2023. SEPTA upgraded its website in late 2023 in advance of the planned rollout of SEPTA Metro in 2024.
In 2024, general manager Leslie Richards resigned.
In 2025, SEPTA announced unprecedented cuts to its services, reducing service on all bus and rail lines by 20% and eliminating 32 bus routes and shortening a further 16 routes. It would also increase transit fares to $2.90 per ride. Democratic politicians in Pennsylvania sought to avoid these cuts by passing a comprehensive funding bill, but Republican politicians in the state, who often represent rural districts, have opposed the comprehensive funding package. Republicans proposed instead to shift money from the state's Public Transportation Trust Fund towards SEPTA, which Democrats described as an unserious proposal that robbed earmarked funding from transit projects. On September 4th, a court order halted any further service cuts while restoring already cut services, The judge allowed the fare increases to go forward on September 14th.

Governance

At its founding in 1968, the board had 11 members. In 1991 the state legislature added four additional members, giving themselves more influence on the board.
SEPTA is governed by a 15-member board of directors:

The City of Philadelphia appoints two members: one member is appointed by the Mayor, the other by the City Council President. These two board members can veto any item that is approved by the full SEPTA board because the city represents more than two-thirds of SEPTA's local funding, fare revenue, and ridership. However, the veto may be overridden with the vote of at least 75% of the full board within 30 days.
Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties appoint two members each. These members are appointed by the county commissioners in Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery and by the county council in Delaware.
The majority and minority leaders of the two houses of the Pennsylvania State Legislature appoint one member each, for a total of four members.
The governor appoints one member.

The members of the SEPTA Board are:

Name	Appointed by
Michael A. Carroll	City of Philadelphia
Richard R. Harris, Esquire	City of Philadelphia
Kenneth Lawrence Jr.	Montgomery County
Robert D. Fox	Montgomery County
Robert J. Harvie, Jr.	Bucks County
John F. Cordisco	Bucks County
Kevin L. Johnson	Chester County
Marian D. Moskowitz	Chester County
Daniel R. Muroff, Esq.	Delaware County
Mark H. Dambly	Delaware County
Scott C. Freda	Pennsylvania Governor
Thomas J. Ellis	Senate Majority Leader
William J. Leonard	Senate Minority Leader
Esteban Vera Jr.	House Majority Leader
Martina White	House Minority Leader

The day-to-day operations of SEPTA are handled by the general manager, who is appointed and hired by the board of directors. The general manager is assisted by nine department heads called assistant general managers.
The present general manager is Scott Sauer. Past general managers include Leslie Richards, Jeffrey Knueppel, Joseph Casey, Faye L. M. Moore, Joseph T. Mack, John "Jack" Leary, Louis Gambaccini, and David L. Gunn. Past acting general managers include James Kilcur and Bill Stead.
SEPTA is a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission, a federal commission on Northeast Corridor rail service.