Penn Central continued to operate in bankruptcy until 1976, when Conrail took over its assets along with those of several other bankrupt railroads, including the Reading Company.

[11] Subsequent proposals have since been made to restore service to Allentown, Bethlehem, West Chester, and Newtown, with support from commuters, local officials, and pro-train advocates.

[16] Proposals have also been made for increased service on existing lines, including later evenings and Sundays to Wilmington, Delaware, and Newark.

Senator of Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, has supported recent proposals expanding the Broad Street Line to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

[17] As of December 2017[update], SEPTA had completed an Environmental Impact Statement to extend the Norristown High Speed Line to the King of Prussia area.

Some explanations mentioned by SEPTA for this decrease are "increased competition, structural changes in ridership patterns, and moderate gas prices."

In addition to regular commuter rail service, the loss of system capacity was also expected to cause transportation issues for the Democratic National Convention being held in Philadelphia on the week of July 25, 2016.

The Victory District operates suburban bus and trolley or light rail routes that are based at 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby in Delaware County.

Krapf Transit operates one bus line under contract to SEPTA in Chester County: Route 204 between Paoli Regional Rail Station and Eagleview.

[2] To make up for the $989,200,000 gap in operating expenses for FY2021, SEPTA receives 65% of its FY2021 income from federal, state, and local government funding.

Fares are higher on weekdays and lower during weekends and major holidays when paying with a SEPTA Key Card or a Quick Trip.

[51] Several types of passes are available that allow a certain number of trips on transit and/or Regional Rail for a specified amount of time.

[52] The TrailPass is available either weekly or monthly and can be used on Regional Rail up to the zone printed on the pass along with all transit rides within the time period.

[53] The Cross County Pass costs $30.75 weekly and $115 monthly and can be used for all transit rides and all Regional Rail trips outside Center City Philadelphia within the time period.

[55] The One-Day Neighborhood FleX Pass can be used on transit and Regional Rail, between Zone 2 and Center City Stations for 10 trips costing $10 for one day and $27 for a three-pass bundle.

[62] SEPTA is currently partnering with the City of Philadelphia on running Zero Fare, a 2-year pilot program that will allow residents who live near or below the Poverty threshold to ride all services for free.

SEPTA stations have Fare Kiosks that can be used to purchase Key cards and Quick Trips, and also replenish the Travel Wallet.

In addition to storing passes, the card has a travel wallet that can be reloaded online, at kiosks, SEPTA Sales Offices, and participating retailers.

In July 2023, SEPTA launched a limited pilot program to allow passengers to pay for transit trips using contactless credit cards and digital wallets on NFC-enabled phones and smart watches.

It maintains a patrol, bicycle, and police dog unit, and a Special Operations Response Team trained to deal with potential hostage situations.

Prior to the 2008 purchase, SEPTA borrowed an MTA New York City Transit Orion VII hybrid bus # 6365 to evaluate it in service.

[79] These same busses were sidelined in February, 2020 for an undisclosed reason, but multiple agency sources blamed a defect in the buses' plastic chassis that led to a cracking problem.

During rush-hour service they are supplemented by a small fleet of unpowered passenger cars, based on the "Comet" family of railcars, hauled by 15 Siemens ACS-64 electric locomotives.

[88] Amtrak provides rail service between 30th Street Station and Lancaster, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Chicago to the west, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to the southwest, and New York City, Boston, and Montreal to the northeast.

$191 million of funds made available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 were utilized to make over 30 major improvements to the system, including renovations of the Spring Garden and Girard Avenue subway stations and building the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) station at Fox Chase terminal in 2010.

[91] SEPTA was voted the best large transit agency in North America by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) in July 2012.

The award was criticized by Next City columnist Diana Lind, stating that despite some outward appearances of improvement, SEPTA still largely operates under a cloud of non-transparency and continues to lack a system-wide expansion program for the future.

When asked to produce data pertaining to SEPTA's repeated attempts to consolidate bus stops, Lind observed "the report on the project barely elaborates on the information.

[96] This was criticized by some as lean benches are widely considered to be hostile architecture, designed to stop homeless populations using the stations to sleep.

SEPTA has been subject to criticism for not doing a sufficient job of upholding the law which prohibits smoking in public transportation facilities and vehicles.