Ridership Increases On Regional Rail to Philly

Ridership over the last 12 months has reached a 22-year high, according to SEPTA at their last meeting on July 28.

A financial report showed that ridership was up 4 percent with a total of 335 million trips by riders. That makes 13 million trips more than the previous fiscal year.

One difference the report unveiled is that, since a fare increase in July 2010, payments in cash have risen, while paying with tokens or prepaid tickets has declined. The report determines the difference is caused by partially closing the gap between prepaid and cash prices.

The increased ridership, and the 20 percent increase in cash fares, helped SEPTA finish the fiscal year with $22 million over budget and an 11 percent increase in passenger revenue over the last fiscal year.

“This is the 12th consecutive year we have a balanced budget,” said Chief Financial Officer Richard Burnfield at the board meeting.

The breakdown of ridership increases was listed at the meeting:

• City ridership up 4 percent
• Suburban ridership up 5 percent
• Regional Rail ridership up 1 percent

SEPTA has supplied a full report of their year-end fiscal and ridership analysis. To view the report, visit SEPTA’s website.