Controller want time limit on student SEPTA passes

For the second time in as many years, City Controller Alan Butkovitz yesterday called for a crackdown on student TransPasses.

A study by his office in 2008 following the slaying of Sean Conroy on a Center City SEPTA subway concourse called for the elimination of the pass.

Yesterday, he instead called for a cutback in the hours of usage. He said passes create the opportunity for violence by allowing students to ride SEPTA an unlimited number of times weekdays between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The 2008 study went largely ignored by the Philadelphia School District and SEPTA, which said Butkovitz offered no hard evidence to support his claims.

Yesterday, Butkovitz said a recent flash mob of about 150 students who met at the Gallery at 9th and Market streets on Feb. 16 and caused chaos on streets and in stores had "dramatically borne out" his findings.

But when asked if he had any hard evidence that students in the group had TransPasses or that the passes themselves led to an increase in crime, Butkovitz became annoyed.

"If the thinking were to take hold that unless you could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that every kid that was involved in one of these incidents [had a pass], that's just backwards," he said.

In a statement, SEPTA General Manager Joseph Casey disagreed with Butkovitz's correlation and said school attendance has increased, truancy has decreased and juvenile vandalism on SEPTA is down 50 percent since institution of the TransPass in summer 2007.

About 57,600 public and private-school students throughout Philadelphia use SEPTA to get to school, according to district figures.

On Butkovitz's latest recommendation, that the hours on the pass be cut from 7 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., except for those children who participate in after-school activities, Casey said that is an issue to be discussed between SEPTA and the school district.

Casey said Butkovitz's recommendation that the district and SEPTA look into technology to track and limit pass usage will be reviewed.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard agreed and said the district would continue to work with SEPTA to deploy more effective technology. But he also cautioned that a large group of students should not be penalized for the actions of a small one.

"The overwhelming majority of students use their passes appropriately and responsibly," he said.

Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said that Butkovitz's idea was "something that needs to be brought to the table" but that police didn't know whether the teens in the latest incident had or used TransPasses.

Vanore also cited a South Street flash mob in May 2009 that occurred on a Saturday, when student TransPasses would have been inoperable.

"If they want to find a way to get together, they'll find a way," he said.