Going to Philadelphia is an essential aspect of life for many Swarthmore students, especially because the city lies only 30 minutes away from campus. Catching the regional rail is often the easiest way to get to Philadelphia, and recent changes to the train services and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA) Key Advantage benefit program will likely make trains even more accessible for students.
Starting on Sept. 8, SEPTA increased regional rail services by adding 99 weekend trains and 24 weekday trains to the schedule. These changes occurred despite SEPTA’s budget deficit of $240 million, in the hopes of restoring pre-COVID levels of service and promoting more usage of public transportation in the area. Some highlights of the new services include a restoration of hourly weekend service on most lines, as well as increased weekday services during midday and late night hours. Additionally, some rush-hour trains will have extra railcars to prevent overcrowding during critical hours of the day. To implement these new policies, SEPTA will increase staffing for regional rail services and adjust the train schedules to promote better timeliness.
Swarthmore station’s Media/Wawa line added six inbound trains to Philadelphia and six outbound trains to Wawa to the weekend schedule. The first train leaves approximately fifteen minutes earlier from Wawa station, and the last train arrives one hour later than on the previous schedule.
These regional updates specifically target riders traveling on weekends. These policies particularly serve students, who don’t always have the opportunity to enter the city during the school week, but may have more time on the weekends.
One of the primary ways Swarthmore encourages students to explore the greater Philly region is through participation in the SEPTA Key Advantage program, a benefits program that offers discounted Key cards for businesses, universities, and institutions. The program allows for 240 rides per month, which averages to eight rides per day. Student Key cards are valid between August and May, but not during June and July because the school is required to pay for the plan in full school months. The card offers access to all forms of SEPTA transit, including the subway and bus routes.
SEPTA records monthly statistics about rider participation within each institution to evaluate the impact of its program. According to Anthony Condo, director of campus services, roughly 84% of eligible students signed up for the program and 64% of students used their Key cards at least once during the 2023-24 academic year. Additionally, 55,000 rides were taken by students throughout the past year, and roughly 125 students used their Key cards each day, illustrating the widespread success of the program.
After implementing the program last year, the college recently decided to renew it for another year. According to Condo, “The overwhelming popularity and use of the program was certainly a major factor in renewal. The program also strengthens our commitment to sustainability by encouraging the use of public transportation.”
Additionally, since the program’s creation in September 2023, many other schools in the region have joined, such as Drexel University which offers a 10% discount on monthly passes, Curtis Institute of Music, and Bryn Mawr which, for the first time, now offers the same 240 rides discount as Swarthmore. Many local institutions, including the City of Philadelphia, also take advantage of the program to provide cheap and convenient travel options.
The new school year has also resulted in minor changes to Swarthmore’s implementation of the Key card program. Last year, Swarthmore participated in the program during September-December and February-May. This year, students also have access to free transit during August and January. Condo explained that, “It made sense to also include August and January in order to be able to provide this benefit for early arrival students and programming, and the start of the spring semester.”
Ultimately, Swarthmore’s continuation of the program and the recent expansion of regional rail transit makes travel within the region much more accessible for students, allowing them to further engage with opportunities off campus.
