PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The SEPTA Board is set to meet on Thursday to ratify the tentative agreement that averted a strike by city transit workers. It will also vote on the first of two planned fare increases. This meeting will be the last for SEPTA General Manager Leslie Richards, who announced last month that she was stepping down.
After five years at PennDOT and almost another five years as SEPTA’s general manager, Richards is moving on. In an interview with KYW Newsradio, she said she believes she made the most difference in big-planning projects, such as redesigning bus routes — even though implementation is now on hold — and making fares more equitable by introducing two free transfers.
Also during her tenure, SEPTA was forced to abandon the long-planned but costly King of Prussia Rail Project.
Now, Richards leaves as SEPTA is facing a $153 million budget deficit, and no state funding deal to fill it.
“Funding is always going to be a challenge,” she said, “and that will continue for everybody who sits in this chair.”
The Federal Transit Administration also came down hard on SEPTA during Richards’ tenure, ordering safety fixes for workers and commuters. She said she’s pleased with how the transit agency is responding.
“This is a systemic issue at SEPTA that needs to be addressed, and I'm really, really proud of how we dug deep and how we are laying a solid foundation now,” she added.
Richards took over as SEPTA’s GM in January 2020, just before the pandemic hit. She said keeping the system running while protecting employees and riders was most rewarding.
“It was part of my career that I’ll always value. We always want to have meaningful work, and that part of my career, I have to say, is where I felt I had the most meaning.”
Richards is turning the reins over to Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer, who will be the interim general manager while a national search gets underway.
In the meantime, Richards will continue to teach at Penn, and in January, she will become the chair of the Transportation Research Board, an organization that compiles research used by transportation agencies nationwide.
Richards’ last day is Nov. 29.