But it's likely to be at least two or three years before riders can exchange their current tokens, tickets, and passes for cards they can wave at an electronic turnstile.
Under a proposal outlined in SEPTA documents for would-be bidders on the new system, rail passengers could get a free ride into Philadelphia and pay a double fare on the way home.
In that scenario, gated entrances with subway-style turnstiles would be installed in rail stations in Center City, where riders would tap electronic-chip fare cards to board outbound trains. On leaving the trains, riders would tap their cards on other electronic readers, and the appropriate fare would be deducted.
Mitchell said such a system would be an "invitation to legal fare evasion" and would slow the commute for regular riders.
Both the transit and railroad divisions of SEPTA would lose revenue if riders took advantage of free inbound train rides and then used bus, subway, or other transportation for their return trips, Mitchell said. He said a similar system was tried, and quickly abandoned, by the Boston transit system in 1990.
Spokesman Richard Maloney said SEPTA is "anxious to try all different scenarios" for a fare-payment system on the Regional Rail lines.
"The challenge is that it's such an open system. We want to find something that's convenient and doesn't increase bureaucracy and collects the proper revenue," Maloney said.
SEPTA will hold hearings on the new fare-payment system, Maloney said, although "when or in what context has not been decided."
