Philadelphia commuters face longer waits and more crowded rides after the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, slashed a fifth of its bus and metro rail service last week as part of system-wide cuts to address a $213 million operating deficit. In August, Pennsylvania lawmakers failed to reach a deal on a $300 million transit package after pandemic-era funds dried up.

By January, the agency could shut down a total of 50 bus routes, 66 rail stations, and five regional rail lines without additional funding. (Bad news for Phillies fans: The Sports Express trains are vanishing too.) The drastic reductions stand to derail the economic health of the city — and the region — as office workers, students and low-income riders are forced to find costlier and less reliable ways to travel. Philadelphia’s struggles foreshadow the fiscal reckoning that other US mass transit systems could face as they deal with a collective $6 billion funding shortfall, reports Sri Taylor. Today on CityLab: Philly Transit Cuts Portend ‘Mayhem’ on Commutes and Regional Economy

— Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos

Self-Driving Cars Take a Turn Toward the Villainous, in Movies and Real Life
The comedy The Naked Gun isn’t the first film to tap our anxieties around driverless cars. But there’s a big difference this time.

A $6 Billion Shortfall Has US Mass Transit Facing a Death Spiral
The federal government stepped in with $70 billion to get commuter rail and bus service through the pandemic. The funds are running out.

Why Iowa Chooses Not to Clean Up Its Polluted Water
Runoff from fields and feedlots fills Iowa’s waterways with dangerous nitrates. It would be fixable if not for the political and economic power of Big Ag.

Explore all Bloomberg newsletters.