Posted on 09/03/2019 9:14:21 AM PDT by Olog-hai
SEPTA is contending with a new kind of fare evasion, in which enterprising scammers are using Key cards to give cash-paying riders a discounted trip on the Broad Street Line and the El.
Because SEPTA does not track or estimate revenue losses due to fare evasion, said Rich Burnfield, deputy general manager and treasurer, the agency can’t say whether more people are dodging fares than usual. Cashiers working on the subway lines, however, insist scofflaws are proliferating. […]
The latest trend is made possible by the Key card, which offers a $2-per-ride fare, compared with $2.50 for customers paying cash at a cashier’s window.
The people taking advantage of the system carry several Key cards, sometimes stacks of them, cashiers said, loaded with weekly or monthly TransPass fares. A weekly pass sells for $25.50 and offers 56 trips, more than a single commuter would likely use in a week and each trip costing the equivalent of 45¢. The person then accepts $2 cash to swipe passengers through the turnstiles. The traveler gets a 50¢ discount, the scammer potentially gets $86.50 richer per card, and SEPTA loses out on fares. […]
New York City’s subway system has people running similar hustles with Metrocards, an Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesperson said. If caught, they can be issued a summons or arrested. […]
The Key card has heightened the problem in Philadelphia, cashiers said, and they link the fare evasion with the elimination of tokens last year. …
(Excerpt) Read more at inquirer.com ...
Unless you can equate this to ticket-scalping?
Philly public transportation...I’d rather eat mice and live in the woods.
The efficiency of government.
“Others, though, argued SEPTA’s fare structure causes the problem. When tokens were still available, a person with $4 in cash could buy two of the fare coins, the cost of a trip there and back again. Without tokens, the person with $4 doesn’t have enough to buy a Key card, which initially costs $5.95, and can no longer buy two rides with that cash.”
Just eliminate cards, and tokens, and charging at all for a ride. That will solve the whole problem (according to all the DEM presidential candidates).
SEPTA set up the card program, so SEPTA is not losing out on fares. It is receiving exactly what they asked for.
Unless SEPTA was counting on the cards ending up with unused trips at the end of the month, which means they are trying to scam the riders by charging for trips not taken.
The Laffer Curve is in play here with regards to per-ride fares.
Philly subway scam ping!
This is the equivalent of selling loosies. We know what happens to people who do that.
It’s fricking Phiily!!
WHO CARES?????
Oh, it's not so bad. I rather enjoy being robbed while waiting for a train, and the smell of stale urine is quite pleasant on a hot summer day.
Ahh, Good Ol’ SEPTIC... glad to see things haven’t changed since I left town.
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