PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The attorney who sued SEPTA over its service cuts is planning to sue the transit agency again over its fare increase.
“I've demanded that SEPTA roll back the proposed and implemented fare increase because they did it illegally and they're refusing to do so,” said attorney George Bochetto, whose previous lawsuit ended with SEPTA reversing service cuts.
On Sept. 14, SEPTA restored full service and implemented a 21.5% fare increase.
Bochetto wants a judge to order the transit agency to reverse the fare increase and refund riders.
“SEPTA is obligated by statute to conduct public hearings anytime they propose a fare increase, and those public hearings have to be done in accordance with certain policies and procedures, which they violated grossly.”
According to Bochetto, SEPTA could use funds from a reserve account to stabilize its fares.
“They're refusing to relent. They're enforcing their fare increases, and they're leaving us no choice but to sue them, which is exactly what we intend to do.”
Bochetto says he plans to file the suit within the next week.
“To not only eliminate the fare increase going forward, but to also refund every dollar to those riders, to the passengers that they've illegally collected under this fare increase.”
SEPTA declined to comment since the lawsuit has not yet been filed.