Transit cuts would pose an ‘existential threat' to Philadelphia's Center City, business owners say

Miami Herald

27-05-2025

PHILADELPHIA - At Reading Terminal Market, CEO Annie Allman says, there's a common refrain among merchants during bad weather: "If SEPTA is running, the market is open."
Now, Allman said, the phrase seems foreboding. What will happen if SEPTA reduces service, eliminating dozens of bus and Regional Rail lines?
She is "horrified" by the possibility.
"I've never used the phrase existential threat as much," said Allman, who is CEO and general manager of the nonprofit Reading Terminal Market Corp. "This would just cripple Philadelphia, and it also would crush the market."
The proposed cuts, announced last month, would slash the transit agency's service by 45%, with reductions beginning this fall. Trains and buses would run less frequently, and 55 bus routes and five Regional Rail lines would be eliminated entirely.
That could all be avoided if the Pennsylvania legislature manages to pass Gov. Josh Shapiro's latest proposal to increase state aid for mass transit systems. Last Monday was the first day of public budget hearings, and SEPTA users lined up to testify. The state budget deadline is June 30.
Philadelphia leaders, commuters, and even the city's pro sports teams have expressed "deep concerns" about the planned cuts.
Traffic projections have shown the move would result in longer commutes, with about 275,000 more people driving into Philadelphia daily. Several employers and business leaders said they worry there is not enough parking in the city to accommodate them.
Inside the largely empty concourse at Suburban Station, SEPTA's potential cuts loom over the few remaining business owners, who say foot traffic and sales are a fraction of what they were pre-pandemic.
And in the office buildings that tower over Center City, the possibility complicates the debate around return-to-office policies.
"We don't need any more deterrence to come into the city," said Brenton Hutchinson, chair of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Philadelphia. "We want to see something resolved, and sooner the better, so that there's no disruptions."
The impact of the proposed cuts would be "so far-reaching and so deep," said Chellie Cameron, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. SEPTA connects suburban residents to their jobs in the city, and city dwellers to suburban offices, Cameron said. Consumers, patients, and students also rely on SEPTA.
If cuts are implemented, "it's gonna fracture the connections that we have between the city and the suburbs," she said, "and that's really the underpinning of the success of our economy."
"When we start to talk about bigger issues like upward economic mobility, and how we continue to create good-paying jobs for people," she added, "how are we gonna do that if [the system] we actually rely upon to connect our region together is fractured?"
Philly workers would be 'tremendously affected'
Scores of Philadelphia workers would have their daily lives upended by SEPTA cuts.
"You will be adding hours to people's commutes every week," Cameron said, "and that doesn't just impact their ability to get into work. It impacts their ability to access childcare, to pick their kids up from school."
Businesses are afraid of losing employees because of these ancillary impacts, she said.
Employees of Philadelphia libraries, water and sanitation departments, and other municipal services will be "tremendously affected," by the proposed cuts, said Greg Boulware, president of their union, AFSCME District Council 33.
"This will impact their ability to get to and from work and provide the services that the city of Philadelphia needs for all its residents," said Boulware, who represents around 10,000 workers.
DC33 members are feeling "a huge amount of frustration," he said. Some are talking about using Uber or Lyft to get to work, but Boulware calls that an added expense "for workers that don't make enough money as it is."
At Comcast, leaders are "discussing the challenges the planned cuts could bring," spokesperson John Demming said.
And at Philadelphia International Airport, "Reliable mass transit makes working at the airport a viable option for many individuals," airport officials said in a statement shared by a PHL spokesperson.
A setback to return-to-office policies
Five years after COVID-19 shutdowns forced many professionals to work from home, some Philadelphia employers are still pushing to get their employees back in the office more often. SEPTA's woes are another hurdle for those ambitions.
Although some workers have argued in favor of continued remote or hybrid work for myriad reasons, dramatic reductions in SEPTA service are seen by employers as the most reasonable argument against return-to-office efforts.
Brandywine Realty Trust, one of the region's predominant office owners, reports that 50% to 60% of its tenants' workers use mass transit, even as public transportation usage never fully recovered from the pandemic.
"If mass transit schedules are impacted, the issue is: Can they bring people back into work?" said Jerry Sweeney, CEO of Brandywine.
In the event of cuts, Sweeney said, some of Brandywine's tenants are considering reserving additional parking, or modifying work hours so employees could commute at off-peak times.
"The world of business today is already complicated with the macroeconomic climate," Sweeney said. "This is something that no business needs."
Philadelphia's office market took a blow during the pandemic, and it has not recovered. The number of workers in offices in the core West Market Street district at the end of 2024 was only 63% of what it was in 2019. (That's 11% higher than 2023.)
A report from real estate brokerage Colliers showed that in the first quarter of 2025, office vacancy ticked up in both Philadelphia and the suburbs, although it remains higher outside the city.
Some office market analysts speculate that the proposed SEPTA cuts could make suburban office buildings more appealing, because it would be easier for workers who live in the suburbs to drive to locations outside Center City, where parking is more plentiful.
Impact on Reading Terminal Market
Some businesses with deep roots in Philadelphia will be left to deal with the fallout of SEPTA cuts if they occur.
Reading Terminal Market sits atop SEPTA's Jefferson Station, where Regional Rail passengers catch trains, walking distance from several bus stops and subway stations.
Monday through Thursday, Reading Terminal serves about 16,000 customers on average, said Allman, the CEO. That's up from 14,500 at this time last year, before the city implemented its return-to-office mandate.
And "the bulk" of the market's 600 employees rely on public transit, she said.
Allman does not know yet how the market would respond to SEPTA cuts. It may have to adjust operating hours.
"Between all the good news of rising egg prices, and tariffs, and lack of international visitors this summer, I haven't really gotten to forecasting," she said with a laugh.
For now, however, Reading Terminal is thriving, with nearly full occupancy, Allman said.
Across the street at the Fashion District, occupancy is lower, but dozens of businesses are humming along, fueled by steady foot traffic.
Suburban Station business owners worry
A few blocks away at Suburban Station, the scene is different, with more at stake for business owners if transit is cut.
The sprawling underground concourse, a bustling corridor on weekdays pre-pandemic, now has more closed storefronts than operating businesses.
On a recent Thursday morning, foot traffic was light, and conversations with about half a dozen business owners and managers painted a grim picture of their potential future. More than 6,200 square feet of retail space is for lease, while several other large storefronts simply sit vacant, apparently not on the market.
Business owners said sales are 20% to 50% of what they were before the pandemic. The concourse is so bleak, one business owner said, that commuters are increasingly exiting at the first opportunity, instead of walking farther underground and passing the stores as they once did.
Some owners expressed concern that SEPTA cuts could worsen their situations, both by decimating the already-thin foot traffic and by making it harder for their employees to get to work. It would be just the latest blow.
"We survived, kind of," said Michael Choi, manager of Penn Center Beauty Supply, referring to the pandemic. But business now is "slow, very slow."
"It hasn't been good ever since COVID," said Kris Kim, owner of DBA Happy Jewelry. Pre-pandemic, the store would see more than 50 customers a day. Now, Kim said, they're lucky if a dozen people come in.
When it comes to the future, "we're worried."
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