Today, an estimated 52,000 School District of Philadelphia students are relying on SEPTA to get them to and from their first day of school. But this year, these students’ commutes differ vastly from just a few months ago. Suddenly, taking a bus, train, trolley or subway to get to class ranges from less convenient to … basically impossible.

Plagued by a multimillion dollar funding shortfall , SEPTA reduced its service by 20 percent on Sunday, August 24. The transit authority eliminated 32 bus routes, shortened 16 more, and scaled back the amount of other buses, trolleys, subways and trains they put into service. Some students will need to leave for school an hour or two earlier; some will watch as full buses pass by their stops. And those are the lucky ones: Other kids will arrive at t

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