Aug. 30 (UPI) — Passengers on Southeastern Philadelphia Transportation Authority buses won’t pay higher fares or deal with more service reductions at least until Thursday.

Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Sierra Thomas Street temporarily enjoined SEPTA from raising fares by 21.5% on Monday and cutting more services on Tuesday after conducting an emergency hearing on Friday.

The injunction also stops SEPTA from reducing more routes, imposing curfews, closing stations and eliminating special services.

“The judge wants us to keep service at the levels we’re running today,” SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer told WPVI-TV.

“That’s going to take a lot of effort,” Sauer said. “We need 10 days to turn this around. We’re going to take a look at how best we can comply with that order.”

Another hearing on the matter is scheduled on Thursday.

SEPTA on Thursday announced it would raise fares by 21.5% on Monday and impose an additional 20% service reduction for Regional Rail, but the ruling delays those cuts.

SEPTA has a $213 million budget deficit and did not succeed in gaining new state funding.

The rate increase would raise to $2.90 the base fare for bus and Metro trips, which ties New York for the nation’s highest.

“We are now at a place that none of us ever wanted to be,” Sauer said in a SEPTA news release issued on Thursday.

“Wait times between trips are longer and vehicles are more crowded, affecting thousands of people trying to get to work and school on time,” he added.

SEPTA on Sunday cut 20% of bus and Metro services, including eliminating 32 bus routes.

SEPTA also has frozen all hiring, including bus drivers, as of Monday and has had a shortage of bus drivers since the pandemic.

Additional service cuts are planned on Jan. 1, with the elimination of 18 bus routes and five regional rail lines, while imposing a 9 p.m. curfew on all rail services.