SEPTA board approves renaming Pattison Station ‘AT&T Station’

The SEPTA Board yesterday approved the name change which will bring the transit agency five million dollars over the next five years.

By Aaron Moselle

The storied Pattison Station stop on the Broad Street subway line will be renamed AT&T Station.

The SEPTA Board yesterday approved the name change which will bring the transit agency five million dollars over the next five years.

SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey says AT&T’s offer was hard to ignore.

“It’s a big number,” says Casey. “Five million dollars over five years. I know New York entered into one that was $200,000 a year. So ours is much larger than that and it’s something we should do.”

Jerry Silverman is the former chair of SEPTA’s citizen’s advisory committee. He fears the decision opens up the possibility for similar name changes in the future.

“If SEPTA sees this as cheap, quick money,” says Silverman, “they’re just going to say ‘Hey, why stop here? Let’s just rename everything.’ And where does it end?”

Casey says Pattison Station will become AT&T Station later this summer.