Pennsylvania Funds Prison Visit Bus Program
A $600,000 state investment will help families travel to see incarcerated loved ones through the Pennsylvania Prison Society's revived bus service.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Criminal Justice
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Pennsylvania has allocated $600,000 in state funding to the Pennsylvania Prison Society's bus transportation program for families visiting incarcerated people. The program, which shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic due to funding shortfalls, restarted limited Philadelphia trips in September 2025 with city support.
Why it matters
In-person prison visits have fallen to fewer than 100,000 annually, down from just over 200,000 in 2019, and families without vehicles face significant barriers to reaching facilities. Officials framed the funding as a way to maintain family contact for incarcerated people.
The $600,000 is drawn from the 2026-27 state budget and will support an expected 5,000 family visits this year. Ticket costs are $20 roundtrip with children under 18 riding free, though the extraction does not detail how the state funding changes those fares.
The players
Pennsylvania Prison Society
A Pennsylvania organization that has run prison visitation transportation for nearly two decades and is working to restore and expand the service.
Jordan Harris
The Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee who announced the state funding alongside other Democratic leaders.
The details
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jordan Harris and other Democratic leaders announced the funding at the Prison Society in Philadelphia. The revived program transports family members from Philadelphia to nine state correctional institutions, and the Prison Society plans to expand service from Pittsburgh to four additional facilities in 2027.
Timeline
September 2025: Limited Philadelphia bus trips restarted with city support.
2026-27 state budget: Funding allocated for the bus program.
2027: Planned expansion from Pittsburgh to four more facilities.
Criminal Justice Trajectory
The restored bus service responds to a visitation decline from just over 200,000 in-person visits in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 now, a drop that followed the program's shutdown during COVID-19. Research cited in the extraction links in-person visits to reduced recidivism by up to 20%, and the program's expansion to 22 correctional institutions reflects an effort to reverse that decline statewide.
Families in Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania communities gain access to a $20 roundtrip bus option to visit loved ones at state correctional facilities, with children under 18 riding free. The program's expansion to Pittsburgh and additional facilities in 2027 would extend that access to more families across the state.
The takeaway
Families planning prison visits in Pennsylvania should check whether the Prison Society bus service serves their facility, since the program currently runs from Philadelphia to nine institutions and is expanding. Reduced in-person visitation has been linked to higher recidivism, making transportation access a practical factor for family contact.
What happens next
The Prison Society plans to expand service from Pittsburgh to four additional facilities in 2027.
Further reading
Explore more on Criminal Justice in Pennsylvania.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Altoonamirror.
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Should the state use taxpayer money to subsidize bus trips for prison visitors?
