SEPTA has been adding routes in Northeast Philadelphia for travelers who can no longer drive on Interstate 95 near the Cottman Avenue exit following the road collapse there Sunday.

Now, with the expected increase in ridership and a $240 million hole in SEPTA’s 2025 budget, CEO and General Manager Leslie Richards is hoping its quick response to the emergency will encourage more riders and funding, writes Emma Dooling for Philadelphia Business Journal.

Richards also hopes it demonstrates SEPTA’s importance to the region, pointing out this is the last time SEPTA can respond to a “major transportation event” without more funding.

“I hope everything works out so that we can always respond like this, and that we can work with our funders and our elected officials to make sure that we can always respond to something like this,” Richards said.

The transit authority saw a 14 percent average jump in ridership on June 14, the Wednesday after the collapse.

Key Card sales were also up across the Fox Chase, Trenton and West Trenton lines on Monday by about 137 percent from the previous week.

Richards hopes the new riders will stick around.

Read more about SEPTA CEO Leslie Richards and SEPTA’s response to the Interstate 95 shutdown in the Philadelphia Business Journal.