I hate to be pessimistic, but given the massive budget shortfalls of the vast majority of American transit agencies, the future has never looked more bleak for them. At least not in my lifetime.

There's a good chance that in 3 years or so, any transit agency that doesn't get a permanent funding source from its state will look back at 2023 even as "the good old days". Given that even a state like CA is mulling transit cuts, I'm not optimistic for PA at all.

https://www.thecentersquare.com/pennsylvania/lower-public-transit-use-in-pennsylvania-poses-long-term-budget-problems/article_55ecf108-92bf-11ed-a81c-c7da471e92d3.html

I wouldn't say SEPTA is trying to "cynically" do anything - it's not like they want to cut service. Realistically, their fares can only pay for like, 30% of their operating budget right now. That's about par for the course for big American city transit agencies. Right now because of post covid shifts in travel trends etc., that 30% has been whittled down significantly, so without PA increasing the amount they contribute to SEPTA, they'll have no choice but to cut service. I can only assume PRT is in a similar situation financially.

Good to know.

The ideal is shifting to an environment where people are using transit for things like shopping, errands, etc. That kind of ridership hasn't declined really, it's just that we had previously built transit systems around getting people to their jobs

Do you remember the degree to which service was restored, if at all? Especially wrt frequency. Every 10 minutes reduced to every 30 minutes sounds absolutely brutal.