SEPTA is spending $203 million in the next 12 years to modernize its trolley system, writes Thomas Fitzgerald for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It would spend $30 million in fiscal year 2022, beginning July 1 through June 30 next year.

“We are moving forward, figuring a way,” said Leslie S. Richards, SEPTA’s general manager. “This program is vital.”

SEPTA’s looking for a site for its trolley barn.  There are also initial projects to strengthen trolley bridges and the trolley tunnel between Center City and University City.

SEPTA’s eight trolley lines serve Delaware County, and West and Southwest Philadelphia.  They carried up to 80,000 people prior to the pandemic.

The agency would like trolleys that can carry more people and comply with the American with Disabilities Act.

Other highlights include:

• $97.3 million to replace 200 25-year-old cars on the Market-Frankford Line by 2033.
• $25 million for bus route infrastructure over 12 years, including new shelters, benches, heating, and other amenities.
• SEPTA’s plans rely on delicate negotiations with lawmakers in Harrisburg to come up with a stable transit funding stream by fiscal year 2023, when the agency will no longer be receiving $450 million annually from the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about mass transit infrastructure projects.