PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA is testing the idea of expanding its Key Advantage program beyond employers and universities, to firms that own apartment buildings.
Offering an all-access SEPTA pass to apartment building residents could make a property more attractive to prospective renters.
That’s what could soon happen at the Isaac, a 104-unit building near the Market-Frankford Line at Front and Berks streets, where the building’s owner, the HOW Group, is planning to sign on to SEPTA’s Key Advantage plan.
Under Key Advantage, employers, the city or schools buy SEPTA passes at a discounted rate and allow students or employees to use the passes to ride SEPTA for free.
Tom Kelly, SEPTA’s senior director of financial operations, said 63 employers are currently signed on. About half of the eligible students and employees are taking advantage, he explained, and SEPTA now will study how these apartment dwellers would use the transit benefit.
“Given that they’re so close to transit, it’s likely to be much higher. We’re looking at possibly 80%,” Kelly said, adding that it would be a key amenity for property owners. “It could make their property more competitive to attract tenants.”
SEPTA is using a $150,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission for a two-year pilot. The transit agency also entered talks with the HOW Group on adding a second building in University City to the program.
SEPTA is testing the concept at a Fishtown apartment complex
SEPTA is testing the concept at a Fishtown apartment complex
