SEPTA opens travel info center at University of Pennsylvania

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) last week opened a new travel information center at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).

Located in Philadelphia's University City area, the center is staffed by temporary SEPTA employees, who help customers navigate the agency's services. Staff also will provide information about Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, Indego Bike Share and car-sharing services, according to a SEPTA press release.

"With the travel center as a cornerstone, we think this is a perfect time to encourage students, many of whom are newcomers to Philadelphia, to consider SEPTA as a travel option, and we are pleased to partner the concept at Penn where we expect to be a visible presence for years to come," said SEPTA General Manager Jeff Knueppel.

The center is one of several initiatives that SEPTA and the university have worked on over the past few months. For example, SEPTA recently conducted its "college student usage survey," which was aimed at better understanding transit use by existing college and university students in the Philadelphia.

The survey data showed that 6.7 percent of SEPTA's average weekday riders are college students, according to the agency.