SEPTA Key is almost here, “Quick Trips” feature now offered at three South Philly station
The launch of SEPTA Key, the token-less system that we’ve been anticipating for what seems like forever now, is almost here. Late-November is when Key is finally expected to launch.
In the meanwhile, SEPTA is adding some new payment options. “Quick Trips” is being introduced at three stations in South Philly to allow passengers to pay for a single trip ticket of $2.25 without needing to have exact change for the teller, instead this fare can now be paid with credit and debit cards.
From PlanPhilly:
An archaic testament to Philadelphia’s more violent past, SEPTA cashiers do not make change, citing risk of robbery. Passengers without a token handy have long been forced to pay the exact fare, overpay, or ask fellow passengers for change.
A spokesman also said that SEPTA Key’s “Travel Wallet” feature, which will allow users to load up their cards with cash to be used in lieu of tokens for $1.80 fares, is set to roll out in late November.
The South Philly stations now offering the Quick Trips feature include Ellsworth-Federal, Tasker-Morris and AT&T.
“this fare can now be paid with credit and debit cards.” OH SWEET BABY JESUS FINALLY.
Still not going to work on the busses so basically useless for anyone who isn’t just going straight on one line.
Why wouldn’t it work on buses? They’re equipped with the same card readers.
I have been to almost every major city in America. We have the worst public transportation system in the country.
Really? You must have missed Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, Seattle, San Antonio, St. Louis, Baltimore, San Francisco, LA, and pretty much every mid-sized, small city in the country. What a crazy thing to say.
13 RR lines, 3 subway lines (including PATCO), 7 trolley lines, and hundreds of bus lines. What systems are better other than NYC, Chicago, DC, and MAYBE Boston?
Uh, yeah, what Anthony said. Plus I don’t think Ds actually been anywhere. Seriously, try navigating Houston on public trans, then tell me about SEPTA…
After spending the last two days (and five years of daily commutes earlier in life) enduring DC’s Metro with its constant breakdowns, delays and consistently rude passengers I was happy to be back on smelly, quirky SEPTA today. The system has not aged well and the maintenance backlog has led to train and station issues that are even worse than the ongoing Silverliner V debacle IMO.
Have had SEPTA Key since the early adopter program began and my biggest gripe has been the delay in rolling out new features. I have a stack of tokens just waiting to be added to the “wallet” when that finally arrives.
I agree Mike. Metro has deteriorated in many ways, mainly due to funding challenges. However, that didn’t stop them from building the Silver Line. I guess it’s easier for them to get capital funding than OpEx consistently.
Where Philly falls a bit short is on the subway/El system. It would be an amazing system if the other lines and branches had been built. However, with the good bus service, amazing RR coverage and the taxis, Uber, Lyft, Bike Share, etc., SEPTA is run really quite well.
Now, if we were comparing SEPTA to many similar Asian and European cities, I’d agree that it falls short. But in American, now way!
Yep, agree w/all. The Silver Line (construction) was essentially bankrolled by the Metro Washington Airport Authority–hence the push to build. Grew up in the DC area and have been riding Metro since it opened. Sad to see how far it has falllen, and I was in the area for work when they did an emergency shutdown of the whole system in March. Commuter rail down there isn’t much better though things on the Maryland side (MARC) have recently improved thanks to locomotive and passenger car investments.
FTW! Tokens forever!
I like to keep all my tokens in a sock so I have a weapon when I take the BSL at night.
In the meantime a lot of riders are still stuck using tokens because the weekly and monthly passes are priced for riders who use transfers. But Septa has almost completely removed token turnstiles, so you have to go to the booth troll, and hope they’re there.
By rolling out “quick trips” 1st, SEPTA is once again prioritizing gouging occasional riders over creating an effective system for daily riders.