Transportation budget bill spares SEPTA

SEPTA expects to receive $350 million of the bill’s $475 million earmarked for public transportation.

The Pennsylvania state government passed a $2.3 billion transportation package that will allow SEPTA to dodge a doomsday budget that would have cut transit services throughout the region.

Last week, the General Assembly approved the plan, which includes about $475 million per year earmarked for public transportation — of which SEPTAexpects to receive about $350 million per year, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The transit agency will use the money for sorely needed infrastructure improvements, particularly for century-old bridges on the regional rail lines.

In September, SEPTA officials prepared a contingency budget that would have been enacted if funding were not increased. It would have closed nine of the 13 regional rail lines by 2023 and replace several trolley lines with buses.

Read more at The Daily Pennsylvanian.

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