SEPTA Key costs balloon to fix smartcard snafus

SEPTA has increased the estimated price of implementing the Key card payment system to $297.77 million, up about 70 percent from the $175 million cost SEPTA estimated after selecting the project’s main contractor. The price jump in the capital budget for the upcoming fiscal year comes along with a three-year delay on the project’s finish date until 2020. The project was originally scheduled for completion in December 2013. Both changes can be blamed on unexpected do-overs and additions needed for the system software, and design upgrades for the notoriously user-unfriendly kiosks.