SEPTA high tech fare system stuck at station

SEPTA has lost a bid for a $30 million grant to replace its aging fare collection system. So it’s back to the drawing board in search for money to fund the $100 million project.

SEPTA’s Richard Maloney says the current fare collection system might be antiquated but is working fine and will have to continue to do so indefinitely while they search for the money to replace it with one that is state of the art.

“We had quite a bit of things that we can do, we have been rebuilding all of our fare boxes, installing fiber optic system in both subway systems,” Maloney said. “So we are getting ready for the future obviously when we are going to be able to get funding for it at the moment that is unknown,” he said.

Maloney says they are hoping for the bulk of the $100 million to come from the state, but with a new administration coming in they have to see how they feel about funding the massive project, which would allow people to use credit and debit cards on vehicles and replace the token system which is the only one remaining in the country.

Maloney adds the current fare collection system is working, but it’s old and the transit system would like to update to include all available types of payment