PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Thousands of Philadelphians began riding SEPTA for free on Friday as two new city-funded programs took effect.
The City of Philadelphia has become one of two dozen employers participating in the SEPTA Key Advantage program, in which workers are given SEPTA Key cards with unlimited rides on them, so they can use the cards not just to commute to work but to get around the city any time.
Mayor Jim Kenney says the $9 million investment in the program will bring multiple benefits. “This two-year pilot is an opportunity to boost the city’s hiring and retention efforts as an employer of choice and support our goals of sustainability, traffic safety and equity,” he said.
SEPTA officials say the program is revenue-neutral for them. Employees get unlimited rides on any vehicle at a steep discount but SEPTA general manager Leslie Richards says the goal is to promote ridership.
“The benefits extend to everyone,” she said. “By encouraging more people to take public transit, SEPTA Key Advantage will help reduce traffic congestion that is significantly impacting our air quality and mobility.”
About 10,000 city workers, out of about 22,000, signed up for the cards. Swarthmore College also just enrolled all its students so some 55,000 people in the region are now participating.
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An even larger program also launched on Friday — free, unlimited fare cards for 25,000 low income Philadelphians. Sustainability director Chris Puchalsky says the $62 million program will be phased in over the next four months.
“The participants are being auto-enrolled. They’re being sent cards in waves,” he explained.
That program too, he says, will reduce congestion, pollution, car crashes and provide a service vital to finding and keeping a job.