The day will come when SEPTA riders will no longer need to reach into their pockets for a cumbersome token but don’t expect action anytime soon.
The day that Philadelphia will finally catch up to pretty much every other major American city by eliminating the token could be decided soon.
“The token, which has been a pain-in-the-mass-transit here for decades, could go the way of horse-drawn trolleys by 2011, said John McGee, SEPTA's chief officer of new-payment technology.” We had to give props to Dan Geringer over at Philly.com for that line.
Mid-August was set as the deadline for independent contractors to send in their proposals to overhaul SEPTA’s current antiquated token system. Smart stickers will take the place of tokens currently used on SEPTA buses and trains.
The stickers would contain a chip that could be recharged online. The sticker could be placed on anything from a cell phone to a person’s wallet, McGee said.
But don’t expect things to change right away because of the many different types of transit SEPTA supplies and the size of the entire system, said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch.
“It’s a fairly complicated undertaking,” Busch said.
Politics
The one thing SEPTA could confirm was that the system would be phased in at some point in 2011 rather than implemented all at once.
First thing first, though -- on August 18 SEPTA will show the public all the proposals. They will likely pick the lowest bid proposal, said Busch.
In the meantime tokens are here to stay and so are their hassles like being worth only single rides and having to wait in line to purchase tokens after sporting events and rush hours.
So be prepared to use the coin on the train and bus for the next couple years.
