SEPTA NPT card will be "SEPTA Key"?

They’re pushing the Convenience Pass as a tourist benefit, but it’s only available loaded onto a Key card. Unless they’ve got some way of immediately rebating the $4.95 fee, that seems to negate a lot of its price benefits.

Everyone:
I made an extra effort to purchase some legacy tickets that I could use in the near future
knowing that today (Friday October 2nd) would be the last sales day.

I was also informed that SEPTA has decided to end sales of legacy Independence Passes
along with tickets - the previous plan was to sell these passes until the I Pass supply ran out.
I bought a few to use as needed depending on the amount of rides that I planned to take.

The 10 ride limitation on Key I Passes in my situation will add up quickly - I use a bus to
Regional Rail using four rides round trip leaving only six others for the rest of the day.

The coming days at Regional Rail ticket offices are going to be interesting since cash riders
will have to either purchase a Key card for use at $4.95 or pay the on-board fare.
Discretionary and occasional RRD riders are going to be most affected by these changes.

The Trenton Line is going to be an interesting case: Will NJT continue to sell the basic three
ticket types which are:
Trenton-CCP ($9.25)
“Tunnel” Anywhere via CCP ($9.25)
Trenton Line Intermediate ($3.75 - Trenton to any station Levittown to North Philadelphia)
or will sales of these tickets end as well?

MACTRAXX ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almost six months later SEPTA has announced that Thursday April 1st, 2021 will be the final day that
Regional Rail Legacy Tickets will be honored. This page shows the upcoming change:
http://septa.org/key/updates/prepaid-pa ... -rail.html
The address to this link had a confusing spelling error: "Tickets" was written as "Pickets".

SEPTA actually got the date wrong of the final sales of Legacy RRD tickets - which was October 2, 2020.
I decided to include the post that I made back then showing what the correct date was.

Friday April 2nd is a religious holiday for some - Good Friday - and with Easter Sunday April 4th this would
be a somewhat busy travel period during normal times. The level of RRD ridership during this upcoming
weekend may be interesting to observe. On a historical standpoint the Reading (into the years of Conrail
contract operation of the RDG commuter rail routes) ran a Saturday schedule on Good Friday (along with
Washington's Birthday - now celebrated as President's Day) with its medium service levels.

This is literally the end of a time-honored era on Regional Rail - traditional prepaid railroad tickets...MACTRAXX

I grew up in the Philly area, moved to NYC 36 years ago, and I see that SEPTA is still as screwed as it was back in the early 1980s. Back then its solution to ticket machines that didn't work very well was to remove them and not replace them, but still charge the on-board penalty.

Now they have instituted a very complex system to replace paper tickets: the Key, which can only be bought at less than a dozen places. Are any of them machines that take credit and debit cards? I somehow suspect not, because...SEPTA.

I often have to travel via commuter rail in the NYC metro area -- Metro North, NJ Transit, LIRR -- and doing so is a breeze. First of all, every station I've been to has a ticket machine that can take cash, credit cards and debit cards. But I don't use this old technology. I buy the tickets on my phone apps and activate them as the train pulls into the station.

I just don't understand why SEPTA had to reinvent the wheel to join the digital age. Oh, it's because...SEPTA.

Key cards can be purchased in hundreds of locations including every rail ticket office (minus the ones closed due to covid cutbacks) https://www.septakey.org/info/buy-load-locator . Surprisingly I meet far more that like the system than dislike it lately. Main complaint currently would be the flimsiness of the cards (recently started using a new vendor so maybe that will help) and the long delay to implement phone/nfc card payments for infrequent riders.

How are the fare set ups on the card? Haven't been there for a while. Minimum amount ? will my farther who also has gone there have trouble getting the reduced / free fare card ?

The minimum balance when getting a card? $5 when purchased from a person or $1 from a machine + the $4.95 deposit on the card (your first card gets credited to your account when registered). Reduced fare and Senior key cards need to be acquired in person from Suburban Station or 1234 Market.
https://www.septa.org/fares/discount/disabled-id.html
https://www.septa.org/fares/discount/se ... -info.html

Considering the Key map still dont include Trenton STATION, does this mean NJT printed tickets will continue to be sold?

jamesinclair wrote: ↑Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:21 pm Considering the Key map still dont include Trenton STATION, does this mean NJT printed tickets will continue to be sold?

JS and Everyone: NJT sells the only remaining paper tickets that are used on SEPTA Regional Rail:
SEPTA stand-alone tickets sold by NJT are available at Trenton from both ticket windows and machines.
At 30th Street TVMs and from ticket windows equipped with NJT ticket office machines at the three CCP stations
usually in tandem with NJT tickets bought to a NJT destination.

As noted with a previous post the three main ticket types are:
1-Trenton Line Intermediate - All stations Levittown to North Philadelphia inclusive - $3.75
2-Center City Philadelphia Stations - 30th Street, Suburban and Market East (Jefferson) Stations primarily - $9.25
3-Anywhere "Tunnel" via CCP to any other station on the RRD system - $9.25

These tickets now have a scan block on top of the ticket the same as all NJT tickets have. Large gates in SEPTA
CCP farelines (handicapped accessible type) have scan readers for NJT and Amtrak ticket use installed.

http://septa.org/key/updates/bar-code-scanner.html

Arriving at CCP stations from Trenton Line trains - Retain ticket for collection at gate for exit.
Entry to CCP station - go through scanner-equipped gate as instructed by gate attendant.
Ticket is then collected on board Trenton Line train in the usual manner.

This should answer the question concerning current NJT/SEPTA tickets...MACTRAXX

It seems like Key is finally being used for everything now...except parking at the Regional Rail lots. I know my home station has had those shiny new Key parking kiosks for years now, but riders have been instructed to use the slot box at the top of the parking lot for payment since.

Does anybody know when these new Key Parking Kiosks are going to be used for parking?

With the exception of lots not owned by SEPTA all suburban parking should still be free. This has been true for every station I've visited for over a year now.

See the red text at the top of the page http://www4.septa.org/parking/

ryan92084 wrote:With the exception of lots not owned by SEPTA all suburban parking should still be free. This has been true for every station I've visited for over a year now.

See the red text at the top of the page http://www4.septa.org/parking/

While this is true, people are going to return to working in Center City eventually. My employer is already planning and asking for commuting information.

I know that the planned target dates for different implementations of the Key were long passed by the time they were actually implemented. However, I do not recall seeing one for parking. Was there a target date for implementing parking for the Key, and if so, when was it?

Last time i saw it mentioned was together with enabling smartphone payment timeline.

I’m going to be traveling on SEPTA to 30th St. Station to ride Amtrak.

I have a SEPTA Key card, but the family member riding with me will not, and doesn’t live in the area so it doesn’t make sense for them to spend $4.95 to obtain one.

Is it correct that my family member would not buy a ticket onboard, but buy a Quick Trip Exit Ticket at a kiosk prior to exiting? Can I use my Key card’s balance to purchase this exit ticket for them?

Been a while since I’ve ridden the Regional Rail and things have changed a bit.

dcipjr wrote: ↑Mon May 31, 2021 7:37 am I’m going to be traveling on SEPTA to 30th St. Station to ride Amtrak.

I have a SEPTA Key card, but the family member riding with me will not, and doesn’t live in the area so it doesn’t make sense for them to spend $4.95 to obtain one.

Is it correct that my family member would not buy a ticket onboard, but buy a Quick Trip Exit Ticket at a kiosk prior to exiting? Can I use my Key card’s balance to purchase this exit ticket for them?

Been a while since I’ve ridden the Regional Rail and things have changed a bit.

Inbound you pay cash to the Conductor, you get a receipt, same as it always was. The only difference is now you show the receipt to the scab upstairs and they will let you through the gate.

The exit fare is a last resort for passengers who neglected to bring cash. They are carried at the Conductor's discretion.

CNJGeep is correct, cash on board is back. They backtracked pretty quickly on the exit fare being the main method of non key payment and i hear more about conductors saying no than yes about it.