July 20, 2007
SEPTA To Use Tokens 'Til You're Dead
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It is a matter of time, the problem being that "matter of time" here means "sometime two or three Popes from now." SEPTA will be using tokens for the forseeable future, even though on August 1 paper transfers will be eliminated.
“We’re trying to get rid of the archaic 19th-century technology of tokens and transfers,” SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney told Metro. Ah, yes, I remember when Franklin Pierce used to climb onto SEPTA, paying his token for the bus and getting a paper transfer so he could ride the El downtown.
SEPTA does have new daily, weekly and monthly passes, which by getting rid of transfers they want everyone to buy. They're also paying a consultant to tell them to switch to a card-based system. Whee!
SEPTA years from upgrading archaic fare collection system [Metro]
Posted by D-Mac on July 20, 2007 12:00 PM
Posted to SEPTA
, Tokens
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Comments
Another wonderful quote from Richard Baloney
Posted by: Anonymous at July 20, 2007 01:38 PM
In an uncharacteristic defense of Septa, I've read elsewhere that one of the reasons for holding off is that they anticipate that credit card companies will start partnering with transit agencies to have some kind of chip in your credit card that will allow you to swipe your credit card through a turnstile. Or something.
Posted by: jordon at July 20, 2007 01:50 PM
the credit card idea is dumb. I don't want to have to wait for my card to be approved before I get on the train and I don't want a chip in my card either. If they do that, it should be optional.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 20, 2007 02:08 PM
Really Jordan?
A partnership between Septa and the credit card companies, this could only benefit commuters the way I see it. Are the tabacco companies and Haliburton in on this somewhere?
Posted by: yt at July 20, 2007 02:10 PM
just go to fucking church where you belong and leave SEPTA alone!
Posted by: GFC at July 20, 2007 02:28 PM
just go to fucking church where you belong and pray for SEPTA.
Posted by: GFC at July 20, 2007 03:36 PM
WHAT?! Your not GFC, I'M GFC! Just go to fucking church where you belong and stop ripping me off!
Posted by: GFC at July 20, 2007 04:00 PM
No I'm GFC. I'll sue you for defamation.
just go to fucking church where you belong and stop stealing my identity.
Posted by: GFC at July 20, 2007 04:03 PM
I actually don't disagree with the potential problems you raise about the credit card system. I was merely parroting the words I read that came from the mouth of a spokesperson at Septa.
But if this credit card technology is going to be the future of travel (whether we as consumers like it or not), I can understand why Septa doesn't want to invest millions of dollars implementing a system that is obsolete the day it debuts. For the very issues you raise, I am skeptical that it will ever become a reality.
I wish I could find that article. I was dismayed, though not surprised, at how "follow-the-leader" the Septa rep sounded. He basically said something like, "We want to wait and see what other transit agencies are doing before we decide what we want to do." What leadership! Septa is truly the vanguard!
Actually, I think it was in that Inquirer article a few months back when Septa decided to take the ticket machines out of the train stations so they could replace them with...nothing!
Posted by: jordon at July 21, 2007 10:09 AM
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They're also closing ticket machines down and forcing people to buy tickets on the train, where they charge an extra $2.00. Who needs fare hikes when we can just add on "service charges"? If the state is going to provide funding, the taxpayers should get something back in return. Free fares for students taking SEPTA to school perhaps. But, if we're going to fund them with our taxes, and they're still going to find new ways to rip us off, then SEPTA should be sold to a private business that will actually make it profitable.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 20, 2007 01:33 PM