House Passes fifth funding package for public transit and roads
Rep. Ed Neilson August 11, 2025 | 12:16 PM
Today, the House passed H.B. 1788, authored by state Rep. Sean Dougherty, D-Phila. This is the fifth time that the House has passed legislation that would fund public transit across Pennsylvania and repairs for our roads and bridges.
The bill would require new oversight and accountability requirements for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority and Pittsburgh Regional Transit, which Senate Republicans demanded be included in any bill. Both authorities have agreed to enhanced safety measures and increased penalties for fare evasion.
State Rep. Ed Neilson, majority chair of the House Transportation Committee, said the following:
“This bill has everything that Senate Republicans have been demanding for them to move transit funding. This isn’t about dollars and cents, this is about the hardworking people of Pennsylvania – it’s about the parents who use SEPTA to get to their jobs, it’s about their kids who use public transit to get to school.
“It’s about the seniors who will lose access to transportation for important medical appointments and medicine. SEPTA alone moves a million people a day – this isn’t about us – it’s about the people who elected us to be their voice in Harrisburg.
“We need Senate Republicans to get the message that this won’t just hurt cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, it will affect their districts and the people who live there too.
“They need to come back to work and do the job they were elected to do. Stop the political games because people’s livelihoods are at stake,” said Neilson, D-Phila.
The bill would increase the existing allocation of Sales and Use Tax to the PTTF from 4.4% to 6.15% to provide approximately $292.5 million for public transit throughout the commonwealth while authorizing the bonding of $325 million for PennDOT, through the Commonwealth Financing Authority, to maintain roads and bridges.
SEPTA announced that if state funding isn’t available by August 14, the service cuts will begin on August 24 with fare increases stated to start in September. House Democrats have passed four other comprehensive bills that would fund public transit without raising taxes and include reforms demanded by Senate Republicans.
“Northeast Philadelphia runs on SEPTA, and many communities all across the commonwealth heavily rely on public transit,” Dougherty said. “If they become reality, these service cuts will hurt real people, destroy jobs and hurt businesses of every size, not just in my district, but in communities across all 67 counties. We are out of time! The Senate needs to get back to Harrisburg immediately and finally fund public transit, because our state’s well-being truly depends on it.”