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Passenger group wants SEPTA to test 'smart cards' before buying system

A rail passengers' group on Thursday asked SEPTA to test a one-way fare-payment proposal before ordering its new "smart card" system, saying it might cause fare evasion and inconvenience to riders.

A rail passengers' group on Thursday asked SEPTA to test a one-way fare-payment proposal before ordering its new "smart card" system, saying it might cause fare evasion and inconvenience to riders.

Matthew Mitchell, of the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers, presented the SEPTA board with a resolution from the group calling for the test on two Regional Rail lines and urging the agency to conduct public hearings before buying any new electronic fare-payment system.

SEPTA will borrow $175 million to pay for its long-awaited, long-delayed electronic fare system, and agency officials said last month they expect to hire a contractor to install the system by May or June.

But it's likely to be at least two or three years before riders can exchange their current tokens, tickets, and passes for cards they can wave at an electronic turnstile.

Under a proposal outlined in SEPTA documents for would-be bidders on the new system, rail passengers could get a free ride into Philadelphia and pay a double fare on the way home.

In that scenario, gated entrances with subway-style turnstiles would be installed in rail stations in Center City, where riders would tap electronic-chip fare cards to board outbound trains. On leaving the trains, riders would tap their cards on other electronic readers, and the appropriate fare would be deducted.

Mitchell said such a system would be an "invitation to legal fare evasion" and would slow the commute for regular riders.

Both the transit and railroad divisions of SEPTA would lose revenue if riders took advantage of free inbound train rides and then used bus, subway, or other transportation for their return trips, Mitchell said. He said a similar system was tried, and quickly abandoned, by the Boston transit system in 1990.

Spokesman Richard Maloney said SEPTA is "anxious to try all different scenarios" for a fare-payment system on the Regional Rail lines.

"The challenge is that it's such an open system. We want to find something that's convenient and doesn't increase bureaucracy and collects the proper revenue," Maloney said.

SEPTA will hold hearings on the new fare-payment system, Maloney said, although "when or in what context has not been decided."

A new board member took his seat at Thursday's meeting: Christopher Franklin, appointed by House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) to represent the new GOP majority in the House. The House and Senate get four seats on the SEPTA board, one each for the majority and minority parties.

Franklin, 45, of Paoli, is an executive with Aqua America Inc., a Bryn Mawr-based water and wastewater utility. Franklin is the regional president of Midwest and Southern operations for the company, responsible for 10 of its 14 states.

Franklin said he has been friends with Turzai for 10 years and was happy to be the majority leader's first appointee. Turzai has advocated privatizing Pittsburgh's transit authority.

Franklin said his top priorities would be customer service and fiscal restraint. With SEPTA about to enter its annual budget battle with Harrisburg, Franklin predicted that SEPTA and other organizations are "going to have a very difficult time getting more funds out of the state."

Franklin is a graduate of West Chester University and Villanova University and is a past chairman of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry.