SEPTA Key expected in April 2016, but we’ll believe it when we see it

Original completion date for SEPTA Key was expected to be in 2013. The date obviously has kept being pushed back, so forgive us for our skepticism about when SEPTA will finally take this step.

But once it happens, we’ll be totally on board. According to PlanPhilly, SEPTA’s latest plan is to begin rolling out this new fare payment option by April 2016.

More from PlanPhilly:

SEPTA Key will activate first for weekly and monthly transit-pass holders, CFO Richard Burnfield said. Following that, the system will be implemented on regional rail and tokens will be phased out. All told, the rollout will take a few months.

This latest change on the SEPTA Key implementation order authorizes another $4,799,800 in payment to ACS/Xerox Transport Solutions, Inc., which was awarded the SEPTA Key bid back in November 2011. The change order was initiated by ACS with 64 changes to the contracts specifications.

SEPTA is currently the last of the major transit systems in America that still uses tokens. As of now, the total cost of SEPTA Key is $140.6 million, which is at least $11 million over their originally targeted cost.

You can read more about the details of using SEPTA Key here.