Surprises, higher fares mark SEPTA's new smart-card system

There are lots of surprises tucked in the fine print of SEPTA's plans for fare increases and a new smart-card fare system.

Like, if you don't register your "smart" credit card with SEPTA, you will be charged the full $2.50 cash fare for each bus or subway ride, plus an "unregistered account fee" of up to 50 cents. Users of SEPTA's own smart cards will pay $1.80.

Or this: You will no longer get an unlimited number of trips on a weekly or monthly pass.

And senior citizens from any state in the country will be able to ride free, with photo ID.

Public hearings start Monday on fare increases scheduled to take effect July 1 and on a complex new electronic fare-payment system that is to begin its rollout in the fall.

With the new system, riders will tap a card on an electronic reader that will automatically deduct the fare. They will be able to use any "contactless" bank card or SEPTA's own chip-equipped card. Some MasterCard and Visa cards are already contactless, with a miniature computer chip and antenna inside, and millions more are being issued each year.

The smart cards will replace tokens, passes, and transfers on subways, buses, and trolleys. They will replace tickets and passes on Regional Rail trains.

To collect rail fares, SEPTA will install subway-style gates in Center City stations and electronic card-readers in outlying stations.

The details of SEPTA's plans are outlined in 69 pages of proposed new tariffs for city transit, suburban transit, and Regional Rail riders.

The proposed increase will hike the cost of a cash bus, subway, or trolley fare to $2.25 on July 1. The fare has been $2 since 2000, although most riders pay less because they use passes or tokens.

The cash fare would rise again, to $2.50, when the new system is fully in place next year.

The cost of a weekly bus and subway pass would go up 11 percent, to $24.50 from the current $22. The cost of a monthly transit pass would also go up 11 percent, to $92 from the current $83.

The cost of a monthly Zone 3 rail pass would go from $155 to $163, a 5 percent increase; the cost of a Zone 4 pass would go from $176 to $191, up 9 percent.

(Zone 3 includes stations such as Jenkintown, Cornwells Heights, Fort Washington, Norristown, and Media. Zone 4 reaches as far as Langhorne, Warminster, Paoli, and Wilmington.)

A token would cost $1.80 on July 1, up 16 percent from the current $1.55, but tokens would be eliminated when the smart-card system is fully installed on the bus, subway, and trolley lines in 2014.

Transfers will then be unavailable for riders who do not use smart cards, so those riders will have to pay full fare for each leg of a trip.

For senior citizens, free bus and subway rides and $1 train rides would only be available with the presentation of a state-issued photo identification card, such as a driver's license.

On July 1, under the current plan, Regional Rail fare zones will change, with the current seven reduced to six. Zone 5, which includes distant suburban stations such as Yardley, Doylestown, Malvern, and Downingtown, would be eliminated.

About 40 of SEPTA's 150 rail stations would shift zones, with about half being bumped to higher-priced zones.

The Center City rail zone will only include five stations: Suburban, 30th Street, Market East, Temple University, and University City.

Among the surprises in SEPTA's proposed changes:

If you want to use a "smart" credit or debit card, you must register it with SEPTA or you will pay the full cash fare and a 50-cent fee. That would mean $3 for a ride that would cost $1.80 with SEPTA's own smart card. SEPTA says the extra charge "allows SEPTA to offset all transaction fees" for unregistered credit cards.

Riders who don't use smart cards will pay the full $2.50 cash fare for transfers. With a smart card, transfers will cost $1.

The number of trips allowed on a weekly pass will be 50, including all transfers. On a monthly pass, you will be permitted 200 trips, including transfers. SEPTA says the limits are designed to prevent sharing of passes.

For senior citizens (those riders 65 and over), free and discounted rides are available only with a driver's license or state-issued photo ID card. There is no requirement that it be a Pennsylvania-issued ID; SEPTA says it will accept IDs issued by New Jersey, New York, California, or any other state.

It is unclear how senior citizens, traveling with their photo IDs, will be able to get through the electronic gates of Center City rail stations. SEPTA says it is "evaluating options."

Disabled riders must obtain a SEPTA-issued "disabled card" to get the $1 discount fare.

It is unclear how SEPTA will be able to ensure fares are paid by rail riders who do not get on or off in Center City. SEPTA says that that amounts to only 5 percent of its riders and that it will develop procedures for conductors to identify those riders and collect fares.

You can get a refund for the unused portion of your prepaid fare, but only after paying a $2 "reimbursement settlement fee."

SEPTA says it will establish a $150 "fare evasion fee," but there is no indication how the agency plans to compel payment.

The new fare-payment system is certain to create confusion and uncertainty, and SEPTA has failed to provide clear direction about its plans, said Matthew Mitchell, president of the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers.

"We have been talking about some very obvious questions, and we can't get answers," Mitchell said. "How do we expect the average customer to know what to do?"

Hearings on the changes and on SEPTA's proposed $1.32 billion operating budget are scheduled over the next 10 days at five locations (times and places listed in the box above).

Delaware County: Monday, 2 and 6 p.m. Delaware County Courthouse, 201 W. Front St., Media.

Montgomery County: Tuesday, 2 and 6 p.m. Montgomery County Human Services Center, 1430 DeKalb Pike, Norristown.

Philadelphia: Wednesday, 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. SEPTA Board Room, 1234 Market St.

Chester County: Friday, 2 and 6 p.m. West Chester Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay St.

Bucks County: April 22, 2 and 6 p.m. Bucks County Free Library, 150 S. Pine St., Doylestown.

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