Philly mayor proposes giving free SEPTA passes to city employees and 25,000 people in poverty

Mayor Jim Kenney is proposing Philadelphia fund a two-year pilot program to provide free SEPTA passes to all city employees and an additional 25,000 residents living in poverty.

The mayor proposed the $80 million investment over two years during his fiscal year 2024 budget address Thursday, saying the program could benefit upwards of 50,000 people and advance equity. He said a recent survey found 39% of residents in poverty identified transportation as their biggest obstacle to finding and keeping a job.

“The zero-fare transit program will make it easier for low-income residents to get to work and access all of the opportunities that our city has to offer,” Kenney said.

Advocates for city transit and public health cheered Kenney’s sweeping proposal, saying it would bolster SEPTA by increasing the number of riders, fight pollution, and ease a financial hurdle for families in poverty.

“No rider should be left behind just because they can’t afford to use SEPTA,” said Yasha Zarrinkelk, advocacy director for Transit Forward Philadelphia, noting 26% of Philadelphians live on less money than the federal government’s poverty standard.

“Since transportation-related costs are typically a household’s second largest, behind shelter, this program will relieve tens of thousands of low-income [people] and allow them to afford other critical services like food, housing, and health care,” Zarrinkelk said.

The program would be funded with $40 million this year. Of that, $31 million would be used to provide the all-access SEPTA transit passes to people living at or near the federal poverty line, which this year is $13,590 annually for individuals and $27,750 for a family of four.

Kenney is also proposing spending about $9 million per year to provide transit passes to all city employees. The city has funding for more than 25,000 workers, but nearly 1 in 5 municipal jobs are currently vacant amid a tight labor market. The administration characterized the SEPTA passes as a perk intended to attract and retain workers. The administration is aiming for the staff vacancy rate to be 4% or less.

The city would join SEPTA’s Key Advantage program, in which employers buy transit passes at a wholesale price and then provide them to their workers as a benefit. The program began last May when Penn Medicine, Drexel University, and Wawa, some of the region’s largest employers, signed up.

Many transit systems in the United States offer reduced fares for people living in poverty, or with incomes that are 150% or 200% of the federal poverty standard. People who sign up for the Los Angeles Metro’s LIFE pass, for instance, get 30 days of rides for half the standard $50 fare — or, if they choose, 20 free rides a month.

“I am unaware of any large city offering a zero-fare program as robust and far-reaching as this,” said Leslie S. Richards, SEPTA’s CEO and general manager.

Erik Johanson, senior director of budgets and transformation for the authority, said the city’s program would be “unique in that it is an all-access pass for low-income individuals to all parts of the transit system” without limitations.

Kansas City’s transit agency offers free rides for all on its buses and streetcar network. Washington, D.C., will begin zero fares in July on all Metrobus trips, but not on the system’s trains.

Nine employers are now participating in Key Advantage, with 20,000 people signed for free passes, Johanson said. About 60% of eligible employees have registered their Key cards, and roughly 50% of eligible workers have taken at least one trip, he said.

Kenney’s plan will be just one part of budget negotiations between his administration and City Council. The sides must come to an agreement by the end of June, when the current budget expires. A handful of Council members said they’re supportive of the SEPTA plan.

City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., the Democratic majority leader who represents parts of West and Northwest Philadelphia, said the free pass plan “has significance people don’t understand.” He said making SEPTA rides free and bringing back more riders to use the system could serve to alleviate safety concerns.

“By giving people in need a way to get to a job interview? Significant,” he said. “And by giving city workers the opportunity to ride free, you create an internal safety system. There is safety in numbers, and when people start to take advantage of SEPTA and mass transportation, it makes it better for everyone.”

City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, who represents parts of South and Southwest Philadelphia, said SEPTA should demonstrate a “stronger commitment” to ensuring safety on its trains and buses.

“We do want to make sure we have an equitable transportation system for all residents here in the city of Philadelphia,” Johnson said, “but SEPTA also has to step up and make sure that their transit system is actually safe for people to take the train and take the bus.”

Nick Zuwiala-Rogers, transportation program director for the Clean Air Council, said the transit programs will bring environmental benefits.

“The City joining SEPTA’s Key Advantage program will help to shift more people to transit at a magnitude that will realize significant reductions in air pollution,” he said. It also shows leadership: “This is what all major employers in the region should be doing to minimize their environmental footprint and to help fight climate change.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org.