SEPTA Holding Public Hearing on Proposed Fare Changes Tuesday in Norristown

SEPTA has planned a series of public hearings in April to educate riders on the upcoming fare hikes and the planned new payment system. Hearings are scheduled to take place today, Tuesday, April 16 at 2 and 6 p.m. at the Montgomery County Human Services Center, 1430 DeKalb Pike in Norristown.

Proposed rate hikes are set to go into effect on July 1, and the transit authority's new "smart card" system will likely role out sometime this fall. The smart cards are part of SEPTA's efforts to simplify fares and introduce an "open" payment and collection system under their New Payment Technology (NPT) program. In addition, extra-fare zone charges will be eliminated on dozens of transit routes and there would be some consolidation of Regional Rail zones. Gender stickers will also be eliminated on all passes for transit and Regional Rail as of July 1.

SEPTA has released the following information about some of the upcoming changes:

City Transit

The current cash fare for a trip on SEPTA's buses, subways and trolleys will increase from $2 to $2.25 on July 1, and then to $2.50 when the switch to NPT is complete in 2014. Discounted single-trip fares – tokens until NPT, then continuing with smart media payment – will be $1.80. Transfers remain $1. Weekly and monthly TransPasses would be $24.50 and $92, respectively, under both the current payment system and NPT.

Suburban Transit

Fare structure would stay consistent with city transit. In addition, extra fare zones would be eliminated on 21 bus routes. An extra fare zone on the Norristown High Speed Line would also be removed, with a new single fare of $2.75 established. Multiple zones would be eliminated from bus routes 123, 124, 125 and 150, which would all have a new, single fare of $3.75.

Regional Rail

Fare zones would be consolidated as of July 1. The current Zone 5 would be eliminated, with most stations moving to an expanded Zone 4. In addition, approximately half of the current Zone 4 ridership would stay in Zone 4, with the remaining moving to an expanded Zone 3. Zone 1 will also be adjusted to include Eastwick, North Broad Street and North Philadelphia stations. Zone structure and most fares proposed for July 1, 2013 would continue through the switch to NPT.

Learn more about the new payment system and proposed fare hikes here. You can also download PDFs of the proposed fare increases and the new proposed zone map in our PDF section.