Philadelphia Will Do  
 

Aug

1

SEPTA Transfers Get Last-Minute Stay

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Although the SEPTA board voted to eliminate transfers a while ago, everybody waited until late last week to get overly angry about it, most likely dooming any chances of actually keeping transfers and saving people money.

Or wait! Somehow, the delay might not have mattered, as a judge ordered SEPTA to continue selling transfers with a temporary injunction.

SEPTA originally complained it didn’t have any more transfer slips — they apparently buy them individually — but then “found” a bunch of other slips to get through the week. And SEPTA is crying foul:

But attorney Thomas S. Biemer, representing SEPTA, said that the case was simple. “The city is trying to substitute its discretion on how to run a railroad for SEPTA’s discretion,” he said.

Biemer argued that in a case such as this, the court may overturn the decision of a government agency only if the agency exhibited “manifest and flagrant” abuse of its discretion. That did not happen here, he told the judge. In fact, he said, the SEPTA board rejected an alternative that would have raised the cost of tokens for all riders.

“Your Honor is not supposed to substitute your discretion for SEPTA’s discretion,” Biemer said. “Neither can the city. They just don’t like what SEPTA did.”

Oh snap! The injunction says in effect until Monday, at which time SEPTA will introduce a MetroCard-style system with new machines that don’t spit your money out every time.

Judge orders SEPTA to continue selling bus transfers [Inquirer]
 
dmac | 9:00 AM | 3 Comments
Courts, Lawsuits, SEPTA, SEPTA Transfers Lawsuits Courts, Transfers
 
  1. Anonymous Says: Aug 1 11:41 AM

    The machines no longer spit your money out every time. Now they just put their hands over their mouths and turn their heads to keep you from stuffing your money in.

  2. ALB Says: Aug 1 11:43 AM

    They should start selling tokens with photos of Alycia Lane in a bikini on them. That way people will only want to buy tokens and won’t care if there are no transfers.

  3. Rupe Says: Aug 1 12:06 PM

    When the MetroCard Gold was introduced, replacing the blue MetroCard, ten years ago bus to subway and subway to bus transfers were instituted. Previously, with only a few exceptions, one had to pay an additional fare when switching between modes. As for bus transfers they have always been free. Transfers are printed on demand when a cash fare is paid on the bus and are electronically encoded which eliminates transfer fraud.

    MetroCard vending machines dispense paper single ride cards, as well as all types of unlimited and pay per ride cards, except for those in the PATH system, AirTrain, and Roosevelt Island Tram; which only dispense pay per ride cards. A 20% bonus on pay per ride cards over $10 is given, so a $10 purchase gives you $12 in value. The vending machines all accept credit and debit cards, some exclusively, and some accept cash.

    It is a very good system and the fact that the MTA gets money ahead of time allows them to gain interest on it.

    The one problem of the unlimited MetroCards is that it has brought about a new avenue for fraud - the swiper. A swiper will have several unlimited MetroCards and will offer swipes for a reduced fee, say $1. This is not a legal practice.

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