PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA is buying the rights to a privately run bus route it had been subsidizing in Chester County.
The SEPTA board Thursday voted to pay $68,000 to Krapf Transit of West Chester for the route rights to its Coatesville-to-West Chester Line. Krapf currently runs the corridor as the Route A.
"It’s within SEPTA’s service region, but we didn’t have the rights to operate on this route," said Andrew Busch, a spokesman for the agency.
Because of low ridership during the pandemic, Krapf couldn't afford to continue operating the line, Busch said. Since April 2020, SEPTA has been subsidizing Route A to maintain service for essential workers. SEPTA has paid a total of $810,000 in subsidies using COVID-19 relief funds allocated for maintaining transit, according to Busch.
"We felt it was important to do what we could to help keep this going on an emergency basis," Busch said. "It became clear pretty quickly that we were going to have to -- beyond this emergency subsidy -- we were going to have to figure out what’s best in the long term."
SEPTA has plans to take over the line outright, and to run it as the new Route 135.
Route A riders currently pay a separate $2.75 fare, but riders of a SEPTA Route 135 would pay a discounted $2.00 fare with one free transfer, Busch said.
"They’re going to be able to have seamless travel now between this route and other SEPTA connecting routes," he said.
Busch said the existing SEPTA Route 92 would be modified, because part of it overlaps with the Route A. The new SEPTA Route 135 could be running by early August.
Krapf also operates the Navy Yard Shuttle and the PHLASH services in Philadelphia, among other services.