SEPTA gears up for 'Key' fare payment launch

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) last week began rolling out its "Key" card fare payment system to the general public following a months-long pilot program.

Riders can now buy the Key cards with the purchase of a weekly or monthly pass at the 69th Street Transportation Center, which serves more than 36,000 passengers daily.

Starting today and through early March, additional Key kiosks will be activated at all Market-Frankford and Broad Street line rail stations.

"The SEPTA Key is making travel more convenient for our riders, as reloadable cards are replacing outdated fare instruments such as magnetic-stripe passes, tokens and paper transfers," said SEPTA General Manager Jeffrey Knueppel. "We look forward to welcoming more riders to the future of fare payment with this latest program expansion."

The Key card system allows riders to load value online, over the phone and at kiosks. Passengers also can have the cards automatically reloaded from their bank accounts.

SEPTA in June 2016 launched an "early adopter" program for the system, which allowed 10,000 riders to try the cards.