SEPTA to offer welcome back discount on passes

https://whyy.org/articles/welcome-back- ... hip-slump/

Starting the week of March 7th through the week of March 21, SEPTA is offering riders 25 percent off weekly passes “to welcome riders returning to the system.” This includes all weekly passes whether for its subways, buses, trolleys, or regional rails. The savings range from $6.50 to $13.75 depending on the type of pass you purchase. It’s an attempt to get more riders on the system and reward ones that have been riding with SEPTA through the pandemic

ZS and Everyone -
SEPTA made a similar offer to riders back in September 2021:
https://railroad.net/september-5-schedu ... 89-15.html (Page 2-scroll down)
This was for the weeks of September 13-20-27 and was part of the 9/5/2021 schedule change topic...

My comment back then was that the timing of these discounts was not good for monthly pass riders
because at least one full-price weekly purchase would be necessary...March 2022 begins on a Tuesday
(3/1 to 3/4 Tuesday-Friday) and than there is the week of March 28 (3/28 to 3/31 Monday-Thursday)
March 2022 is basically a five/six week month including Monday February 28 and/or Friday April 1...

The Discount (and Regular) Weekly Pass prices are for March 7, 14, 21:
Transpass - $19 ($25.50)
Zone 1 - $21 ($28.25)
Zone 2 - $29 ($39)
Zone 3 - $35 ($47)
Anywhere - $42 ($55.75)
Cross County - $23 ($30.75)

SEPTA should offer at least ONE Monthly Pass discount for their most loyal regular riders.
The weekly discounts are the right idea but are tough to use for anyone that may decide to take
advantage due to how many alternate weekly passes that one would need...MACTRAXX

They could have expanded the discount on multiple passes including the Independence pass to attract more riders back to the system.

The passes discount is attempt to win back ridership but honestly cutting service in April or May is not going to help win riders back.
Also Septa should get rid of the limited number of rides. It makes no sense to have a cap and makes it way more confusing to the rider.

zebrasepta wrote: ↑Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:59 pm They could have expanded the discount on multiple passes including the Independence pass to attract more riders back to the system.

Independence Passes really should be the focus not weekly passes. People are more likely to go back into the office a few days a week after being gone two years than four or five days a week.

they should focus on advertising the discounts before they happen. I don't think i met a single person who knew they were going to happen last time. Instead they were just confused by the price changes.

RCT: Lowering the cost of daily individual Independence Passes to $10 for a one-month period would be
a start - $1 per ride with the 10 ride IPass cap limit...

PHL: ANY substantial cutbacks in service at ANY time for ANY reason can harm RRD or transit ridership...
The ride caps on all SEPTA passes are from SEPTA's "Every Dime Every Time" bean-counter mentality...

Ryan: SEPTA does need to better promote their offers of any fare discounts...This time around they are
giving some advance notice of when (The weeks of March 7, 14, 21, 2022) and what (All Weekly Passes)
this offer is so riders can at least plan ahead and take advantage if they can...MACTRAXX

MACTRAXX wrote: ↑Mon Feb 21, 2022 7:16 am RCT: Lowering the cost of daily individual Independence Passes to $10 for a one-month period would be
a start - $1 per ride with the 10 ride IPass cap limit...

The three pack Independence Passes for $36 are my go-to. Other than a few occasions where I was taking a mixture of Amtrak and SEPTA, they have been my go-to since returning in June 2021. Even before COVID, I would use them on months where I was going to the office less than usual.

There might be better warning this time but they haven't even bothered to put in on their homepage or @septa_social. I do see them putting on their automated twitter amongst the "Due to operator unavailability, service is operating with delays." spam so that is something I guess.

The idea of tying passes exclusively to fixed calendar periods was stupid before COVID and is even more so now. I lost track of the number of times I had to buy something like a 10-trip (RIP) or balance wasting part of a monthly pass versus buying weeklies due to vacations, business travel, etc. Granted I worked in software r&d where geekiness reigned, but at least half of us kept spreadsheets or programs to figure out the best options each month.

SEPTA needs to come up with passes that could be bought for specific time periods regardless of week or month start-dates. It's ridiculous for riders to have to deal with gaps or overlaps simply because their work schedules don't match arbitrary calendar divisions.

I'd also like to see a way to make bulk purchases of a specific number of rides for less than paying the single-ride rate ... another functionality of the legacy system that's been diminished by the Key.

/shrug the key rate is already the "bulk" 10 trip rate

Septa got lucky with timing and offered the discount on passes at the right time. I hope people are using it during this time of high fuel prices.


Rant, Get rid of number of trips on passes and bring back trolley buses. End rant