Philly’s 250 plans challenged as SEPTA funding crisis looms

SEPTA said Monday that without a permanent state funding solution to its budget crisis, it will not be able to meet the service demands of the nearly one million visitors expected to attend Philadelphia’s celebrations for the 250th birthday of America in 2026, also known as the Semiquincentennial.

The yearlong mix of programming and major events is expected to generate more than $1.3 billion in revenue for the region.

“Just as the city is preparing to welcome the world for the most economically consequential 12 months since the Bicentennial in 1976, SEPTA will be dismantling the system and leaving residents and 2026 visitors without reliable public transportation,” said Scott Sauer, SEPTA’S interim general manager.

“Almost overnight, SEPTA would go from being the economic driver of the city and the region to its limiter,” Sauer said.

The testimony came during a mostly upbeat three-hour 2026 preparedness meeting organized by City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, a key planner for Philly’s Semiquincentennial celebrations.

Hosted by the Museum of the American Revolution in Old City — and featuring appearances by the city’s professional sports mascots and Revolutionary historical characters — a stream of city officials and cultural and tourism leaders used the event to put forward an otherwise much more optimistic outlook for 2026 compared to when they met last year.

“I am here before you to say — : Philadelphia is ready,” said Jazelle Jones, the head of the city’s office for special events. “The world is coming to Philadelphia — but more importantly, Philadelphia is rising to meet the world.”

The confidence came in stark relief to organizers’ testimony at a November 2026 preparedness meeting. Then, an ad-hoc group of private and public organizers warned that the clock was ticking on the Semiquincentennial — and that if Philadelphia, the city where the country was founded, wanted to meet the moment of the national milestone, it needed to dedicate more funding and vision. And quickly.

On Monday, organizers testified of everything from more than $100 million in recently proposed city and state funding, continued robust philanthropic efforts, and stronger coordination and communication among the city and private planners now has Philadelphia and its neighborhoods positioned to take the global stage.

In February, City Council approved $45 million in funding to help pay for programming and security for Philadelphia’s commemoration of the 250th, the most robust investment the city has made yet for the fast-approaching celebrations.

Last month, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker proposed millions more in Semiquincentennial funding to City Council in her annual budget. The city action came after Gov. Josh Shapiro recently proposed nearly $65 million in funding for Pennsylvania’s Semiquincentennial celebration. The divided state legislature has until June 30 to approve that funding.

“You’ve given us hope,” Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, the nonprofit that serves as the city’s official leisure tourism-marketing agency, told Thomas and other council members on Monday. “Together … we can confidently position Philadelphia to seize this once-in-a-lifetime moment.”

Val said her organization plans to use the additional funding to develop a wide-scale marketing campaign for 2026, targeting key markets, and encouraging visitors to support small businesses and explore all city neighborhoods. Still, Val said, planners are hoping the state will eventually match the city’s proposed $100 million investment.

“We are going up to the legislature to say, ‘Keep that $64 million and add $36 million,” she said.

Much of that money would go toward Philly’s big-ticket items scheduled in 2026, including six FIFA World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game, and a pumped-up Fourth of July concert. The World Cup alone could bring $770 million of additional revenue, organizers estimate.

The city has already invested $3.5 million in a revitalization of Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park for a World Cup Fan Festival.

Fittingly, Sauer from SEPTA was the last to speak Monday, His testimony was bleak.

SEPTA said last week that its budget for fiscal 2026 calls for sweeping layoffs, and cuts to 45% of its service starting as early as late August — if the Pennsylvania legislature doesn’t pass Gov. Josh Shapiro’s latest proposal to increase state aid for mass transit systems.

“The math is simple,” Sauer said. ”SEPTA will not be able to provide additional services for special events or support the transportation needs demanded of our world-class city next year.”

Sauer said that his agency expects to move as many a hundred and ten thousands fans to the stadium complex and Lemon Hill on World Cup match days alone.

“Once we reduce our workforce, there can’t be extra service anymore,” he said. “We would be stretched to make the minimum.”

Val said that instead of relying on SEPTA to move people around for other large events, as was the case for the 2015 papal visit and two Eagles Super Bowl parades, planners would need to rely on private transportation companies to shuttle people back and forth.

Thomas said that while planners are extremely concerned about “measures related to SEPTA,” they will make it work, somehow.

“It’s work,” he said. “We believe. We’re not going to speak that into existence. We’re going to say that it’s going to work.”