Another Reason Never Ever to Use Cash on SEPTA

When SEPTA transitions to a tokenless world next year, $1 paper transfers will also go extinct. Instead, if you want to hop from trolley to bus (or any two-seat ride) you’ve got two options. 1: Pay that $1 transfer fare with a smart media” tool (SEPTA smart cards or swipeless debit cards); 2: Pay the full fare over again in cash.

Put another way: If you need to make two trips, using only cash, you’ll pay $2.50 for both of them, and be out a Lincoln. If you have a smart device, however, you’ll pay a base fare of $1.80, and then another dollar for the XFER. “Right now about 10-12% of customers use cash,” SEPTA CFO Richard Burnfield said. “And I’m hoping that with smart media and the pricing incentives that we’re putting into the proposal that that would come down even further.” No kidding. [Plan Philly]