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The city should pay for free student SEPTA passes that cover trips all day and all year long, rather than only during daytime hours on school days, City Council member Rue Landau said Monday.
Landau called for “universal” around-the-clock fare cards, which would be provided to all students, not just those who live at least 1.5 miles from their school, as the current rules specify.
She proposed the expansion because middle and high schoolers need to get to a variety of activities that take place in different neighborhoods, and sometimes don’t let out until after the 8 p.m. shutoff time for student passes, she said.
“Students aren’t just students. They’re basketball players in training. They work in the service industry. They’re in the robotics club. They’re volunteering at community gardens, and they’re filling their lives with so much more than just their school education,” Landau said. “Our students don’t live in a silo and shouldn’t have to travel like they do.”
The cost of trips to and from those activities strain many families’ budgets, said Landau, the mother of a public school student. She noted the increased burden since the transit agency boosted its base fare to $2.90 last fall.
She did not provide a cost estimate for the program’s expansion, saying it would depend on which options are selected.
For the current year, the school board has a $34 million contract with SEPTA for 63,000 fare cards for students from public, charter and private schools, Chalkbeat reported. The state reimburses the district through a transportation subsidy program.
The request comes as City Council has been holding hearings on Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed $7 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Landau plans to call for hearings this summer on possible funding models for expanded passes.
At a hearing after the press conference, deputy managing director Michael Carroll told Landau the city supports expanding access to SEPTA but did not commit to increasing its annual contribution to the agency’s budget. He said the school district and SEPTA would need to make any decisions about changing the program, with support from the state.
A carriage turns into a pumpkin
About 95,000 of the Philadelphia School District’s 199,000 students use some form of district-funded transportation, including 52,000 who use SEPTA student fare cards and another 25,000 who take district vehicles, according to the district.
Elementary students who live at least 1.5 miles from their schools are typically offered transportation via yellow schoolbuses or other vehicles. All children 12 and under also ride free on SEPTA at all times. For students in grades 7 through 12 who live at least 1.5 miles from school, the district provides the fare cards.
The passes work from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on school days, but are deactivated overnight and on weekends, holidays and over the summer.
Transit advocate Will Tung held up his daughter’s pass during a City Hall press conference Monday and compared it to Cinderella’s carriage, which “turns into a pumpkin, useless,” at midnight.
Those limits lead young people to switch to other modes of travel or keep them from participating in activities, students said.
“If I wanted to do a CCP class to help me better my chance of getting into college, I can’t, because I can’t afford to get home,” said YaNia Strawberry, a student at Saul High School’s agriculture program. “I’m also a junior coach with the Bicycle Coalition on my Saul team, and Roxborough only has one bus that goes in and out of our school. It’s inconsistent, and so if we run too late, our passes do not work in time for us to get home.”
Randell Campbell, a student at One Bright Ray Community High School, said he was once denied a pass when he lived 1.4 miles from school. He now has a fare card, but often ends up taking Ubers home from evening activities rather than waiting and paying for SEPTA buses.
“With most of these internships, I end up finishing after 8 o’clock. That either leaves me to use my money to get Ubers, or inconveniences my family to have to leave from work to come and get me, which is not fair to me, and it’s not fair to them,” he said.
A first step toward free SEPTA?
SEPTA’s $2.6 billion budget is primarily funded by the state, with additional amounts coming from passenger fare revenue, the counties it serves and other sources.
The city contributes a $135 million subsidy and also funds two free pass programs. Philadelphia’s two-year-old Zero Fare program is a lottery that provides 68,000 fare cards to some residents with incomes near the poverty line, while Key Advantage provides about 13,000 city workers with free rides.
Transit advocates were concerned that Parker would not continue Zero Fare in 2027, but she ended up including $20 million for the program in her proposed budget.
As part of a proposed package of living affordability legislation, Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke has proposed expanding Zero Fare and making it permanent by enshrining the funding in the City Charter.
“If there’s one group of Philadelphians to provide universal access to first, on the way to that North Star of SEPTA for all, it makes so much sense to start with our students,” he said at the press conference.
The city currently does not fund student passes, but Landau argued that allotting taxpayer dollars to the program’s expansion is a “very common sense change that has to happen.”
She declined to say if she has received feedback from the administration on the proposal, responding instead that SEPTA “absolutely” wants it.
SEPTA has been pleased at “how well the student ride program has gone,” spokesperson Andrew Busch said. “It’s been a very successful program and a great partnership with the school District. SEPTA is entrusted with safe and secure transport of 55,000 students to and from school each day. It’s a great responsibility, but one we are proud to take on.”
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