PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Serious crime on SEPTA continues to drop, while transit police are issuing more citations for quality of life crimes.
Overall, serious crimes on SEPTA are down 21% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same quarter last year, according to SEPTA Transit Police Chief Chuck Lawson.
“If you look at the areas that we were struggling in just a couple of years ago, aggravated assaults, robberies, shooting incidents were high three years ago. All of these things are down double-digit percentage points,” he told KYW Newsradio.
However, he noted a 27% jump in tickets for smoking and a 19% increase in citations for fare evasion. “Fare evasion is high because of a function of how easy it is,” he said.
SEPTA has begun testing modified turnstiles with longer gate arms at the Walnut-Locust Broad Street Line station. Those lock when someone tries to pull them backward. Lawson said fare evasion has dropped anywhere from 30% to 70% at 10 stations with nearly full-length fare gates.
