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Some changes start Saturday for SEPTA’s senior citizen riders

SEPTA will no longer accept paper senior ID cards for free travel, and the $1 senior Regional Rail fare is eliminated.

File photo.
File photo. Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

Starting Saturday, senior citizens will no longer be able to use state-issued transit IDs to get free rides on SEPTA. and will for the first time get free rides on Regional Rail inside Pennsylvania using one of three now-accepted forms of identity.

SEPTA says that for seniors 65 and older to get free rides on its buses, subways, and trolleys, they will now have to show a SEPTA Key senior photo ID card, a valid Pennsylvania driver's license, or a non-driver ID with a magnetic strip.

The agency is eliminating the current $1 senior fare on Regional Rail inside Pennsylvania. The 50 percent discount for senior travel to or from SEPTA's New Jersey and Delaware stations remains in effect with one of the valid forms of ID.

The Pennsylvania Lottery pays for the free rides.

SEPTA says more than 155,000 people have obtained SEPTA Key senior photo ID cards since sign-ups began in late 2016.

Seniors who bought discounted 10-trip ticket strips, which cost $8.50, can obtain refunds of 85 cents for each remaining ticket by mailing them along with their return address to: SEPTA Senior Ticket Refunds, Box 58609, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102-8609. Requests for refunds must be mailed no later than Dec. 31.

Anyone who has not signed up for the senior Key can get one the same day, Monday to Friday, at SEPTA's headquarters, 1234 Market St., from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and at Suburban Station's Accessible Travel Center from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Residents of any state 65 and over can apply.

Applicants must show one of the following forms of identification to obtain the card:

• Pennsylvania driver/non-driver ID
• Birth certificate or baptismal certificate
• Yellow PACE Card (Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly)
•  Statement of age verification from the Social Security Administration
•  Armed forces discharge/separation papers
•  Resident alien card or passport/naturalization papers

More information about the senior ID card can be found at SEPTA's Key Card site.