I'm new to the city and Septa. The website is a little confusing. I need to go between Lower Merion (Oak Hill Apts) and 15th and JFK. I understand the 121 bus runs that line and is 2 zones. My question is about the fare. Since it runs 2 zones, I get the .50 charge for the second zone but how do you pay that? I'm interested in a monthly pass.. is there a pass for the bus that includes the zone charge? Or will I have to swipe the card and drop .50 each ride? Thanks

You just buy a zone 2 pass.

They sell the passes as "regular" then Zone 2, zone 3, etc.

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I have a similar question. I've riden many many septa busses before and even hold a standard monthly transpass for this month. I have never riden a bus outside of Phila county though. If I hop on a bus in Philly and it crosses over a zone, how does the bus driver know whether or not I am getting off in this zone or the last? Cant I swipe my regular transpass and then just keep riding till the end of the line?

I'm fairly sure the zone 2 monthly pass is a trailpass, and the zone charge would be for a regional rail fare.

I think I can help a bit. I've taken the 94, a two-zone bus, end-to-end a few times getting from school back home. If you have a transpass, you can just swipe it and sit back; if you get lucky, you don't even have to worry about that extra charge...

If you don't, you'd better have a couple of quarters to pony up. It's $.50 exact change, which means if you use paper you'll get screwed, because the operator won't make change (tried that, too).

The buses have a fuzzy gray area between the zones, too; if a bus breaks down and you have to wait, you can simply reswipe your transpass--problem solved. I did that once when the 94 broke down in Ambler (one zone from either end)--got off, ran to the library, dropped off a book, and got back on. That's unusual, though.

By the way, as far as Regional Rail zones are concerned, they're calculated by distance to Center City. With the exception of the R1, where SEPTA tries to bilk commuters (the fare's always Zone 5 Peak), if a stop falls within the certain distance SEPTA decided to zone so-and-so, then that stop will be zone so-and-so. There's a map in the R1 timetable.

The only way I can think of as to how they zone buses is route distance. A long suburban route gets multiple zones; by the way, in my experience, no single city route is zoned; there is, however, no route that runs all the way from Franklin Mills to Center City, much less the Sports Complex (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) so there exists a de facto second zone in the Great Northeast.

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Without a Transpass, from the Oak Hill to Center City it's a token + 50 cents. Having riden that trip every day for a year, I can tell you if you don't pay it, some of the morning drivers will ask you for it because they know you are going the full 2 zones. However, coming out of the city at night, they don't ask for the supplement because when you board they have no idea if you are getting off before 54th and City Line or after it.

You do not need a Transpass (zone 2 or otherwise) unless you plan to regularly take the train from Narberth instead of catching the 121.

Also, don't be surprised if you are the only person on the 121 most mornings until you get into Bala Cynwyd. It's a route designed largely for pink collar workers to commute out to jobs in Lower Merion.

there's also a Zone 1 pass - it allows free travel off-peak and weekends and it's what i get every month.