To Faculty and Staff,

SEPTA has announced significant service cuts that will soon modify or eliminate many bus, metro, and regional rail routes. We understand that a substantial portion of the Penn community relies on SEPTA to get to and from campus, and that major changes to public transportation can disrupt your daily routines and affect your ability to work, teach, or care for patients. Please note key dates below.

• August 24, 2025: Reductions and elimination of many bus, metro, and regional rail services take effect.
• September 1, 2025: A 21.5% fare increase takes effect.
• January 2026: Additional reductions and elimination of service, including a 9 p.m. curfew for all rail lines, take effect.

In response to the fare increase, the University announced an enhancement to its Commuter Benefits program, which offers benefits-eligible employees a discount of 50% on regional transit passes and a discount of 5% on contributions to the Health Equity Commuter Card. This enhancement increases the maximum benefit from $105 per month to $130 per month.

While we remain hopeful that the commonwealth will pass a budget providing sustainable public transit funding, we must be prepared for the changes that may come. These changes, effective at the start of the fall semester, will have wide-ranging impacts across Penn, the city, and the region. Please review the information and guidance below to help you plan. For additional details, visit Penn’s new—and regularly updated—website dedicated to resources related to SEPTA’s changes or contact commuterservices@upenn.edu for support.

Understand If You’re Impacted

To see how the SEPTA changes may affect your travel, refer to SEPTA’s service cuts website, which includes an interactive map that lists adjustments to impacted routes. 

Learn About Alternative Transportation Options

While we can’t replace lost transit options, we are committed to helping you navigate these changes.

• Plan alternative SEPTA routes via SEPTA’s trip-planning tool and schedules website. To view the service cut schedules on these sites, enter a date after the cuts go into effect (8/24 and 8/25 for bus/metro and 9/2 for regional rail). If you’re using the SEPTA app, make sure you have downloaded the latest version of the app to view the updated schedules. 
• Use campus parking options that accommodate a variety of schedules, including every day, as well as discounted business-hours permits for 12 parks per month, occasional, and carpool parking. Parking permit locations, availability, and rates can be found here.
• Discuss carpooling or ride-sharing options with your colleagues or consider enrolling in a discounted Indego 365 bike-share membership.
• Explore Penn Transit’s bus and shuttle system, LUCY (Loop Around University City) buses, or Drexel University shuttles (free with PennCard).
• Stay informed of traffic, transit, and road-closure advisories by signing up for the Division of Public Safety’s notification system. 

Communicate Early and Often

If you are concerned that changes to SEPTA service may affect your work schedule, please speak with your manager as soon as possible.

Managers, we are asking you to:

• Actively engage your teams to identify, address, and understand operational disruptions.
• Be flexible as team members adapt to new SEPTA schedules or adjust their commuting options.
• Agree with each team member on a reasonable time frame for having a new solution in place.

Please know that Penn’s leadership is actively communicating with our elected officials, engaging the Philadelphia business community, and partnering with peer institutions to advocate for sustainable public transit funding.

As we navigate this period of uncertainty, our goals remain clear: to support each other and ensure that Penn’s mission of teaching, research, and service continues to thrive. We appreciate your patience, flexibility, and understanding as we face these challenges together.

—Michael D. Scales, Vice President of Business Services  
— Felicia A. Washington, Vice President of Human Resources