Philadelphia transit strike comes to an end the day before the election

A strike by public transportation workers in the Philadelphia region of Pennsylvania has come to an end the day before Election Day, officials announced Monday.

Members of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, known as SEPTA, said early Monday morning that both sides have come to a “tentative agreement” that will allow service to resume, according to WTXF-TV. A spokesperson for SEPTA said that full service will resume by the start of the day Tuesday.

More than 5,000 of the city’s transit workers went on a week-long strike, impacting many residents’ ability to travel to and from work.

SEPTA Board Chairman Pat Deon told WTXF, “We are pleased this morning to announce a tentative agreement with TWU Local 234,” adding:

This will end the strike in the city. The SEPTA City Transit Division service will be phased back in today. We believe this agreement is fair to all our employees, and our customers and our taxpayers. We know that the strike has caused hardship for thousands of our riders, and we sincerely regret this disruption. We cannot thank our customers enough for their patience. We look forward to getting full service back to them as soon as possible.

As TheBlaze previously reported, some politicos were concerned the strike would impact the ability of voters who rely on public transportation to travel to the polls, potentially skewing the results in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia.