WHEREAS, Since the 1970s, SEPTA has placed gender stickers on its weekly and monthly passes to reduce swapping between males and females
; and
WHEREAS,
SEPTA will stop utilizing
the gender stickers once the new fare collection system is installed over the next several years
; and
WHEREAS, SEPTA sells weekly and monthly transit passes to passengers. Each passenger must choose either a male or female pass, marked by gender stickers; and
WHEREAS, The policy exists to save money for SEPTA, since it makes pass sharing, a type of fraud, more difficult; and
WHEREAS, Gender stickers were made and used to reduce the amount of passengers sharing a transpass; and
WHEREAS, SEPTA also issues gender-specific reduced-fare cards for seniors and the disabled
; and
WHEREAS,
SEPTA employees used the gender specific stickers to determine whether or not a specific passenger has the right to use that particular pass based on their physical appearance; and
WHEREAS, Transgender people are those whose psychological self ("gender identity") differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with; and
WHEREAS, Transgender passengers wrongly identified by SEPTA employees are subject to pay an extra fare, have their weekly transpass confiscated and/or are subject to humiliation and harassment by employees and other passengers; and
WHEREAS, Such actions by SEPTA and its employees is a form of discrimination against transgender people; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby call on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to cease the use of gender identification stickers on transportation passes.
End