by KYW's John McDevitt

For the first time in a decade SEPTA says it is not facing funding problems.

SEPTA officials say the reasons are the "steady state" funding the transit agency has acquired coupled with an increase in ridership.

General manager Joseph Casey says there has been a 16-percent increase in the number of customers in the first seven months of the current fiscal year -- mostly on the Regional Rails. Why?

"It's the price people are paying at the gas tank. There is no question about it."

And to accommodate all those customers, SEPTA says it has been increasing service and adding cars to trains.

By the end of the current fiscal year SEPTA is expected to see an increase of $10-15 million in revenue due to the higher ridership.

In next year's operating budget, officials say, proposals include initiatives to improve customer communications and station and vehicle cleaning.