Being an advocate of transit and a frequent rider myself, one of my favorite subjects to write about (and often deride) is our own Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.  So I meant to post this item from SEPTA Watch - the blog I’d love to do if I someone weren’t doing it already - but Philadelphia Will Do beat me to it:

Here’s an email from a reader/rider about a new machine at the very heavily trafficked 52nd Street station:

I was there today and they looked functional. I use a pass so it doesn’t affect me currently, but this is a big deal. 52nd street is such a major stop it should’ve had this years ago. Now about 46th street and 40th street.

Good question. When can we expect token machines at 46th and 40th street stations?

I’m going to jump on board and send a call out to all of our SEPTA-riding readers.  Have any of you used the 52nd Street station and gotten tokens from this machine?  I’ve noticed that at least one “new” machine that I’ve encountered - at Tasker-Morris station - is very limited in its functionality compared to a more advanced machine at 8th and Market.  I’m going to investigate this a little more closely on my way home tonight and will update this post later on.  So for now, feel free to offer your own opinions about SEPTA’s fare collection system in the comments.