All roads lead to The Baldwin School – and for some, that road is a railroad.
Each year, students living in Philadelphia who ride SEPTA regional rail can scan their student fare card for a free ride, unburdened by the $7.75 cost. However, students living outside the city of Philadelphia have to scan their blue Key card, costing them a $5.00 charge each way.
Taking into account morning and afternoon rides for Baldwin’s 161 in-school days, that costs a total toll of $1,610. But, with student fare cards now offered to suburban students, that number could soon shrink.
Per Pennsylvania law, school districts who provide transportation for public school students are required to also provide transport for private school students, provided the private school is non-profit and within 10 miles from the district boundary. This law makes all Baldwin students who live in Philadelphia eligible for free transportation.
For Philadelphia schools, free transportation often takes the form of SEPTA student fare cards, whereas for suburban schools it is through school buses. However, busing routes are often linked to the routes of the school districts, making commute times much longer.
Many students who use the bus as a free transportation option would otherwise have easy access to train stations. Damia Je ‘27, for example, lives 10 minutes from the Malvern train station. Although the train would slash her commute time by more than half, she takes the bus due to the price of train fares.
“With the bus, it’s about an hour and a half,” Damia Je ‘27 said. “[The train] would be $50 a week, which really adds up. I’d rather just take the bus because it’s so expensive,” Je said.
For those who live too far away to take a time-efficient bus route, train costs are a necessary burden.
“I think it’s $200 a month or something like that for me to take a train to and from school,” Shayla Bergen ‘26 said. “I don’t know why [Baldwin] would just have that apply to students from Philadelphia, because that’s kind of saying that [people who take the train] are only students who live in Philadelphia. It’s frustrating.”
With the number of students wanting to take the train increasing every year, Ms. Crystal Johnson, transportation coordinator, set out in September to provide discounted student fare cards for students who live outside of Philadelphia. While the option to purchase discounted student fare cards has been available for many years, Baldwin only began considering the option last year.
“Over the past year, I’ve been having a high demand for it,” Ms. Johnson said. “Parents have been asking more and more for it. They wanted to opt out of taking the school bus if they could and put their child on the train.”
The process to obtain the cards consists of an agreement form and online application. Then, schools can purchase discounted fare cards for $19.50 per school week per student.
“I even had parents forward information to me from SEPTA [to obtain passes],” Ms. Johnson said. “I went ahead and I connected with the people from SEPTA, filled out all the paperwork, got the passes in, and now I’m just working with the business office about the logistics of [students] being able to purchase it.”
According to Ms. Johnson, the school budgeting plan would have to account for students who may take the train only occasionally, which requires a distinct, flexible budget.
“You get a certain amount of rides a week for the whole year,” Ms. Johnson said. “So you would have to purchase it pretty much for the school year. I’m just waiting for the plan of how we’re going to bill them.”
To suburban students, this card is long overdue. With increasing fares, more cancellations, and longer wait times, commutes have been more strenuous than ever this winter.
“Even though SEPTA sucks, it’d be nice if it’s a little bit less expensive,” Bergen said. “Less expensive, bad service is better than more expensive, bad service.”
