SEPTA Says Gender Stickers Will Go Away When New Fare System Arrives
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- SEPTA says that by the end of 2013 it will no longer require a customer's gender to be pasted onto a Transpass at purchase time in the form of a sticker.
So why not just drop the gender stickers now?
Richard Maloney, the transit agency's director of public affairs, says it's because they are hoping their planned makeover of the entire fare system will make the stickers moot.
Maloney says they will be getting rid of magnetic stripes on Transpasses and replacing them with electronic chips (see previous story).
"Our board recently approved a new payment technology program which is going to revolutionize the entire system of paying your fare on Septa," he said today.
He says that eventually riders will also be able to swipe their smartphones to pay a fare (see related story), and there will no longer be unlimited usage on cards.
"One of the problems we've had with it, we know that you really can't quantify, is that people pass the passes around," he says.
And since each fare is paid for, the identity of the pass holder is no longer an issue.
While this is a victory for the LGBT community that opposed those gender stickers for so long, Maloney says the main reason for the change is to update and restructure its payment system.
"The new system will be similar to EZ Passes: you buy your pass, and then each time you use it, it's automatically deducted by the computer."
