If you ride SEPTA subways, trolleys, and buses, the New Payment Technology project will make it more convenient for you. While there is a lot of controversy over how it will affect commuter rail riders, the part for transit riders is pretty well decided, and has wide support.
The system will be like the farecard systems now in use in New York, Washington, and other cities, only better. You will be able to use a new SEPTA smart card or any standard credit or debit card for fare payment with the new system. If you use the smart card, you can recharge it at station vending machines, at SEPTA sales outlets, or online. If you set up an automatic reload for it, you won’t ever have to stop to buy tokens or passes again. If you don’t ride the system often, you can use your credit card to ride and not have to worry about finding exact change.
Cash will still be accepted on the buses and trolleys, and in subway vending machines, but most people will use the card instead of cash, which will reduce boarding delays and speed your trip.
All of this depends on state of the art communications links between stations and a central processing office, and a lot of other behind the scenes infrastructure. This part has to be in place before new turnstiles and vending machines are installed, and it’s a large part of why this project will cost more than a hundred million dollars and take several years to complete.
Some important decisions have yet to be made, but they don’t have much of an impact on the infrastructure, so construction on those parts can go forward while SEPTA consults with the public about what would be best for the region. In particular, there’s not been a decision yet about whether unlimited-use weekly and monthly passes will still be offered. Some people think it would be better to make everyone pay something for every ride they take, but lower the rate per ride and give people additional discounts for riding the system more often; others think passes are a better public policy choice because of the mobility benefits they give riders.
Also, there’s not been a decision about transfers other than that paper transfers will go away once the card system is in place. We are urging SEPTA to make transfers free for card users, so they will not be penalized just because SEPTA doesn’t have a direct route connecting their starting point and destination.
If you have additional questions about the NPT project and how it will affect you, please e-mail us at mail@dvarp.org.