SEPTA continues to hurt for resources as it fights federal scrutiny

Bloomberg News

The Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority faces safety concerns in addition to money woes following a series of fires this year, that sparked the attention of the federal government.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro last week reprimanding him for SEPTA's sorry state of affairs.

The Federal Transit Authority is requiring SEPTA to inspect a fleet of commuter railcars by the end of the month. 

The agency' is spending down its capital budget to plug an operating budget gap. 

At the beginning of the month, the Federal Railroad Administration set 14 conditions that SEPTA must meet for safety on the Silverliner IV fleet, according to the letter. SEPTA removed all Silverliner IV vehicles from service until they can be inspected. 

"Just this year, SEPTA commuter rail vehicles have caught fire or experienced an emergency from a thermal event five times," Duffy wrote in the letter. "If changes are not made immediately, it is only a matter of time before SEPTA's crumbling commuter rail system erupts in flames and kills someone."

The letter also referenced two electric buses that caught fire; the FTA has requested information about SEPTA's safety and storage protocols for those buses, Duffy said. 

SEPTA's general manager Scott Sauer acknowledged the FTA's safety concerns, pinning the problems on underinvestment. "We have an old fleet. The oldest in the country," Sauer said. 

In his letter, Duffy said Shapiro has been negligent in his oversight and "failed to secure stable state funding" for SEPTA. 

A spokesperson for Shapiro objected to Duffy's framing in a statement. "Gov. Shapiro has been fighting for additional recurring revenue to support SEPTA for the last two years," the statement said. "If Secretary Duffy actually wants to be helpful, he should call his fellow Republicans and get them to fund the governor's mass transit funding package for SEPTA. We would be happy to provide their phone numbers."

SEPTA had inspected 88 of the 225 Silverliner IV cars by the end of last week, according to local news outlets. The agency is supposed to finish inspections by the end of the month, although Duffy has not laid out a punishment if it fails. 

The loss of the Silverliner IV cars has reportedly caused overcrowding on SEPTA's regional rail service. 

Duffy has repeatedly targeted public transit agencies. He's sent multiple letters to the New York MTA demanding information and threatening to cut its funding. 

SEPTA has a $213 million operating budget gap. When the Pennsylvania legislature was unable to determine a funding source to fill the gap, Shapiro allowed it to spend its capital budget on operations. 

Duffy acknowledged the budgetary problems, describing SEPTA's current arrangement as "robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Still, the FTA is requiring SEPTA to reimburse the federal government $55 million for a deal with a Chinese manufacturer for a railcar procurement that fell through, Duffy said in the letter. 

SEPTA has been delaying capital projects due to its budgetary woes. The agency said it has delayed or scaled back 44 infrastructure projects to save $1.8 billion over the next 12 years.