More than 20,000 SEPTA papal transit passes still available

SEPTA papal passes weren't quite the hot ticket this week that they were last month.

By the close of its Monday online lottery for Regional Rail passes for Pope Francis' visit in September, SEPTA received requests for 328,045 passes, leaving more than 20,000 unsold.

That was a big shift from SEPTA's first try to sell passes online, on a first-come, first-served basis last month. An electronic stampede forced SEPTA to halt sales within minutes of opening its website July 20 because it crashed.

The number of unsold passes from Monday's lottery will increase, as some lottery winners are expected not to complete their purchases and some requests are expected to be invalidated as fraudulent or duplicate, SEPTA officials said Tuesday.

SEPTA offered 175,000 passes for each of the two days of the papal visit, Sept. 26 and 27. The passes are $10, with discounted tickets for seniors and disabled people for $5.

But SEPTA officials did not know Tuesday which stations or time periods sold out, so certain details regarding sales of the remaining passes are still unsettled.

Unsold passes will be offered first to unsuccessful lottery applicants online, starting Monday, and then they will be sold at Center City stations: 30th Street, Suburban, and Jefferson. They also may be sold at some outlying stations.

In-person sales will be on two consecutive weekends, probably starting Aug. 15 or Aug. 22, SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said. Weekend sales are designed to best serve people who work weekends and will need Regional Rail passes to get to work during the papal visit.

The successful applicants in Monday's lottery will be notified by e-mail by Thursday, and will have until Sunday to complete their purchases.

Passes that are not purchased by the original winners will be offered to unsuccessful lottery applicants, starting next Monday. By Friday, Aug. 14, SEPTA expects to know which passes remain for sale.

Sales were limited to 10,000 per station per day at the 18 outlying stations, and would-be buyers had to select one of two time slots.

"We don't know which sold out and which are still available," Williams said Tuesday.

Only the special papal visit passes will be honored on Regional Rail trains the weekend of the pope's visit.

SEPTA plans to announce details this week on its plans to sell three-day papal passes for subways, trolleys, and buses.

For complete coverage of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia, go to www.philly.com/pope

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