Pennsylvania: Gambling To Improve Transportation Funding?

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democrats consider transit like SEPTA a big priority for the legislative session; Republicans might wanna deal with transit but it’ll probably be conditional on road money.

SEPTA provides “regional rail, buses, trolleys, subways and a high-speed line” in Southeastern Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia). Most Pennsylvanians know it as the way to get from the suburbs to/around Philadelphia and vice versa.

But right now SEPTA is at the “edge of the fiscal cliff” according to the transit agency’s chief operating officer. In an attempt to try to keep the agency afloat, fares were increased by 7.5% on December 1st and were poised to increase nearly 30%. Governor Shapiro redirected federal money to prevent the massive rake hike but the 7.5% fare increase remains in place.

Riders can expect the contactless fare on buses, subways and trolleys to increase from $2.00 to $2.50, mirroring the cash fare.

But, how are they gonna pay for transportation moving forward?

Gambling! There’s bi-partisan support to take underground gambling above ground. This would make things like slot machines taxable, which would give the state more money to fund projects like transportation.

According to the American Gambling Association, unregulated slot machine operators win “significantly” more than legal casino slot machines, which they claim demonstrates that “unregulated machines take advantage of customers.”

[American Gaming Association, Sizing The Illegal And Unregulated Gaming Markets In The United States, 11/30/22]