Legislators’ final 2026-2027 State Budget includes no new revenue for transit. This will continue to force transit providers in rural and urban communities to cut service and raise fares. Pennsylvanians in every county have lost transit service since the end of Act 89, and in 2026 alone, the Lehigh Valley has undergone multiple rounds of service cuts and fare hikes as disabled and elderly riders in Lancaster County are bracing for increases to paratransit fares.
“This year, transit riders and workers showed legislators what transit looks like in communities of all types,” said Connor Descheemaker, Statewide Campaign Manager, Transit For All PA!, “Additionally, we raised the alarm on the shared-ride and paratransit crisis roiling our small urban systems, illustrated what transit looks like in rural communities, and kept fighting for improvements to the experiences of riders and workers in our urban centers. While legislators again failed to act, organizers built the bench for big wins in 2027.”
Although the budget outcome kicks transit funding’s big questions down the road, the grassroots, rural-urban movement of transit riders and workers can claim solid victories from their organizing in this year’s budget cycle:
- Government committed to charting structural transit funding fixes with the creation of PennDOT’s Shared Ride Advisory Committee (SRAC) to outline solutions for the paratransit/shared ride funding crisis, and reconstitution of the State’s Transportation Funding Assessment Study Task Force to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive transportation funding solution in 2027.
“By establishing the Shared Ride Advisory Committee, the legislature has taken the first step in showing their commitment to equitable, affordable, and sustainable transit options for seniors and disabled community members, especially in rural areas of Pennsylvania. By taking the next step and actually funding shared ride services, budget crunches for transit systems across the commonwealth can be alleviated, resulting in better transit service for all Pennsylvanians.”, said Dr. Angela Adler, Regional Director of Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living & Lancaster Organizing Fellow with T4APA!
- Moved Transit Funding to the Center: Transit for All PA! Organizers build bipartisan support for new revenue streams to go toward transit funding, as Republican Sen. Frank Farry and Rep. Martina White join a bipartisan coalition of electeds from rural and urban communities across the state making that demand. Over 40 legislators have signed on to cosponsor the Transit for All PA! Legislative Package, SB 795 & SB 796, and HB 1523 & HB 1524.
- Grew the grassroots movement of nearly 50,000 supporters across PA. These supporters are transit riders and workers in every single legislative district. In 2025 alone, transit supporters started Transit Organizing Hubs in Lancaster County and the Lehigh Valley, fought to stop fare hikes and service cuts, and collected hundreds of survey responses on rider and worker experiences. These supporters in rural and urban communities educated legislators about shared ride and paratransit service impacting disabled people and seniors across PA, and showed that transit is an issue that impacts all 67 counties, not just Philly and Pittsburgh (although supporters in Philly and Pittsburgh have been hard at work too, securing local wins for transit riders)
Andi Ahrens, a Lehigh Valley resident and Transit Organizing Fellow with Transit for All PA! said, “We’re seeing firsthand impacts of the legislature’s inaction to fund transit, as so many working class, elderly, and disabled folks in the Lehigh Valley rely on LANTA not just as a means of surviving, but also thriving in their communities. It’s shameful that we’re being put in the position of paying more in fares while having routes cut, headways extended, and overall having our needs ignored because we can’t or don’t want to rely on a car.”
