SEPTA to end token sales at bus depots and most Regional Rail stations

Did you know you could go to a SEPTA bus depot — the cavernous maintenance facilities where buses park when they’re not out on their routes — and buy SEPTA tokens?

No? Well, you can, but not for much longer.

SEPTA took another small step on the lengthy road to completely replacing tokens with SEPTA Key today, announcing that it will end token sales at bus districts on April 2nd. SEPTA also said it will begin a two-week phase out of token sales at select Regional Rail stations starting March 23rd. Token sales at the Center City stations will end on April 6th.

A handful of stations will continue to sell tokens until further notice. Eventually, SEPTA will stop selling them altogether. The agency has taken a decidedly gradual approach to shifting customers over to SEPTA Key, slowly rolling back the availability of tokens and one-day TransPasses at locations.  

The transit agency will hold events at four depots to help hesitant riders make the switch. SEPTA Key card. The SEPTA Key mobile truck — a pair of fare kiosks on wheels — will be on hand with employees to guide customers through the process of getting and using the new fare card.

Tokens are still available for sale at non-SEPTA retail locations and SEPTA’s sales offices. Customers can also buy tokens in bulk online.

SEPTA has taken its time in making the switch from tokens to SEPTA Key. The transit agency debuted SEPTA Key in June 2016, but still has not yet said when it will completely end token sales. For comparison, it took the European Union three years to replace the currencies of 12 nations with the Euro.