SEPTA will raise fares by nearly 30 percent through January and prepare to close dozens of routes after the state legislature refused to approve a funding increase for the beleaguered agency.

The measures are expected to cause a 23% drop in ridership and revenue and lead to a “death spiral” of further fare increases and service cuts that will render public transport “irrelevant” in Philadelphia and the region, COO Scott said. Sauer said Tuesday.

“I have been thrust into a position where we are managing the decline of SEPTA, the public transit system that serves one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country and fuels the economy of our region and the Commonwealth,” Sauer said in a news release. conference.

“While other states are investing in new services and infrastructure, we will be decommissioning our vehicles and closing our stations. Rail lines will become so rare that they will be useless to most of our customers,” he said.