SEPTA Sees Big Drop In Revenue Following Regional Rail Issues
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The numbers are in, and SEPTA has seen a lot fewer people on its Regional Rail lines since it found safety problems with a third of its rail cars on July 4th weekend. That also led to a big drop in revenue.
It was a summer bombshell. 120 Silverliner cars with suspension problems pulled out of service, consolidated regional rail schedules and slower service.
Riders reacted predictably.
SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch says, "July's ridership was down nearly 21 percent and then in August it was slightly better but we were still down 10 percent."
And Busch says SEPTA estimates it lost about $7 million in fare revenue during the last two months, too. But that doesn't mean it will be raising fares to make up the loss.
The plan is to adjust the budget for the remainder of the fiscal year, which runs until the end of June.
Busch says there are plans for a fare hike next July, but that was in the works long before the Silverliner car troubles arose.