SEPTA is getting $643 million in emergency federal aid it needs to fill its coronavirus-depleted coffers.

The money comes as part of a $1.13 billion pot of new federal transit funding for Pennsylvania included in the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion federal coronavirus relief bill.

“Our public transit systems are a backbone of our communities and I will continue to work to ensure they receive the resources they need during this time of national crisis,” U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D.,Pa.) said Friday.

In the Philadelphia region, a total of $700.5 million will go to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, according to Casey’s office. The planning organization will then distribute it among the region’s transit agencies, including PATCO.

The $643 million earmarked for SEPTA will cover “targeted operating budgets,” over the next 12-18 months, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.

Under normal circumstances, the federal government only provides mass transit agencies financial aid for capital projects, not operating expenses. But with ridership plummeting and no end to the region’s shutdown in sight, SEPTA’s main source of funds has been eviscerated. Regional Rail ridership is down 97% and city transit ridership is down by 78%.