SEPTA fares are going up this summer and that's not sitting well with riders.
"We need to boycott them," said Renata Wilson of Upper Darby. "We complain, talk and stand around but don't do anything but get trampled on. Why are the fares going up so often?"
Rosalyn Taylor is strategizing her future bus travel, and plans on making fewer trips. "A quarter is a bit much. I go to school three days a week. I will make doctor appointments and errands in one day."
Taylor was accompanying her friend, Robert Morris, to the doctor. As they stood waiting for their bus at the 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby, Morris weighed his options.
"Right now, I need SEPTA."
Morris said he doesn't have any other mode of transportation, so he'll have to make due with the fare increase.
Victoria Stecher of Norristown is frustrated too. "It sucks. Every year the prices go up." Stecher is a single mother of three and says she is not looking forward to when her small children get older and she has to pay fares for them too. "When do you put a cap on it?"
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Drexel student John G. stood waiting for the regional rail at the Overbrook station, unaware that SEPTA was proposing hikes that would go into effect July 1. The fare hikes range from a quarter for cash fares on buses, subways and trolleys to $9 for a Monthly TransPass. The cost of a cash fare will go up another 25 cents to $2.50 when New Payment Technology, or NPT, is instituted in 2014.
The cost of a token will go up 35 cents to $1.80 in July and remain at $1.80 when NPT begins around July 2014. Transfers will remain at $1 through the transitions.
For John though, even though he'll have to pay more to ride SEPTA, for him it still makes more sense than paying for gas and dealing with parking in the city.
"It's just cheaper taking regional rail" to and from campus to Overbrook for his co-op assignment.
Glen Summers rides SEPTA for free on a senior pass, his only means of transportation. He empathizes with riders who are impacted by the fare hike.
"Riders are going to be upset about it and I don't blame them."
