Photo: Ben Schumin (Flickr)
Philadelphia offers free public transit passes for city staff
11 September 2023
by Christopher Carey
Philadelphia will allocate US$18 million over the next two years to give more than 22,000 city employees “all access” public transit passes through the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Key Advantage programme.
The city says the pilot is an opportunity to boost staff hiring and retention and support its goals of sustainability, traffic safety, and equity.
“Throughout July and August, we have been signing employees up for the programme and it has been overwhelmingly successful,” said Philadelphia’s Chief Administrative Officer Stephanie Tipton.
“As of August 28, nearly 10,000 city employees have enrolled in the SEPTA Key Advantage programme.
“We want to thank our labour partners for working with us on extending this benefit to our represented employees as well – this will encourage transit ridership and save employees money on their transit costs.
“It is a win-win for employees, SEPTA and Philadelphia.”
SEPTA Key Advantage
In January 2023, a new law took effect requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to offer commuter benefits to their workers.
Through the SEPTA Key Advantage programme, institutions can acquire SEPTA key cards directly from the authority and distribute them to their employees.
The City of Philadelphia is now the largest employer in the region to take advantage of the programme, with a workforce of over 30,000 people.
“The city’s participation in the Key Advantage programme will reduce congestion, air pollution, and traffic crashes, all while putting a few extra dollars in the pockets of city workers,” said Christopher Puchalsky, Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives at the city’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability (OTIS).
“This programme shows the city’s commitment to executing on the Philadelphia Transit Plan through encouraging ridership among its entire employee base.”
Boston’s discount
In February 2023, Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu announced that the city would pay 65 percent of the cost of monthly transit passes for its employees, along with a free bikeshare membership.
The city is also a participating employer in a two-year pilot the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is running as part of its expanded pay-per-use limited fare programme. Through the scheme, 4,000 randomly-selected city employees will gain unlimited access to subway and local bus services.
Beyond employees, several US cities, including Raleigh, Richmond, Kansas City, Olympia, Tucson and Denver are testing or have fully implemented fare-free transit schemes.
Several others, including Boston and New York City, have eliminated fares on certain routes in a bid to boost equity and improve safety.
Ben Schumin (Flickr)
