SEPTA On Long, Endless Path To Go Sans Tokens

It’s been a week since SEPTA said they were finally beginning to look at new card technology to replace tokens, and yesterday Metro had a nice little wrap-up of a ton of little facts about SEPTA and transit cards in general.

In short, it seems like this: By the time SEPTA finally introduces its smart card — which will allow riders to simply zip through the turnstiles — you probably won’t live here anymore. Well, okay, you might still live here, but in Atlanta it took six years and $190 million to fully install the system. Translate that to Eastern Standard Philadelphia/SEPTA time, and you’re looking at smart cards installed in Philadelphia sometime in the neighborhood of 2045.

But no matter! Although SEPTA estimates the system would cost somewhere between $130 and $190 million, officials both in the ATL and with PATCO said ridership increases should be able to offset any upgrade costs. Because PATCO is on a new industry standard, SEPTA could just use the same-style card and it could be used on both!

If this all sounds convenient and smart, you just figured out why you won’t be seeing smart cards anytime soon.