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SEPTA may slightly reduce its fare hike and allow more rides on passes under changes offered to its planned overhaul of the fare-collection system. SEPTA plans sweeping changes that will start with fare hikes July 1. The cash fare will rise to $2.25 from $2, and a token will cost $1.80 instead of $1.55. Then, by the end of the year, electronic "smart" cards will replace tokens, passes, and transfers on subways, buses, and trolleys. And by mid-to-late 2014, Regional Rail travel is to be transformed by subway-style gates in Center City stations, electronic card-readers in the suburbs, and new fare zones everywhere.

SEPTA, PATCO, and the City of Philadelphia have paid millions of dollars to victims of slip-and-fall accidents in subways while failing to fix the hazards that cause the accidents. Leaking ceilings and slippery floors remain, sometimes for years after they have caused serious accidents that injured passengers. Elana Adams, a church administrator from North Philadelphia, can pinpoint where she fell on a rainy day in November 2011 in the PATCO concourse near Juniper and Locust Streets.

SEPTA riders will face sweeping changes starting July 1. First, fares will go up. Then, by the end of the year, new "smart" cards will replace tokens, passes, and transfers on subways, buses, and trolleys. After that, Regional Rail travel will be transformed by subway-style gates in Center City stations, electronic card-readers in the suburbs, and new fare zones everywhere. Gender designations on passes will be eliminated. The cashiers who now sit in subway booths will emerge from behind the glass, retrained as "customer attendants" to help riders use the new fare cards.

There are lots of surprises tucked in the fine print of SEPTA's plans for fare increases and a new smart-card fare system. Like, if you don't register your "smart" credit card with SEPTA, you will be charged the full $2.50 cash fare for each bus or subway ride, plus an "unregistered account fee" of up to 50 cents. Users of SEPTA's own smart cards will pay $1.80. Or this: You will no longer get an unlimited number of trips on a weekly or monthly pass. And senior citizens from any state in the country will be able to ride free, with photo ID. Public hearings start Monday on fare increases scheduled to take effect July 1 and on a complex new electronic fare-payment system that is to begin its rollout in the fall.

One in a continuing series spotlighting the real estate market in this region's communities. Wayne Junction is not a neighborhood - it's a busy transportation hub that straddles the borders of Nicetown and Germantown. "The Junction," as it is known, handles five Regional Rail lines, one trackless trolley, and two bus routes, all serving 190,500 passengers a year. But what's happening there could have an enduring and positive impact on the two neighborhoods, and the rest of North and Northwest Philadelphia.

Hoping for more money from the state, the SEPTA board is postponing action on its budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Fare increases are still expected on that date. The board's budget committee on Thursday proposed deferring until June any action on the $1.3 billion operating budget, which funds regular transit operations, and on the $308 million capital budget, which pays for major construction and vehicle purchases. Even with the fare increases slated for July, the fiscal 2014 operating budget has a $38 million deficit.

A federal magistrate judge set stringent bail conditions yesterday for a SEPTA police officer charged by New York authorities in a hostage-taking robbery allegedly orchestrated by Russian mobsters. Authorities allege that furs, jewelry and Rolex watches were taken during a home break-in in Brooklyn on May 13 and that the victims were later forced to pay an additional $40,000 in cash. The victims, identified only as the owners of a New York business, were gagged, handcuffed and had their faces covered with ski caps by two men who entered their home posing as police officers, according to a criminal complaint filed last week.

A 14-month-old girl was rescued by her mother and another commuter Wednesday afternoon after the stroller the child was in rolled onto the tracks of SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line at the 56th Street station, transit officials said. The dramatic scene, captured by a SEPTA security camera, took place at 12:46 on the eastbound tracks. The next approaching train was at 60th Street, about four minutes away, officials said. The child was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was being treated for a laceration to the face, said Scott Sauer, a SEPTA safety official.

Jake Blumgart?is a freelance reporter-researcher in Philadelphia One hundred years ago, the United States was a trolley nation. In 1903, more than 30,000 miles of street railway wended their way through America's cities and towns. In the peak year of 1917, America had 72,911 electric streetcars, and total national ridership topped out in 1929 at 15.7 billion trips. But the nation's affections were soon transferred to automobiles, which received extensive subsidies and lavish taxpayer outlays for roads.

More money or less service. That was the familiar essence of SEPTA's capital-budget presentation Tuesday, as the agency noted how little $308 million will buy these days. In two hearings at its Center City headquarters, SEPTA officials outlined what they described as a bare-bones spending plan for construction, new vehicles, and growing debt service. Cuts in state funding have reduced SEPTA's capital budget 25 percent since 2010, and if Harrisburg doesn't come up with more money, the transit future is grim, said Catherine Popp-McDonough, SEPTA's director of capital budgets.

SEPTA, PATCO, and the City of Philadelphia have paid millions of dollars to victims of slip-and-fall accidents in subways while failing to fix the hazards that cause the accidents. Leaking ceilings and slippery floors remain, sometimes for years after they have caused serious accidents that injured passengers. Elana Adams, a church administrator from North Philadelphia, can pinpoint where she fell on a rainy day in November 2011 in the PATCO concourse near Juniper and Locust Streets.

Hoping for more money from the state, the SEPTA board is postponing action on its budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Fare increases are still expected on that date. The board's budget committee on Thursday proposed deferring until June any action on the $1.3 billion operating budget, which funds regular transit operations, and on the $308 million capital budget, which pays for major construction and vehicle purchases. Even with the fare increases slated for July, the fiscal 2014 operating budget has a $38 million deficit.

AS A truck driver for the past 25 years on I-95, no wonder there's major traffic jams everyday. Eighty percent or more, there's only one person driving in the car or van. Stop the complaining - take SEPTA! May I add, I'm paid by the hour. Raymond Capati Philadelphia The city-working poor In regards to Keith Barger's letter regarding city workers earning less than poverty level: I was a city police officer severely injured in the line of duty and put on pension in July of 1970, at a yearly amount of $7,000.

A 14-month-old girl was rescued by her mother and another commuter Wednesday afternoon after the stroller the child was in rolled onto the tracks of SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line at the 56th Street station, transit officials said. The dramatic scene, captured by a SEPTA security camera, took place at 12:46 on the eastbound tracks. The next approaching train was at 60th Street, about four minutes away, officials said. The child was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was being treated for a laceration to the face, said Scott Sauer, a SEPTA safety official.

SEPTA may slightly reduce its fare hike and allow more rides on passes under changes offered to its planned overhaul of the fare-collection system. SEPTA plans sweeping changes that will start with fare hikes July 1. The cash fare will rise to $2.25 from $2, and a token will cost $1.80 instead of $1.55. Then, by the end of the year, electronic "smart" cards will replace tokens, passes, and transfers on subways, buses, and trolleys. And by mid-to-late 2014, Regional Rail travel is to be transformed by subway-style gates in Center City stations, electronic card-readers in the suburbs, and new fare zones everywhere.

A 14-MONTH-OLD baby was hospitalized yesterday with minor injuries after she tumbled facedown in a stroller off a subway platform onto the tracks below. At 12:46 p.m., the baby's mom, Teneka Greer, 28, of West Philadelphia, was standing on the platform of the Market-Frankford line at 56th Street about 5 feet from the tracks. WATCH: Video of Greer saving her daughter. Her daughter was seated in a jogging stroller. Greer became distracted and let go of the stroller, which was not in a locked position.

Next month, workers will begin putting the lid on the makeover of Dilworth Plaza at City Hall, starting to give shape to what is supposed to be a $70 million, people-friendly space with cafe, glass-covered transit entrances, and fountains. Crews have done much of the underground work, with new passageways, elevator construction, and utility relocation, and they will start pouring concrete to create a new street-level surface in the third week of June, officials said Thursday during a tour of the site.

FERN ROCK A 23-year-old man was injured late Friday afternoon when he was hit by a SEPTA bus in the city's Fern Rock section, an agency spokesman said. About 5:50 p.m., the man was struck by a Route 70 bus at 11th Street and Nedro Avenue, said SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch. He was taken to Einstein Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening. The cause of the accident is under investigation, Busch said. - Robert Moran

Trying to reduce a growing death toll on SEPTA rails, 500 transit employees and volunteers will swarm local rail stations and bus stops on Wednesday to warn people to stay off the tracks. Students at Nazareth Academy Grade School in Northeast Philadelphia got a preview of the message Tuesday from Scott Sauer, SEPTA director of system safety. "Any time is train time," Sauer said, noting that in a collision, a car is to a train as a soda can is to a car. He said more than 1,000 people are killed each year by trains nationwide.

TO REDUCE the number of trespassers who die on its rails, SEPTA will hold its first-ever Safety Awareness Day during morning rush tomorrow, sending 500 staffers to 160 regional rail, subway and trolley stations to warn riders that a trespass can be a TransPass to a violent end. SEPTA had 111 rail deaths from 2003 to 2012 on its regional rail (74 deaths), subway (27) and trolley (10) lines - including 41 confirmed suicides. There have been eight rail deaths in 2013, including two confirmed suicides.