Image courtesy of SEPTA Facebook
Upper Gwynedd, Towamencin pass motions calling for funds from Harrisburg
Two more local towns have joined the call to state lawmakers to find funding for SEPTA.
Township officials in Upper Gwynedd and Towamencin Township have both passed motions calling on Harrisburg to fund the transit system.
“SEPTA faces a $213 million budget deficit, starting July 1 of 2025, in which SEPTA will cut services by 45 percent and raise fares by more than 20 percent, due to a lack of state funding,” said Upper Gwynedd commissioner Denise Hull.
“The North Penn region, and towns across the state, are adopting a resolution supporting funding for SEPTA,” she said.
In November 2024 Governor Josh Shapiro announced a plan to use $153 million in federal highway capital dollars to make up a funding shortfall for the transportation agency and called on lawmakers to find more funding, and county officials have since made the case at train stations across the region for continued funding. In late May North Wales Borough passed a resolution calling on the state to find funding for the transit agency, as borough officials there noted the town’s rail history that dates back over 150 years.
Upper Gwynedd, which is served by SEPTA at the Pennbrook station near a hotel and the Pennbrook Parkway complex, approved their ordinance unanimously on June 6, and asks the state to fund the “invaluable, irreplaceable, and foundational service for Upper Gwynedd Township, for Upper Gwynedd Township’s local economy, and for the ability of Upper Gwynedd Township’s residents to move around southeastern Pennsylvania.”
“These cuts would be devastating to the Upper Gwynedd Township community, fundamentally altering the everyday lives of countless Upper Gwynedd Township residents, workers, and business owners,” Hull said, reading the motion prior to the vote.
Towamencin supervisor Joyce Snyder read a similar motion during that board’s June 11 meeting, with a call to prevent service cuts and add funding, and summarized the impact to local residents.
“Nothing out of our pockets: we’re asking the state legislature to fund SEPTA the way they’re supposed to – well, it’s coming out of our pocket eventually, but it’s state not municipal,” Snyder said.
Supervisor Amer Barghouth said he made that motion “with pleasure,” before supervisor Kofi Osei noted the other two local towns had already passed similar calls, and sees residents rely on the agency firsthand.
“I’m a regular SEPTA rider, and I know there’s a lot of people in the township that use SEPTA to commute to work or school, like Temple or Drexel or Penn,” Osei said.
“For context of the state budget, Montgomery County sends Harrisburg money, and only gets back 40 percent in grants – it’s one of those things where the state government does owe this area a lot more. I’d probably make that argument for more than just transit, but especially now that SEPTA’s facing cuts,” he said.
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