More than 22,000 city workers will be eligible to ride SEPTA at no cost starting Friday.
Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration enrolled the municipal workforce in the authority’s Key Advantage program, which allows employers to purchase passes to offer as a job benefit.
Recipients can use the Key cards outside of their daily commutes and ride all services for free, including Regional Rail.
Nearly 10,000 city employees have enrolled in the initiative since a recruitment campaign began last month. Workers received an email, and the administration held 13 Key Card distribution events, according to the mayor’s office. Only full-time and part-time employees — not temporary workers — are eligible for the benefit, officials said.
Leaders in the Kenney administration said they hope the Key Advantage program helps attract and retain employees. Almost 20% of budgeted city jobs are vacant, amid well-publicized workforce shortages nationwide.
“We believe this program to be an investment in our workforce,” said Marsha Greene-Jones, the city’s deputy human resources director.
For SEPTA, Key Advantage is seen as a way to rebuild ridership in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since launching last May, more than 3 million trips have been logged through Key Advantage and people who had a SEPTA card before enrolling in the program are now riding public transit 13% more often, SEPTA General Manager Leslie Richards said.
The City of Philadelphia is the largest employer to join the initiative, which began as a pilot program with workers from Drexel University, Penn Medicine and Wawa. Following some early challenges, SEPTA brought in Jawnt, a local transit technology company, to administer the benefit.
Jawnt documents indicate that the price for the program begins at $170 per employee, with adjustments every six months based on actual usage.
In March, Key Advantage expanded to include companies with fewer than 50 employees. Including municipal workers, about 55,000 people are eligible for the program through more than 20 employers, according to SEPTA.
Also beginning Friday, students at Swarthmore College will get SEPTA Key Cards to use during the academic term as part of a “UPass” pilot. Richards said she expects more universities to enroll in the program soon.
As part of the municipal budget passed in June, $9 million was allocated to pay for Key Advantage for city employees. The program is expected to be funded for at least an additional year.
In conjunction, Kenney and City Council also agreed to devote $62 million over two years to pay for a pilot program to provide free transit access to at least 25,000 people at or near the poverty level.
Christopher Puchalsky, of the city’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, said residents are being auto-enrolled – with Key Cards or postcards mailed to their address – based on income data. That process is ongoing, he indicated.
