Press Release: Jawnt Announces Partnership with SEPTA to Scale Key Advantage and Enable Employers to Provide Free Commutes

Philadelphia – July 18, 2022 – Today, Jawnt announced a partnership with SEPTA to help launch their new SEPTA Key Advantage initiative. The program enables employers in Philadelphia to offer all-access SEPTA passes (bus, subway, and regional rail) to all eligible employees. SEPTA is working with Jawnt to offer better technology solutions as the program expands to additional employers in the region.

SEPTA’s innovative program, SEPTA Key Advantage, just completed a pilot phase with three employers. In the pilot phase, SEPTA worked with Penn Medicine, Drexel, and Wawa. These companies each purchased six-month all-access passes for all of their eligible employees. Companies that want to participate in the larger rollout can apply now.

Due primarily to rising fuel prices, Philadelphians have seen their commuting costs increase at the second highest rate of any city in the country, according to research reported by Axios. Across the US, commuting costs have increased an average of 35%, with that figure at 59% in the Philadelphia area, according to the study. Proposed legislation would mandate Philadelphia companies with more than 50 full-time employees to pay for commuting costs, according to City Council.

“The SEPTA Key Advantage program is the first of its kind for the region, and we’re thrilled to be working with SEPTA on it. It will provide a meaningful benefit to a wide range of employees,” said Jeff Stade, CEO and Co-founder at Jawnt. “SEPTA is committed to making this program widely accessible, and we believe it can be a model for other transit agencies across the US.”

The larger program rollout and Jawnt's involvement was recently covered by Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio.

SEPTA Key Advantage benefits several stakeholders. Employees get access to reliable transit, ensuring access to quality employment. Employers get a happier, more reliable workforce, with access to employee pools that may not have otherwise considered a specific location. SEPTA and Philadelphia benefit from greater investment in the local economy and a more active transit system.

Jawnt brings its expertise in creating technology solutions to SEPTA and the SEPTA Key Advantage initiative. It has been working directly with the pilot customers to identify opportunities to seamlessly roll out SEPTA Key Advantage to hundreds of employers and thousands of employees at once. For example, jawnt has streamlined the way all employees can enroll in SEPTA Key Advantage, regardless of the device they are using.

Jawnt has been working alongside Econsult Solutions, a Philadelphia-based economic consultancy that helped launch the SEPTA Key Advantage pilot.

“One of the great things about running a pilot is that you get to test assumptions, see what works, and learn how to improve the process,” said Tiffany Hudson, a senior analyst at Econsult Solutions who is managing the SEPTA Key Advantage program development. “We appreciate the trust, patience, and dedication of our partners to use this pilot to build a better, more streamlined product for employers in the region, and we’re excited about the value Jawnt can help provide.”

SEPTA, Econsult Solutions, and Jawnt are working together to develop a permanent SEPTA Key Advantage program, making transit more accessible across the region. Interested companies can apply for more information at https://jawntpass.com/keyadvantage.

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About Jawnt

Jawnt is a Philadelphia-based technology company focused on helping more people access their cities through public and shared transit. Jawnt partners directly with transit and mobility providers to increase the ease of purchasing and using transit. The Jawnt platform enables employers to offer better, unified transit benefits for their entire workforce and includes HR/benefits integrations, commute planning tools, analytics, and ongoing support. The city is yours again – with jawnt. For more, visit jawntpass.com.

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