February 18 is a significant day for public transportation in Southeastern Pennsylvania! On that day – sixty-one years ago – SEPTA held its first organizational meeting which formed the beginnings of the transit system we all ride [and love] today!
This past year marked many achievements and milestones and also brought a lot of change:
We FINALLY added a multi-rider feature to the SEPTA Key card which allows up to five (5) riders on one SEPTA Key card.
The SEPTA Board members voted unanimously for Vice Chairman Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. to serve as the new Board Chair and for Chester County Commissioner Marian D. Moskowitz as Vice Chair. This was a historic moment for the SEPTA Board as Chair Lawrence is now the first African American Board Chair and Commissioner Moskowitz the first female to serve as Vice Chair.
We celebrated the newly reconstructed and renamed Drexel Station at 30th Street. Drexel Station at 30th Street is the first station to debut the SEPTA Metro Wayfinding initiative with new colorful, easy to identify station signage.
We officially retired our last 40′ bus fully powered by diesel fuel reinforcing the Authority’s commitment to the environment and a sustainable public transportation system.
SEPTA received APTA’s Gold Award for Rail Security which is presented to organizations with the best example of a safety, security, or emergency management program.
Our iconic green and cream Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) Trolleys returned to Route 15.
Bryn Mawr College became the second higher education institution to participate in the SEPTA Key Advantage UPass program.
SEPTA announced the appointment of two newly-created positions that demonstrate the Authority’s commitment to making SEPTA safer, cleaner, and more secure.
We reinstated parking fees in all of our lots.
Governor Josh Shapiro gave us $153 million to help fill our operating budget deficit and to postpone major fare increases and service cuts.
Leslie Richards stepped down as General Manager/CEO.
Long-time SEPTA veteran Scott Sauer took on a new role as the Authority’s Interim General Manager.
We raised fares – a little.
We launched Version 3.0 of SEPTA’s mobile app.
We reported our largest one-year drop in serious crimes in the Authority’s history!
We won a Super Bowl! Okay the Eagles won the Super Bowl but we were there for every play and one amazing parade!
We are excited to see what our next turn around the sun brings and we THANK YOU for coming along along for the ride!