COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 15, 2026 10:11 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN JIM HARRITY COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILWOMAN RUE LANDAU COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY M. LOZADA COUNCILMAN NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. BILLS: 260199, 260200, 260201, 260202, 260203, 260204, 260205, 260206, 260208, 260209, 260295 RESOLUTION: 260227, 260253, 260254, 260255, 260256 - - -
This is the hearing of the Committee of the Whole regarding Bill Nos. 260199, 260200, 260201, 260202, 260203, 260204, 260205, 260206, 260208, 260209, 260295 and Resolution Nos. 260227, 260253, 260254, 260255 and 260256. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the roll to take attendance.
Thank you. A quorum of the committee is present and this hearing is now called to order. Ms. Loughead, will you please read the titles of the bills and the resolutions.
Bill No. 10 260199, an Ordinance adopting the Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2027. Bill No. 260200, an Ordinance to adopt a Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Budget. Bill No. 260201, an Ordinance to adopt a Capital Program for the six Fiscal Years, 2027-2032 inclusive. Bill No. 260202, an Ordinance amending Chapter 19-2400 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Hotel Room Rental Tax," by providing for an additional excise tax on hotel room rentals, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260203, an Ordinance amending Subcode "A" (The Philadelphia Administrative Code) of Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code (The Building, Construction and Occupancy Code), by adding and revising Zoning Board of Adjustment fees and provisions regarding hearing scheduling, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260204, an Ordinance amending Title 3 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Air Management Code" to modify the amounts of license and permit fees, under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 2602055, an Ordinance amending Section 19-1806 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization of Realty Use and Occupancy Tax," to clarify the imposition of the tax on the use or occupancy of real estate with respect to cell towers, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260206, an Ordinance amending Chapter 6-600 of The Philadelphia Code ("Asbestos"), by adding and providing provisions related to various fees, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260208, an Ordinance amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "School Tax Authorization," to a add a new Section 19-1808, entitled "Authorization of Rideshare Use Tax," to authorize the Board of the School District of Philadelphia to levy a tax upon the use by a passenger of a transportation network company for a prearranged ride that originates in Philadelphia; all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260209, an Ordinance amending Title of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Finances, Taxes and Collections," to add a new Chapter 19-4800, entitled "Retail Delivery Tax," to establish a tax on orders for the delivery in Philadelphia of retail consumer and other tangible goods, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260295, an Ordinance Authorizing and approving the execution and delivery of a Service Agreement between the City and the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development relating to the provision by the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development of development assistance to support certain costs related to promoting economic and commercial development of the City; approving the guaranty by the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development of certain obligations related to the issuance of a letter of credit to secure the funding of such costs; authorizing and approving the obligation of the City to pay in full when due the Service Fee and other amounts payable under the Service Agreement and covenanting to make necessary appropriations for such purposes; and authorizing City officials to take necessary or appropriate actions to accomplish the intent and purpose of the ordinance, all under certain terms and conditions. Resolution No. 260227, providing for the approval by the Council of the City of Philadelphia of a revised Five Year Financial Plan for the City of Philadelphia, covering Fiscal Years 2027 through 2031, and incorporating revisions with respect to Fiscal Year 2026, which is to be submitted by the Mayor to the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority pursuant to an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement, by and between the City and the Authority. Resolution No. 260253, appointing Bekir Gunaydin to the Board of the Director of the Old City Special Services District. Resolution No. 260254, appointing Felicia Wilson to the Board of the Directors for the Old City Special Services District. Resolution No.
260255, appointing Ken Weller to the Board of Directors for the Old City Special Services District. Resolution No. 260256, appointing Kya Kerner to the Board of Directors of the Old City Special Services District.
Thank you. Today we will first hear brief testimony and take action on Bill No. 260295 regarding the City's bid to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention as well as Old City Special Services District appointment resolutions. After taking action on the DNC bill and Old City appointment resolutions, we will continue to hear testimony on bills regarding operating and capital spending measures for Fiscal Year '27, our Capital Program and a Forward-looking Capital Plan for Fiscal Year 2027 through Fiscal Year 2032. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the panel to testify on Bill No. 260295 regarding the City's bid to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention.
The panel to testify on this bill is Vanessa Garrett Harley, Chief Deputy Mayor, who's also joined by Rob Dubow, Finance Director, and Jackie Dunn, City Treasurer. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good morning to each of you. Thank you so much for being here this morning. We ask that you state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. This is Vanessa Garrett Harley, Chief Deputy Mayor for the City of Philadelphia. Good morning all Councilmembers. With me today is Rob Dubow, City Finance Director and the City Treasurer Jackie Dunn. I'm here to testify in favor of Bill No. 260295. The bill would support the City's bid to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention by authorizing the City of Philadelphia to enter into a service agreement with the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development known as PAID. Under this agreement, the City will agree to pay a service fee equal to PAID obligations, if any, are incurred under the guaranty of the Host Committee, Pick Pennsylvania, related to a $35 million letter of credit to support the 2028 bid. The City has full confidence in Pick Pennsylvania and its fundraising capabilities, as it is led by Ambassador David L. Cohen, President, and Dan Hilferty, Chair. For the bid, the form of service agreement was submitted as an amendment to this ordinance. In 2016 when Philadelphia last hosted the Democratic National Convention, the City utilized a similar structure, and the City was not required to make any payments under the 2016 guaranty as the Host Committee raised the funds it needed. We thank you for your partnership and allowing us to include this bill in today's hearing. I respectfully request a suspension of the rules to allow for first reading at the next meeting of City Council. This concludes my testimony. We are more than happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley. And to Rob Dubow and our City Treasurer Jackie Dunn, we appreciate you all being here. Also wanted to take the opportunity to thank our Council President for the expeditious scheduling of this hearing, particularly after the Pick Pennsylvania event led by Mayor Cherelle Parker. Of course, must shout out Aaron Wilson and the hard work they are doing in conjunction with David Cohen, Dan Hilferty, Chairman Brady and others to Pick Pennsylvania. I also wanted to shout out our colleagues here in Council and Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who serves on the DNC as well as Councilmember Jim Harrity. We thank you both for your national service on our behalf. Very quick question. Just wanted to know how will PAID select the bank to provide the line of credit?
I believe that the selection has been made with an amalgamated bank, who there is a long partnership with the Democratic National Convention.
And as you stated, we do not draw down on the line of credit. We did not in 2016. Are there any additional costs associated with this at all?
Yes, just stating that for the record. So we thank you and we appreciate that work. Are there any additional questions or comments from members of the committee for these witnesses? Okay. Chair recognizes Councilmember Harrity.
Thank you. First, I want to say sorry, I didn't make it out there this time. It's the first one I've missed since I was elected. But I did hear that you guys put up a really nice showing. Heard the party was really good and heard that you guys were out there lobbying for us. So thank you for that.
So as far as the other cities are concerned, right, where do you see -- can you just explain why and what you explained to them, the leadership of why they should come here to Philadelphia rather than go to, say, Georgia or Louisiana or one of the other places?
So Philadelphia has the distinct pleasure of having -- we're one of the five finalists. I kind of remember the other cities just for memory's sake. I call them the ABCDs. It's Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, and then Philadelphia. And so, what we are trying to explain to them is just how wonderful and great our city is and all the amenities that the city has to offer. And what we have that makes us such an attractive destination for conventions and things of the like, we have hotels, Center City. We have a very robust and active Center City area. We have added an additional, about 28% of hotel space since the time that we had the Democratic Convention here in 2016. We have a very large and accommodating Convention Center that is here and very walkable, in walkable distance to many things. We have -- as you'll hear later today, I know SEPTA's hearing is today. We have a very robust public transportation system that can take people in this city from end-to-end and even out to the counties and other places that we can advertise. The arena is really important. We have the Arena District, and we have, you know, Xfinity Mobile and all the other areas there. And then when you talk about our cultural institutions and the Parkway, right, I'm saying the Parkway because a lot of our cultural institutions are on the Parkway, just what it looks like from an aesthetic purpose. But we're also the birthplace of democracy and this is the year to really bring that out. I'm putting in a shameless plug because I'm also head of the Special Events of the America 250 stuff here in the city, right. But we are the birthplace of democracy. We are where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and we're talking about democracy and bringing the Democratic National Party here. And many of the values that it was founded on is what we argue are the values of the city. Now, while we're talking about the Democratic National Convention, it's not a political thing, certainly not for me. I'm apolitical believe it or not, and wouldn't even be allowed to be involved in it because of the city rules if it was political. This is about a civic event and talking to them about the civic education and what it could bring to the city. But the economic impact --
-- hundreds of millions of dollars could be, you know, made for the city, from everything from our restaurants to our hotels. We did talk to them about our now Michelin Star restaurants and our excellent restaurant scene. We have a lot of restaurants. We have nightlife. We have what people would want if they're coming to a convention. And so, I'm pretty confident that it will go favorably.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Harrity. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Cindy Bass.
It was a pleasure to be with you in New Orleans last weekend.
I think that the City of Philadelphia was well-represented. Listen, Patti LaBelle was there.
But it really was something to talk about because, you know, we traveled around in circles and myself and other members of the representation from Pennsylvania, we traveled around to see what the word was from other events that were happening to woo the DNC to their cities. And I have to tell you, hands down, Philadelphia really came out strong. So I really believe that it's going to be Philadelphia. We're very hopeful, but at the same time the presentation really made us look good. It felt good. People were excited about the possibilities. And I think that we are really a party town. We don't talk about it in that particular way, but we certainly know how to put on an event, a party, a show, activities like this. And for those of us who participated in 2016, we did a phenomenal job. When the Republican Committee came here, I think it was 2000 or 2004, came to Philadelphia, that was phenomenal. And it's only gotten better and better every single time that we've done it. And I agree with you, it's not just about one particular party. Because even though I'm a member of the DNC, we also want everybody to come out. There's going to be something really for everyone to see and to support and to recognize that the City of Philadelphia is really a special place. So I just really wanted to say kudos on the work that you did. It was really phenomenal. I'm sorry everybody didn't get a chance to see it, but it was really fantastic.
Thank you. Madam Chair, could I just add one thing for the record I think is important to put on about Philadelphia. We also talked, which is a huge deciding factor, about public safety, and that we have a world-class police force. We have a phenomenal Commissioner here. Our police force is very used to handling large events. We've done the Pope. We've done the NFL Draft. We are about to do FIFA and MLB and a bunch of other stuff with that. Our officers, we have a very well-respected Dignitary Affairs Unit and other things. So the public safety aspect is another huge part of what we are promoting and able to offer.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilmember Bass, and thank you for representing Philadelphia. Are there any additional questions? Okay. Great. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Ahmad and then Councilmember Lozada.
Thank you, Chair. Good morning. And it's wonderful to hear we're putting our best foot forward. I had a question to do a comparison between what we experienced in 2016 in terms of what it cost the city and was it a net positive or a negative, given police and all these other things that happened? I know we're not 2016 now. But just to get some idea, the LC is not going to cost us anything. It's just having it there. But the rest of it, the actual operations of putting on that, what did it cost the city in 2016 so we can sort of extrapolate for 2028?
Can I ask Rob Dubow, our Finance Director, to handle that question.
Yeah, I can't tell you off the top my head. But we did do analyses back then, so we'll find them and we'll get that to the Chair.
And that's really the selling point to our people, to say that we're putting on a big party and yet, we're asking our people to do a lot, we're paying taxes, we're doing this, that and the other and we are ready for the party. So I just want to make sure that we have all the data to say why we are supporting this, because it's a net gain, it brings in hopefully new business, all of those things, because we need that information to tell our constituents why are we asking you to pay more for X, Y and Z, why are we putting on a party that might cost us. But if it doesn't, then we're happy to say it won't cost us. So thank you, Chair. I think we need that information --
You get two things. You get the straight benefit, which is things like hotel rooms, restaurants, all the spending from delegates. But you also get to be on an international stage and show the city off, which then helps bring in business for years to come.
Just to make sure I'm on the record, I'm supportive of this. I just want to have enough information so that we can answer questions that will surely come our way.
Yes. Please share the data point with Councilman Ahmad, and then I'd like to recognize -- I'm sorry. Please allow me to recognize Councilmember Bass for a point of information.
Thank you. I just really wanted to go back to Rob Dubow's point in terms of generating additional tourism dollars for the City of Philadelphia's future. And so, I'm not sure exactly what the numbers are, even though I'm sure that they're in the positive. But I can tell you this, as someone who's been to every Democratic Convention that's been had since about '96, I can tell you that some of these cities are not easy to move around in. And just as a consumer, it made me say, I don't particularly want to go back there. Nice city, not a bad place, but it's very difficult to move around. And when you're moving large numbers of people, you need a transportation network. You need to be able to have the infrastructure in place. And a lot of these other places don't have what Philadelphia has. And I think that that makes it a place that people will come for the DNC, but also want to come back and spend their tourism dollars in the future. So thank you, Madam Chair.
And if I could, just in terms of the data point I will make sure that every Councilmember gets a copy of kind of a one-pager that has a lot of facts that you could share with your constituents from Pick Pennsylvania. But the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the economic impact that went to the city was $230 million. And we expect to do as well, probably better.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilmember Ahmad. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Lozada.
Good morning. Thank you for being with us. I think Councilmember Bass just made the point of information clear, right. We need a transportation center that is going to be able to support mass groups of people so that the economic opportunity that these conventions bring to our city are spread across neighborhoods. I guess my concern and my question is -- and we'll hear from SEPTA later on this morning. As we continue to attract these groups into our city, how are we working with our transit system to ensure public safety, rides that are, favorable, that are welcoming? We struggle every day on the Market-Frankford Line. Many of my staff take public transportation to work every day and it is a daily struggle. And so, how are we preparing our mass transit system to be able to respond appropriately to these groups so like Member Bass said, when they leave after the convention, they choose to bring their personal families back to visit our city?
Absolutely. I will say this and then I will leave it to the experts and even we can provide you with a written response if you'd like it more detailed, but we certainly value our partnerships with SEPTA and their leadership, very much including them. We have our site visit, which will be coming to the City of Philadelphia, April 29th through May 1st. That kind of a question you just asked is one of the things certainly those folks who are coming to town will be definitely drilling down on, but our SEPTA partners are will be and our Philadelphia Police Department as well as our Office of Emergency Management and everybody else will be working very closely together so that we can ensure the safety of everyone that comes here as well as the safety of our residents as we take that extremely seriously. But I can get you a more detailed answer if you want, but it would be better coming from the public safety experts who are handling that part of it.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilmember Lozada. Are there any additional questions for these witnesses? (No response.)
Seeing none, we thank you all very much for being here this afternoon. We look forward to continuing to work with you.
Thank you. We will now hear testimony regarding the Old City Special Services appointment resolutions. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the witness to testify on these resolutions.
Job Itzkowitz, Executive Director Old City Special Services District. (Witness approached witness table.)
Excellent. Thank you very much for being here. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Madam Chair Gilmore Richardson and all members of Council. My name is Job Itzkowitz, the Executive Director of the Old City Special Services District. I'm here to testify in support of Resolution Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255, 260256, respectively appointing Bekir Gunaydin and Felicia Wilson, Ken Weller and Kya Kerner to the Board of the Old City Special Services District. I've submitted written testimony and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you. Look forward to working with you as always. We thank you for being here this morning. Are there any questions or comments from members of the committee for this witness? (No response.)
Any questions or comments for this witness? (No response.)
Seeing none, we thank you very much for joining us here this morning.
There being no further questions from members of the committee and no other witnesses on the list to testify, I will ask if there is anyone else present in this hearing who wishes to offer testimony on Bill Nos. 260295 and Resolution Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255 and 260256? (No response.)
Hearing none, I want to thank all of the witnesses for their participation today. We value your opinion. We will now go into our public meeting to consider the action to be taken on Bill No. 12 260295 and Resolution Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255 and 260256. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the roll to take attendance.
Thank you. Thank you all so much for being here. We recognize the presence of a quorum. The Chair now recognizes -- the meeting will be at ease. (Council at ease.)
Thank you so much. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 260295.
Thank you, Ms. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 23 260295 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilmember Harrity seconds the motion. And it's been moved and properly seconded that Bill No. 13 260295 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. All those in favor will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Bill No. 5 260295 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Phillips for a motion on Resolution Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255 and 260256.
Thank you, Majority Leader Chair Gilmore Richardson. I move that Resolution 20 Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255, 260256 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading of this bill at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
The Chair notes for the record that Councilman Harrity seconds the motion. It has been moved and properly seconded that Resolution 10 Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255 and 260256 be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and further move that the rules of Council be suspended as to permit first reading of these resolutions at the next session of Council. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. And Resolution Nos. 260253, 260254, 260255 and 260256 will be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation with a request for suspension of the rules to permit consideration of these resolutions at our next session of Council. We will now go back into the hearing and take testimony on the Fiscal Year '27 budget bills.
We will now continue to hear testimony on bills regarding operating and capital spending measures for Fiscal Year 2027, a Capital Program and a Forward- looking Capital Plan for Fiscal Year 2027 through Fiscal Year 2032. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the first panel to testify.
Scott Sauer, General Manager for SEPTA. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
It always good to see you. If you could just state your name for the record and also your team that will be joining you for questioning from members of City Council. Before you get started, I was looking for Wendy Harvey Green.
I think Wendy is waiting for the team. We were rerouted through the entrance into City Hall.
Okay. So I just want to go on record and just acknowledge her hard work and keeping the lines of communication regarding all things SEPTA as well as Pam McCormick on the state level, keeping us abreast on all things SEPTA as we advocate and fight for funding for mass transit on a state level as well as we continue to advocate and address the issues regarding the SEPTA Bus Revolution Plan and making sure it's integrated to our Councilmanic Districts in a smooth, seamless fashion, and also your leadership for being courage under the fire as we address about a year ago the lack of permanent funding on the state budget and working with our Governor Josh Shapiro on the General Assembly for the flex dollars that we did receive on two separate occasions to keep our city moving forward, particularly during this year which is 2026, and we need not have any type of disruption to our transportation system during this period as we celebrate the birthplace of America and there are several different events that will be here during this time. So with that being said, Scott, just state your name for the record and please begin, and also acknowledge your team that's here for lines of questioning as well.
Certainly, and thank you for that. My name is Scott Sauer, S-a-u-e-r, and I am the General Manager of SEPTA. Good morning, Council President Johnson, Transportation and Public Utilities Committee Chair Driscoll and members of City Council. I am joined today at my right by SEPTA's Chief of Transit Police, Charles Lawson, and momentarily, my team will be joining me. I have representatives from across SEPTA's various divisions and departments representing everything from finance to planning to operations and engineering. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on SEPTA's budget request as part of the City of Philadelphia's Fiscal Year 2027 budget process. I'm grateful for the Council's partnership, thoughtful input and steadfast advocacy for transit funding. Today I am pleased to share how we are using the city's support to invest in safety, service, our workforce and the long-term future of the system. The City of Philadelphia's proposed $134 million contribution is essential. It enables SEPTA to meet its legislatively-mandated requirement to secure local matching funds, unlocking nearly $1 billion in state-operating support. Importantly, the city's five-year commitment of nearly $900 million positions SEPTA to fully leverage additional funding anticipated under the Governor's proposed statewide transit funding plan. The Mayor's budget proposal would also maintain two critical partnerships, the city's participation in SEPTA's Key Advantage program and its Zero Fare program. Together, these initiatives expand access to public transportation for city employees and low-income residents, advancing our shared goal of connecting people to jobs, education and opportunity. We're also grateful for the Council's continued support of other shared priorities, including the new bus network implementation, bus and trolley prioritization and lane enforcement, and service and capital initiatives that we are undertaking in the communities we represent. Much of my testimony last year focused on SEPTA's fiscal crisis and the difficult choices we faced to address our budget deficit. Action we took last September redirecting funds dedicated to future SEPTA capital projects to fund operations helped reverse service cuts and stabilize SEPTA's operating budget for two years through June of 2027. Without any mechanism to replace those funds, this one-time fix carries long-term consequences for how SEPTA can serve the city and the region in the future. Temporary fixes are not a substitute for a sustainable funding solution. We are continuing to work with the Governor and our Regional Legislative Delegation to advance dedicated statewide transit funding. And I want to thank the members of City Council for their advocacy on behalf of SEPTA. The city's proposed investment comes at a critical moment. Like Philadelphia itself, SEPTA is building on renewed momentum, and we are using this period of relative stability to focus on the fundamentals of our mission, safety, reliability, cleanliness, accountability and putting our customers first. That focus is producing measurable results. Today SEPTA provides approximately 800,000 daily trips across bus, subway and Regional Rail. Through July 2025, we achieved 51 consecutive months of year-over-year ridership growth. And despite several major snowstorms this winter, ridership has returned following an operationally challenging fourth quarter last year. Those who are riding see an improved system. Our most recent rider survey showed improvement across all categories. Serious crime is at historically low levels, supported by the largest uniformed transit police force in more than a decade. Following a 33% reduction in serious crime in 2024, the largest one-year decline in SEPTA's history, safety improved further in 2025. Preliminary data from the first quarter this year shows an additional 30% decrease compared to the same period last year.
Targeted enforcement and infrastructure improvements are also making a difference. New fare gates and transit police deployments have reduced fare evasion by 10% this year. Fare evasion rates at the stations that have full 10 height fare gates have dropped between 37% and 75%. Based on that success, we are moving forward with plans to install the new gates at another 13 stations. Expanded transit police staffing is allowing us to deploy new transit police patrols on the B and El trains. Following federal emergency orders issued last fall, Regional Rail and trolley operations have rebounded and we are working to build the culture needed to improve safety and reliability moving forward. Our skilled and dedicated workforce is ready for the additional demands that will be placed on the system to fully support the city and the region during the World Cup, the nation's Semiquincentennial, the Major League Baseball All Star Game and the many other events planned in the region this year. With temporary funding in place, we are advancing the phased implementation of the New Bus Network, which takes a major step forward today with two public hearings on the Fiscal Year 2027 Annual Service Plan that will guide the initial phases. This year of transition is reflected in the operating and capital budgets we released last week. Through cost-containment and operational improvements, SEPTA has achieved approximately $30 million in recurring annual savings. Increased revenues from advertising, parking and investments has further strengthened our financial position. As a result, our projected structural deficit has been reduced from $213 million in Fiscal Year 2026 to $192 million in Fiscal Year 2027. The budget also exposes the tenuous status of the Authority's capital program. SEPTA faces a $10 billion state-of-good- repair backlog, including the oldest rail vehicle fleet in the nation that must be replaced. 3 billion over the next 12 years just to advance essential replacement and repairs. This increased reliance on debt will constrain future flexibility and limit our ability to fully meet long-term system needs. Despite these challenges, the progress of the past year demonstrates SEPTA can deliver for our riders and the communities we serve. As we work to secure a sustainable funding solution, we are also investing time and resources to develop our vision for what SEPTA can be. Across the Authority, employees are helping develop SEPTA's next strategic plan, built around five core priorities: putting customers first; investing in an engaged and supported workforce; securing stable, long-term funding; practicing strong fiscal stewardship; and modernizing our infrastructure and technology with adequate funding. This plan will serve as the roadmap for the Authority's next five years, guiding organizational decisions while establishing clear accountability for results. I'm committed to leading SEPTA through this next phase, one that moves the Authority beyond recovery and toward a best-in-class future. I look forward to continuing that work with City Council in achieving that goal. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of SEPTA's Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget request. I appreciate the continued support of Council and welcome your questions.
Thank you very much. And before I get started, I see she has arrived. Again, I want to publicly acknowledge Wendy Harvey Green for her hard work and dedication. (Applause.)
I want to also welcome Hugh Allen to the SEPTA team. I know you from doing this work since I've been a State Representative, so you have a fine gentleman who's a hard worker joining Team SEPTA. So welcome, Hugh. Always good to see you. I just want to take a moment to just answer a couple questions. First, I want to acknowledge the work of our Councilmember Nicolas, who will work for advocating for additional funds for the SEPTA Key program and Zero Fare. Thank you for your leadership, making sure those most in need have a chance to participate and taking advantage of SEPTA and all the opportunities that it provides to utilize that great transit system here in the City of Philadelphia. So I want to personally just thank you for your hard work and advocacy around it. When we went to Harrisburg as a group, as a body and we talked to different members, the House and the Senate, but primarily the Senate, just to get their feedback, most importantly lobbying them for advocacy, for support, for permanent funding for transit. A couple things will come up in the midst of our conversations that we would have to clarify with them around the issue of public safety, right. And we know that our numbers are down, but I think for some apparent reason there's a perception that our numbers are up. So could you just take us to where our numbers are? Two, what are we doing regarding fare evasion? And three, in terms of our police force, are we growing. And if we are growing, at what rate in terms of how we're addressing public safety? And the last part, I remember a couple budget sessions ago, you and your team came and talked about, separate from the law enforcement aspect, we were also dealing with issues regarding behavioral health, drug addiction, homelessness, to address the quality-of-life issues that really isn't a part of I would say the total operation of SEPTA, but you have incurred it as a result of you running your business. And so, could you touch on those four things, please?
Yeah, certainly. And I'll take a little bit of it and I'll have the chief kind of chime in with me strategically. Safety and security is essentially the highest -- it's the highest value that we have and we want to keep safety and security at the forefront. We have made tremendous progress over the last several years at reducing crime on the system, increasing our ability to engage with the most vulnerable riders and at the same time increasing the ranks of our police department. We've made several strategic decisions along the way that have resulted in success in all areas, primarily increasing the ranks of our police officers. We made several decisions a few years ago, worked with the Transit Police Union on pay increases, shrinking the time it takes for an officer to reach the top rate in making the Transit Police Department a much more attractive option for those folks who want to enter law enforcement. We were able to do that and we saw some dividends almost immediately in officers who had left the Transit Authority to pursue other law enforcement options returning to SEPTA. In addition, we have been successfully recruiting. We run two classes a year in the municipal police academy, and we have placed double- digit number of students in that police academy every single time since about 2022. One of the key changes that we made in that time frame of course was promoting Chief Lawson. Chief Lawson, as a lifetime police officer for SEPTA and has risen through the ranks, taken a similar path much like I have to achieve my standing at the Authority, and the Chief rose through the ranks and he brought credibility with him into his position that we needed. In that position, he's been able to motivate and attract recruits into the Transit Police Department. And I'd like to turn it to the Chief to talk about our strategies and the numbers as we see them today. CHIEF LAWSON: So thank you for the question. Thanks, Scott, for that feedback. As Scott said, our staffing numbers have risen for the last three years. They're as high as they've been in or years, where our staffing 12 level at present rate is 96.5% of 13 our budgeted head count. And I've 14 gotten a commitment from the 15 Authority that when I reach that budgeted head count, I don't have to stop hiring. So we are going to continue to hire police officers for as long as we can do so. So that has paid big dividends, right. Like Scott mentioned, the historic lows that we're seeing right now in crime, and they are historic. I've been with the organization for 34 years, and we are seeing crime rate as low as I've seen in my entire time in this police department. So that work is being done. We're having a lot of success with our strategies. The more difficult challenge is the behavioral health issues that you mentioned, right. And it is a more difficult challenge because we don't have the same tools for long-term success as we have. We can't arrest our way out of it. Many of these issues that we're dealing with are non-criminal issues at all. And yet, I have a police force of 200 officers that are trying to address this with limited tools and resources to effect long-term change, but they're doing a great job. Last year my team engaged in more than 200,000 engagements with that community last year, moving the bulk of those folks off. We're having limited success in finding long-term connection to resources, connection to addiction treatment programs, right. We're just not seeing that right now. But we're moving this community out of the system. We're enforcing a code of conduct. We're enforcing safety issues. And so, we're having limited success with nonlong-term tools.
What's the name of the -- before y'all came here, maybe two, three budgets ago, you had a gentleman who had a whole operation that supplemented the police. Your job is police, right, but you had somebody else who was strictly responsible for the behavioral health issues, the drug addiction issues and the homelessness issue so all of it wouldn't be on just the police. So where's the -- I don't remember his name, but I remember the presentation. And is he still a part of this current operation?
Yes. So the person you're referring to is Ken Divers. Ken retired from the Authority I think the end of '24, early '25. That program still exists. It resides --
Safety, Cleaning, Ownership, Partnership, Engagement, and that program was, as you described, designed to remove the responsibility from police officers. So that program still exists. We are in a transition phase. When we came to you last year, we talked about we were moving away from some of the existing providers that we had partnerships with. We have a request for proposals that's out on the street today to re-engage with new providers. But we also have partnerships with local mental health and addiction specialists that are helping us. We have a woman, Theresa White, who runs that program within the police department. And so, we've married the two components together to give it structure and better strategies for how we deploy officers, how we deploy specialists to engage with the most vulnerable that are on the system.
But in the meanwhile while you go through transition and the RFP is out there, I guess what I'd like to say is it's a gap in between -- because on one end the Captain is saying we're making limited progress. In order to make sure we're having more than limited progress, we would have to have that RFP responded to and then the whole operation get started where the police have an opportunity to police, and hopefully there will be a team like it was before going on more than likely the Sub and the El as compared to the buses, just checking on what's going on from the quality of a person's experience who's getting on the bus and the El, would that be correct?
Yes. So while we've transitioned between the two contracts, the bulk of the interactions has fallen either on the police department or on the limited partnerships that we have. So part of the redeployment of police resources to the trains that we recently did was to address some of those quality-of-ride issues that you're speaking of today. And, that is, folks who are riding with no destination, who need help, they need resources. And so, our police officers are engaging those folks and offering those resources while helping them to move through the system. But, yes, all that is happening within the police department.
Just a question for the Captain and then I'll turn it over to my members. What does a day look like for officers who actually frequently check in from railroad car to railroad car on the El and the Subway? And the reason why I ask that question is because I do get individuals reaching out saying, I was on my way to work today -- I know my staff probably heard me because he was one of them. I was on my way to work and people are getting high on the train, people are getting high on the El, and I have to deal with this while I'm on the train and while I'm on the El, right. So I'm like okay. And we have people come down to Council and say, oh, SEPTA, at the end of the day, like it's this magical thing we need to be a part of, where I didn't grow up with a car in my household, to be quite frank with you and everybody inside this room. The transit mode every day was SEPTA. It was the 29. It was the famous 17 bus to this day, right, the 7 bus growing up in South Philly. But also, I know that Broad Street Line like the back of my hand, so it's nothing new to me to know the train station particularly from Pattison Avenue. Because I'm from South Philly, we pretty much used to stop at City Hall. But I know under Walnut Street, you know, as a kid riding my bike under there, but that's a different conversation, right. So I know it back and forth, right as well as the Frankford Line because we used to go to the Frankford Mall back in the day. You would take the El to Martha Orthodox coming from South Philadelphia. But I understand it's a very different experience today than it was back then. I know a key aspect is that visibility of police presence to try to tell folks, you're not going to get high, you're not going to rob, you're not going to do all those things to tear down the quality of life and you have a choice to make. Either you straighten up and get in line or you will not be on this transit system, because you got children that's on these buses on the El, you have seniors. And so, I think a couple bad apples, you know, I'm going to call a spade a spade, have to be dealt with on behalf of the interests of everybody else who's good, law-abiding transit riders. So we're not going to help the people that's on there doing wrong. And if you need mental health issue support, we will provide mental health support. But you will not disturb my little nieces and nephews who are getting on the Subway and on the El, period. And I don't apologize for that approach at all. CHIEF LAWSON: Yeah. So the success that we've had with serious crime on the system has really allowed us to turn the full weight of our attention to those quality-of-life issues. Serious crime is not happening largely on the train, right. So we were spending a lot of time off the train focusing on serious crime. Now that we have that under control, all of our time is being spent on trains. I'll give you an example of a weekly report that we run last week. 200 train runs, 1100 hours of patrol, just cops on trains, and that's what they're doing. They're enforcing largely our code of conduct, right. So smoking, open containers of alcohol, taking up more than one seat, these issues that are really not criminal in nature, but they lose their rights and that's exactly our approach. And so, you lost your ride. Some of these issues result in a 24-hour ban. And so, we ban them for the day depending on how serious the infraction was, but that's been our approach. We've been seeing that translate into a little better feedback from our customers, right. This is a fairly new plan. We've been doing this for about a month, but we're already seeing results from it.
And how are we dealing with -- I think we're better than New York, but they have this ride fare -- I mean, not ride fare. What is it called, fare evasion equipment, where you try to hop the turnstile -- well, they used to have the bars down the bottom, that's big, but you try to jump the turnstile to get on the train for free. Where are we in terms of modern technology to actually stop individuals who think it's okay to ride the train for free?
So we've completed installation of full- height fare gates with full-height doors, like saloon-style doors. They are much, much harder, much more difficult to defeat. It's not to say they're impenetrable, because there's still opportunities there that we have to address. But we've installed these gates at 10 locations, 10 stations already, including City Hall Station, if you've been through City Hall Station. They have made a tremendous difference. We've seen fare evasion at those stations drop off anywhere from 40% to 75%. In the budget that we're proposing this year, we are proposing to install those at 13 more stations, which will assist in those areas. But then there's also a project that we're undertaking, which we'll introduce later this year, to try to harden the existing turnstile infrastructure. While we can't get the full height fare gates at every location right away, we can harden some of the infrastructure that we have to make it more difficult for folks to not pay their fare. And we couple that with the Chief's police deployment, which even presses down on that number even further. The police officers have issued thousands of citations to folks who are fare evading. We always give them a chance to go back out and come back through on a fare. But if they insist, then the police will issue a citation.
And last but not least, how are we protecting our SEPTA workers who are on the buses? How do we deal with the Local 234 type of issues where the SEPTA drivers are pretty much doing their job, but a lot of times they have to deal with a variety of different things that really has nothing to do with them, but it just comes with the job of them being a SEPTA bus driver?
We want to put the plastic shield that will be around the actual bus drivers to keep them safe, right, hopefully bulletproof.
Yes. So there's several modifications we've made structurally to the bus to protect the operator. So the shield that you're speaking of, so we have evolved from a three- quarter type shield that they can retract at on demand. We've now introduced a fully-encapsulated driver compartment, where the shield now goes from the rear of the operator all the way to near the window. It's very difficult for someone who wants to get back there to do it simultaneously. We've enhanced the communications for operators. They have silent alarms that they can trigger to get police response. That silent alarm would automatically go into our control center. The control center can see where the vehicle is by GPS. It opens an ambient mic, we can listen. The police have capabilities now to look in live through the camera system. We also created or modified the bus to include an emergency egress window to the operator's left. There's not a door there so the operator would technically be trapped, should they not be able to exit through the same door that the customers use. Now, the operator could, in an emergency, get out through that window. So we've made a number of modifications to the bus itself. We are still looking at bullet- resistant glass. That glass does present some engineering challenges for us because it's very heavy, so we're still working through those challenges. But the full encapsulation and the enhanced communications have been pretty well-received, and we have worked hand-in-hand with Local 234 to develop these ideas as we've gone along. I'll let the Chief -- if you don't mind, the Chief has strategies he's used to address buses and trolleys as well. CHIEF LAWSON: Yeah. For the first time a year ago, we created a unit within the police department that focused on nothing but our service transportation. You've never had that in the past. That group has been instrumental in reducing crime on buses 16% last year, but they've also reduced assaults on our bus operators, physical assaults on the operators. Not only is it coming down, but they've given that allows now the surface group and our operators and that team, a specific leadership team, to work with in the police department that addresses nothing but their issues.
Okay. I just want to recommend that you and your team show these updates to Senator McCormick -- I'm sorry, not McCormick, Senator Pittman. We can do McCormick as well so we can get some of that federal funding as well. But I would have that conversation with Senator McCormick and a variety of different Senators who pretty much have final say on the budget in Harrisburg. And show that, one, our numbers reflect that we are making progress. Two, these are things that we're addressing regarding fare evasion. And three, here's the strategy regarding -- well, not even just the strategy, but the progress we have been making in terms of safety of the ridership as well as those who operate all of our buses and trains. I just think that goes a long way when we're doing our advocacy up there and we're fighting -- that was direct conversation that they would have. That was the reason they would come up with why they couldn't support us. Whether we want to believe it or not, they're the ones in power that's going to approve the budget so we have to make our case to them that what they may think is the case isn't necessarily the case, and here's the facts and here's the progress that we are making as a transit authority. With that being said, the Chair recognizes Councilmember Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, then Chair of Transportation Mike Driscoll, and then Councilmember Rue Landau and Kendra Brooks.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Council President. And thank you, Scott Sauer and your entire team. We appreciate the work that you all continue to do on our behalf, Chief Lawson, Michael Carroll, all the SEPTA Board members led by Board Chair Ken Lawrence. Wendy Green Harvey, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for always being there for all of our calls and requests. And also, to the new bus network team for your collaboration. I'm going back a couple years now, but I wanted to say thank you again based on the work with the new bus network. And I know that there were several iterations. And now, you're ready to proceed with this new bus network. Can you provide an update on the implementation and how you all will be working to ensure all riders, but especially the ones that are hard to reach, like our seniors, our students, working parents will be notified about the bus network changes?
Sure. Thank you for that. So today we are kicking off our first hearing for the Annual Service Plan, which is just highlighting of course the New Bus Network. And so, a couple things that we learned -- actually we learned a great deal last year during the phases of the service cuts that we were implementing as a result of our budget issues. And as we were going through that process, we deployed staff actually out to bus stops to talk to riders on the ground, where they live waiting for our service. And what we found is that really made a difference in folks' ability to understand what we were doing. As you well know, the service cuts was a drastic change from what people were accustomed to, even well beyond what we're doing on the New Bus Network. So we really wanted to make sure that people understood what those changes meant for them and their daily commute. And by getting out in the field with riders at the bus stop really made a difference. So we have taken that lesson and applied it as we move through the New Bus Network. So the bus network is going to be implemented in several phases for the next to months. 14 And so, what we are 15 taking is we're taking each phase 16 as kind of an implementation 17 process, a means to get out and 18 talk to the folks. And since most 19 of the phases work regionally 20 within the network, we're able to 21 target specific areas of the city 22 and the region to talk to them 23 about what's changing in that 24 phase. So we don't have to really inundate them with all of it all at once. I mean, it's great if they want to know it and that information will be available. But when we're out talking about changes, generally we're going to talk to people about the changes that they're going to see every day, because it's their bus route, it's their rail route and it's going to change their connections and that sort of thing. So we are talking to them about that as the phases go. We've already done a number of town halls and a number of open houses before today in advance of the first implementation phase, which starts in August.
And I'm sure with the bus operators as well. Shout-out to TWU 234.
Yes, and thank you for that. But, yes, absolutely. So we have spoken of course with TWU's leadership and going depot-by-depot to talk to the operators about what's happening in their depot, because some of these changes obviously are happening on a depot-by-depot basis.
That was some of the feedback I got last year during the cuts. As I was going depot-to-depot telling them about what was happening, they were bringing me to the board and showing me how their roots were changing. So we took those lessons back and were applying those to the New Bus Network implementation as well. Yes, we're trying to address every stakeholder, including Council, including our county leaders as well as to make sure that everybody is well-informed and that we can answer their questions well before implementation actually occurs.
Okay. That'll be great. I heard the bell and I'll honor the clock. But I just wanted to put on the record please to continue to send us the information -- we'll receive it from Wendy -- that we can share with our constituents and our E-newsletters. We're already getting the information, but continue to send it to us so we can get it out to our board of constituencies that we represent. I will submit questions for written response due to time limitations relative to the repurposing of the capital dollars in that timeline. And also, what you all have budgeted for capital funding and what percentage of those funds you encumber each year, what percentage you actually spend? And then also on the revenue side, around passenger revenue and sort of what you anticipate from a budget perspective on passenger revenue moving forward, particularly starting with 2026? I'll submit those questions for written response. But just wanted to say thank you for your continued work and advocacy and working together with this body, with Council President, our Chair of Transportation, and advocating on behalf of Philadelphia in Harrisburg. So thank you very much for that work. And I have to say this too. Prez brought this up around riding the bus, and I still call the Broad Street bus the C bus. Okay. I think it's 4 now, but I think it was the C when I was in high school. I'm just going to be honest, completely honest, and I usually don't even do this on the record. I don't like the new LBT. I don't like that, because I think that you all are trying to make SEPTA more so like the New York bus system. So I get it, L, the Market-Frankford, B for Broad Street. I get it, right. But to me, it looks like New York. And I think we have to be cognizant of the fact that we are Philadelphia and we need to keep the character of our city at the forefront of the work that we do. So I just wanted to mention that for the team and the staff on the back-end. I know you all got upset with me about this last time. Who may or may not be from Philadelphia, who may or may not be born and raised here, to remember the cultural and historical significance of what our transit system means to us. It doesn't have to look like -- everything doesn't have to look like New York City. We are Philadelphia. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you, Majority Leader. Chair recognizes Councilmember Mike Driscoll, Chair of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. President. And welcome, Chief, and welcome, Scott. Scott, I appreciate that five-step plan that you've outlined. Appreciate that, but I wanted to ask before I get to my questions, you're not new to SEPTA. You've been there a long time, both of you. And with all your experience, what is your vision for SEPTA going forward?
Sure. Thank you for that. Last year we talked a lot about what SEPTA will be if we are not funded. And so, as we shifted away from that, even though it's a temporary solution, I wanted to shift the language and I want to talk about what SEPTA can be if we are funded. If we get a permanent funding solution and we do all the things that we want to do with SEPTA, the things that our customers and that Council wants us to do, this is what we can be. And what that vision looks like is it looks like a system that is modern. It runs frequent, reliable service. It's service that will arrive regardless of whether you have a printed timetable in your hand or a digital timetable on your electronic device, that I can just show up at the street corner and I know that bus will arrive within minutes 5 or I know that that train will 6 arrive within 15 minutes. 7 I want a system that 8 that our workforce is well-trained, 9 highly-skilled, that they are 10 attentive to our customers' needs 11 and that they know what's expected 12 of them and that they perform to 13 that expectation every single day, 14 a system that is clean, a system 15 that folks can get in and be proud of, that they'll bring visitors from, from other cities or other countries and that we don't have to try to spruce up in order to meet that demand. We're already there. It's kind of the same approach you would want to have in your own home where I don't want to have to clean my home just because somebody dropped by. I want it to be clean and ready to receive company any time I need it. I want that for the people that use it every day. I want that for visitors. In order to get there, we have to change the way we do business internally. So I need a leadership team that is responsive and that is meeting needs and looking ahead strategically, and that's the point of this strategic business plan initiative. It's the point of the vision document, to show what SEPTA can be. We have a real opportunity. Because over the next 5 to 10 years, we're going to have at least three modern rail fleets coming onto the property, the trolleys, the Market-Frankford Line and the Silverliner VIs. We have an opportunity to fast-forward into the 21st century in a way that SEPTA has never done before. We've never procured three major rail fleets all at once the way we're going to try to do, and we still have to do the Broad Street Line. So we still have a ways to go. But in 5 to 10 years, it's going to happen whether we like it or not and we have to be ready for it. And that means all the infrastructure. I want to have a system where our platforms are all high level on Regional Rail. I want to be able to board in a light as quickly as we can. I don't want to be compared to Europe and Asia and be told, how come you guys can't be like them. I want people to say, hey, you got to ride in Philly because that's the way their system is. I want to be better than New York City. I don't want to be New York City any more than the Councilmember wants to be New York City. I want New York City to look at Philadelphia and say, we want to be like Philly. So that's our vision, and we have a path to get there.
Zohran is offering free bus rides though. So I mean, zero fare is great but he's talking about all free, like just get on the bus and go as you please.
We don't need Zohran. We have Mayor Parker. We don't need Zohran.
I know that's right. Say it again, One City. That's what I'm talking about.
That's what I want for SEPTA and that's what I want for Philly.
Well, I think that's what we want, so we appreciate you articulating that. Real quick -- Mr. President, just a couple questions -- to follow up on your question, there's full height fare gates. You said maybe between 45% and 70% we're achieving that. Not necessarily today, but can you translate that into real revenue projections for us?
So we were projecting -- we were losing about $50 million annually in fare evasion. Now, that's system-wide. So if you just annotate that into those individual systems, those individual stations, assuming that, say, 1000 people come through that station, then they're all paying -- just for the sake of round numbers, let's call it $3, that's $3,000. So if we were missing 50% of that revenue and now we've reduced that 50% number to, say, 25%, that's a significant savings station-by- station. And some of those stations are much busier than others. City Hall Station, for example, where the gates have been going in, that's the hub of the wheel, if you will. So we are seeing tremendous system-wide fare evasion has dropped by about 10%. Now, that takes into account also that our fares went up last year. So the raw number might be higher, but 10% fewer people are evading the fare system-wide. And at those stations, half, sometimes three- quarters fewer are evading the fare thanks in large part to the infrastructure hardening, plus the attention that the transit police gives.
This is why I think it's very important. And Council President and the folks who went to Harrisburg with us last budget season, the Republican Senate kept harping on those opportunities that we're not recovering. So as we are giving you more money to increase those stations, I think that's important in this budget, that we can go back to them and say, we hear you and we are doing something about that. Real quick, can you tell us about -- I know with Silverliners, you had to do all those and you were under tremendous pressure. Where are we at with all that?
So the really good news is we had a target of return of getting back to daily about 200 Silverliners back in service every day. And we have achieved that. The number drops off from time to time because we were very cautious with the equipment. But every day, we put out roughly between 180 and 200 Silverliners. And that was our goal. 223 worth was the fleet of Silverliner IVs. We were able to achieve all the inspections. We were able to achieve all the repairs, but for about 10 cars that are sitting out with long lead time items, but we were able to achieve that in short order. Now, we didn't do a good job and that's what got us into that mess. But what we have done systematically over the last six months is we've changed the leadership of that organization within SEPTA. We've changed our approach. We've added standard operating procedures. We've added more training. And the best part of it is our workforce really stepped up. They gave us so much time and effort over the course of those three or four months to get us back to a place where at least now we can show better reliability. There are still going to be days when our Regional Rail customers may have to board a train that only has two cars. But every day we shoot to have three and four car consists on the trains every day and we continue to aim for that goal. We can't say it'll be perfect. It won't be perfect until we get a new fleet. This is an old fleet. It needs some real TLC, and that's what we're going to do for it, at least for the foreseeable future until the new fleet begins to arrive. But we're there. We are in a much better place today than we were even back in January.
Well, thanks to your team for that. I know you were working around the clock. Appreciate that. So prepandemic to now, where are we at in ridership?
So we've shown about a growth over the last four years every single month but for a couple months at the end of last year with the difficulties we were having. But overall, we are showing about close to 80% of what we were prior to the pandemic. We're still running only about 90% of the service that we ran prior to the pandemic. So we are still growing. We saw growth last month. We're back into a growth phase again, coming away from the Regional Rail issues. So we're back into a growth phase. We have very aggressive ideas on how to grow ridership through the Key Advantage program as the city is part of through Zero Fare, through other fare, more ridership-focused programs to try to lure in. The best advertising for getting people back on SEPTA is to improve our service, and that's what we have to do and that's what our goal is as we push through every single day, is to improve the service, make it reliable, make it safe, make it clean, and that's what will bring people back. When our customers get out and talk to people and say, hey, I ride SEPTA every day, I don't have any problems, it's always okay. That's the best advertising we can have, and that's what we shoot for. Our customer surveys all show that the people who are riding, the people who respond to our surveys are seeing improvement. They've also seen places that we can do better. That's how we're going to grow ridership, and that is what our goal is, is to get back to 100% and beyond. We were growing until about 2013 and then over the years ridership started to dip. There were a lot of factors why that is. People were, you know, remote work was a thing even before 2020, but it was generally one day a week. And we saw that on Fridays. We saw that dip on Fridays. So we saw where things were starting to tinker off. The introduction of rideshare, TNCs, we took a hit on that as well. We are trying to recover that ridership. We're trying to do it in ways that make the system more attractive, the New Bus Network, trolley modernization. All the things that we're doing to try to speed up bus service, the AI cameras, the enforcement cameras, the dedicated bus lanes, they were all part of a strategy to get people back on the system. And all the things we've done for bus service have actually shown bus ridership to grow faster than our other modes. Bus service is almost all the way back and that's really encouraging. So we know we can get there.
That's great. I mean, look, I know prepandemic the world changed because people are working from home. I get all that, but it sounds like we're on the right direction. Lastly, are we ready for 250? And the second part of that question is other cities are contemplating special fares. What are your thoughts on that?
So we're working with the organizers on fare-related issues, right. So I'm not prepared to tell you exactly what that is because that announcement is coming, but we are working with organizers on fare, on special fares and things like that to support the events. But the short answer is we've been preparing for this since it was proposed. I'm a soccer fan, so I was excited about this. As soon as it became a thing, we wanted to, we want to do this. SEPTA does big things. We do big events and we do them well. We did the Eagles parade a couple seasons ago and we brought 400,000 people in and we took 400,000 people out and we did it without incident, and we did it safely and efficiently. We can do big things and we're excited to do this. We have plans for enhanced service on the Broad Street Line. We have plans for enhanced service on a couple of our bus routes that are going to serve the Fan Fest. We have plans for ambassadors to be out and about, in the field directing folks, guiding them back and forth through services. The difference between an event of this magnitude in the summer versus an Eagles parade, people are going to be kind of everywhere all at once, going here and there, whereas the Eagles parade it was everybody coming in and everybody going out. And that makes it much more challenging for us, but we're ready to meet that challenge and we've been planning for this for several years and it's even more intense now as we inch ever closer to it. We've already supported the Flower Show. That was kind of the kickoff of our 2026 schedule of events. We supported March Madness, Phillies opening day. As these events start to kick off, we're exercising that muscle to really kind of get ready for the big one when it starts in June. We're excited to provide that service and I think we're ready.
Thank you very much. I also want to acknowledge the presence, I didn't see him earlier, Michael Carroll, who's the head of OTIS, which is the key lead organization that brings everybody together when it comes to infrastructure, transportation and sustainability, so always a pleasure to see you. We were just down at the Bellwether District on the Lower South Plan with all the key institutions to talk about how the 2nd Councilmanic District is a key part of regional growth as we move forward in the City of Philadelphia in partnership with our Mayor. So it's always good to see you, Mike. At this time, the Chair recognizes Councilmember Landau, Minority Leader Kendra Brooks and Councilmember Cindy Bass.
Thank you, Council President. Thank you for being here. Yay, SEPTA. Quick follow- up. I heard that Councilmember Driscoll already asked, but my most recent time of riding SEPTA was this past weekend. Pretty good with the cleanliness. I was pretty impressed, smelled good and everything. But underneath the Clothespin did not at all. Smelled a lot like urine. And I was curious if SEPTA has any plans or would be willing to have some plans of down there, especially the businesses are not up and running right now, of having those new Porta Potty things, I forget what we're calling them, but having those down there so people could actually use the bathroom?
So we generally don't do public restrooms, but for specific locations, our biggest hubs. Part of the reason for that is those restrooms need ongoing attention, and we have dedicated cleaners to those restroom facilities because they are only in several different locations. Now, for big events we have done portable toilets at some of the really big stuff that we've done, like for the Papal visit, for example, some of those bigger events. But placing restrooms in a particular facility for us would be problematic for a number of ways, but certainly staffing it. But then one location versus another, folks will certainly, you know, why not us. We would get into kind of envy, class envy kind of thing, they got bathrooms and we don't. It would really stretch our cleaning and security resources.
So maybe you could talk to the city about putting --
Okay. Thank you. So I wanted to talk a little bit about Zero Fare, which I know that my colleague Nicolas O'Rourke has been championing as well. Apologies that I had to step out for a minute. I'm very relieved to see that the Mayor put Zero Fare back into the budget this year. But with the $25 million allocation, what's the estimate on how many Philadelphians can be provided with Zero Fare cards? And is this an increase from last year's participants? Is it comparable to last year or is it an increase?
So there's about 68,000 eligible recipients of the Zero Fare program. And that's 170% more than what was in the original program. The original program, if you remember, was about 25,000. So there's been a significant uptick in the number of recipients of the Zero Fare program. And what we know from when we've put in these sorts of programs is it doesn't just give people who would ride anyway an opportunity to ride, but it gives people who maybe wouldn't ride because of that restriction. Now, they might ride because they have a fare card in their hand. And that's true of Zero Fare. It's true of Key Advantage and we've seen it, that it does induce new ridership for folks who now have something in their hand. So, yes, it's been an exponential uptick in the number of recipients in the program through the funding levels that have been provided.
If the program serves Philadelphians under 150% of the federal poverty rate, but that's something like 500,000 Philadelphians so --
It is limited. It is certainly limited. I mean, but we certainly appreciate the effort that Council and the City are making towards getting more people into the program. But you're right, it doesn't address everyone.
Well, it takes ongoing discussions with the city and figuring out what levels of funding would like to be provided.
For every card that gets funded, we'll provide it. We have capacity. We can take those riders. We certainly have the capacity to take that. It's just a matter of deciding how we're going to fund it and at what level.
Okay. I want to ask also about student fares, which I've been asking almost every year. I introduced a resolution September 2024 to expand student fares to weekends and evenings. Currently, student fares are only valid from 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. weekdays and for students who live 1.5 miles or more from a school with a $10 charge if the student needs to take the Regional Rail. Students are more than just students now. They have to go to work. They go to their afterschool programs. They go to all of the amazing job training programs that we have in the city, many of which are supported by City Council. And we want them to be able to access these things and sometimes they need to come home after 8 o'clock. Sometimes their job is on their weekends. We don't want them taking money out of their weekend paychecks to do this. So can you share any more insight on your openness and conversation with the school district in expanding student fare passes to more students and more times the week and year? And what can we do to help?
Sure. First off, I'll say that SEPTA is very proud to be the transportation provider for the School District of Philadelphia. And we know that there's about 52,000 kids that are on SEPTA every single day. We provide these passes. Essentially, the Commonwealth provides the funding to the school district who then pays SEPTA for the fare instruments. We're aware of the restrictions on the cards, and SEPTA is open to providing transportation any hour, any day for anyone. And so, what it would take to get there, and truth be told, we've not had this specific conversation with the school district, but we certainly could initiate this. What it would take essentially is more funding, because we give a discount on the card because of its restrictions. So if we open the card to more hours, we would of course raise the fare to the school district, essentially raising the fare to the Commonwealth and then they would provide that funding to us, and we could unlock that card for any time, any day. Again, it comes back to what I said earlier, we have the capacity to introduce this. And we also know that by introducing students at an early age to use mass transit, to ride mass transit, they learn how to take care of themselves, how to move, how to transport themselves, from here to there. They become much more responsible citizens. They become good citizens for us and for the future. We want to be part of that and we're happy to do what it takes to get there. What it will take is funding for that program.
Okay. Thank you. I'll hold my next one for the next round. Thank you very much.