Imagine you’re a college student. You hear about something cool happening in Center City and are interested in going. You go to the nearest SEPTA station, show your Student ID, and get on board. This is the future the SEPTA Youth Advisory Council envisions for students in the Greater Philadelphia region.

There are two big barriers to students using SEPTA: cost and familiarity. Regular users know all too well that a monthly pass can be expensive on a student’s limited budget. Further, the current fare structure and payment methodologies are relatively complex for those arriving in Philadelphia for the first time.

There’s a solution to this problem: the SEPTA School Partnership Program. Under such a program, educational institutions in the Philadelphia area could partner with SEPTA to purchase SEPTA passes for their students at extraordinary discounts. Students get unlimited rides, schools can rely on SEPTA for class excursions, and SEPTA gets a massive revenue boost even at a discount upwards of 50%–75%. Further, because the passes would be funded from school budgets and university tuition dollars, students would see no noticeable increase in tuition (especially since the cost could be covered by financial aid if it’s beyond one’s EFC).

We’ve run the numbers. We’ve spoken with school leaders and student governments. We’ve spoken with SEPTA. And there have been no oppositions to this proposal. Now’s the time for it to gain traction so it can be implemented before the end of the fiscal year.

Please support the effort and share with your friends. Every bit of support will help get this implemented.

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The SEPTA Youth Advisory Council is the organization charged with representing youth in the SEPTA Service Area to SEPTA Leadership as well as representing SEPTA Leadership to area youth. For more information about our initiatives, including our Student Fare Discount Program highlights, please visit http://septayac.com. For questions about our work, including media inquiries, please email contact@septayac.com.