SEPTA bus and trolley riders are likely to expect delays starting next week.

Starting on Monday, August 14, SEPTA Authority will begin safety reinforcement training for all its employees.

This comes after a series of recent accidents involving SEPTA vehicles that resulted in the death of one rider and numerous injuries to other passengers and employees. 

“The safety for our customers and employees is always our top priority, and we are redoubling our efforts to be even more intentional about safety in everything that we do, at all levels of the Authority,” said SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards, in a statement. 

Over the next 8 weeks, every member of the SEPTA workforce will spend a full day in the mandatory training. The training will emphasize safety guidelines that are in place and provide employees with a forum to give feedback. 

In addition, SEPTA is working jointly with the unions representing employees to develop the content that will be covered in the training. 

“The recent series of accidents has caused us to look internally with a critical eye to ensure we embrace safety as a core value every day,” added Richards. 

This will likely impact service, as employees will be pulled from their regular duties to take part in the training. 

SEPTA will provide updates on service as the training moves forward, also declaring it “will make every effort to minimize the disruption to customers during this training.”

The recent string of incidents began on July 21, when two SEPTA buses collided on Roosevelt Boulevard, killing a 72-year old woman and injuring 19 others. 

From July 23-25, three separate crashes occurred injuring 12 total people. At least four other SEPTA-related incidents have occurred across the city and surrounding suburbs over the following two weeks. 

The upcoming mandatory training will be an effort to reduce the number of accidents and emphasize the need to be vigilant about safety in all aspects of all jobs throughout the Authority. 

“We will start with our frontline employees and move through our entire workforce,” Richards said. 

“When we say nothing is more important than safety, we mean it,” she added. 

For the latest updates, customers can check SEPTA’s website, use the Official SEPTA App, or call customer service at (215) 580-7800.