SEPTA Riders can pay with card

Starting Friday, SEPTA riders will be able to tap a credit or debit card or flash a smartphone wallet to pay for trips on transit trains, trolleys and buses
Following the lead of other cities
Key has suffered from glitches and mounting costs since the card was introduced in 2016 — two years later than scheduled, potential issue with credit card could ensue too
Won’t be available on Regional Rail until 2024

Concerns

Glitches could very well hinder the progress
Uneven roll out, some places will have it before others causing mass confusion. Public needs to be aware.
Will not apply to anyone who has a monthly pass or discount

topics discussed were transporting approximately 600,000 riders across Southeastern Pennsylvania each day, safety issues, hiring more police officers and how the pandemic impacted travel
SEPTA is one of the most underfunded urban systems around the US according to Richards

When researching SEPTA’s budget, it was found that their FY 2023 Capital Budget is the largest in their history at more than $1.1 Billion
Unfortunately, SEPTA has a backlog of about $4.6 Billion, including $1.7 Billion on Vehicles, $901 million on bridges, as well as hundreds of millions in other crucial fields such as stations, track, power, and other maintenance needs
SEPTA also needs to account for the significant safety concerns posed on their system as NBC10 conducted a survey comprising of 2,500 riders who were asked a series of riders which included a question that asked about the reason why they stopped using SEPTA
Around 557, or 43% of respondents said that concerns of crime on the system was their main reason

SEPTA’s board Thursday authorized spending $3.4 million to purchase the last two parcels of land needed to build an Eastwick maintenance depot
Would house the 130 new light rail cars for SEPTA’s trolley modernization project
Originally was in a bidding with Amazon in 2021, which they lost
Earlier this year, SEPTA $714 million on 130 new trolleys, a purchase they hadn’t done since the early 80s
The cars can hold as many as 120 people and is finally going to be wheelchair accessible

Step in the right direction. Many of those trolleys are falling apart and an upgrade is absolutely crucial
This would be a perfect opportunity to implement things like track separation from the cars and potentially transit oriented housing
The roll out would be expected around 2027, let’s hope that they can maintain their objective