Skip to content
Transportation
Link copied to clipboard

SEPTA to end token sales April 30

Token sales to individuals in Philly will end next month.

SEPTA tokens are on their way to becoming a relic of the past.
SEPTA tokens are on their way to becoming a relic of the past.Read moreJason Laughlin

SEPTA will stop selling tokens to individual riders on April 30, the agency announced Thursday.

SEPTA has for months been phasing out machines that sell tokens at subway stops. It is replacing tokens, along with the separate cards for weekly and monthly pass holders, with a smart fare card, SEPTA Key, introduced on city transit in 2016. The cards are expected to be introduced to Regional Rail this year. SEPTA was the last big city transit organization to still use tokens.

People who have hoarded tokens, fear not. They'll be accepted for the foreseeable future, SEPTA officials said. They also will still be sold in bulk to social service agencies, which hand out tokens to clients to help them get to and from service locations. SEPTA and those agencies have been in discussions to ensure that Key cards can effectively replace tokens.

Tokens, which get riders a trip on subways, buses, and trolleys in the city, are worth $2 each. SEPTA has been using them since 1968, and they've been part of the city through the transit operators that preceded SEPTA as far back as the 19th century.