Sales of SEPTA Station Naming Rights

My first impression was the name was sponsored by Jefferson Cleaners. It will be what I always will associate with the new name...

This is one situation where I would welcome the State government getting involved and nixing SEPTA's naming rights BS without someone else signing off on the deal.

Also they couldn't have found a sponsor at least somewhat related to Markets like the Acme Market East Station?

And still no partnership with Wawa Foods to extend the R3.

"SEPTA and Jefferson officials declined to divulge specifics of the deal Tuesday."

Not very transparent of them! Think they don't want the public to know the commission the marketing firm got? (With AT&T Station, it was 37%, $2 million).

I think a figure around $4 million was disclosed later. The other day there was a letter in the Philadelphia Inquirer raising the question of where Jefferson got the $4 million: was it built into patients' hospital bills, or was there some other source? (Not quite the same situation as AT&T or Verizon.) No responses so far.

ExCon90 wrote:I think a figure around $4 million was disclosed later. The other day there was a letter in the Philadelphia Inquirer raising the question of where Jefferson got the $4 million: was it built into patients' hospital bills, or was there some other source? (Not quite the same situation as AT&T or Verizon.) No responses so far.

I saw the same $4mm number. Remember that Jefferson is known as both a University and a teaching Hospital. It has a lot of money. For marketing purposes, it's chump change for them.

As for hospital bills, remember that most hospital bills are paid by insurance companies that cap the amount of money they'll pay for any specific service provided.

There are no losers in this deal, but there are 3 winners:

SEPTA gets badly needed cash
Jefferson gets great publicity
Titan Advertising gets a big chunk of the $4mm as an ad buy commission.

The public is the loser having this name foist upon them. It also drives up the cost of medical care which we all end up paying for at the end of the day.

Jersey_Mike wrote:It also drives up the cost of medical care which we all end up paying for at the end of the day.

Please explain how Dr. Mike.

Clearfield wrote:

Jersey_Mike wrote:It also drives up the cost of medical care which we all end up paying for at the end of the day.

Please explain how Dr. Mike.

Oh come on Mr. Clearfield, maybe you've never had to write out a check to Blue Cross for $700 every month, and maybe you're unaware of Medicare's cost to taxpayers. But we stray off topic and here's some arithmetic you might be able to play around with: Considering the number of passengers using the Staion Formerly Known as Market East, and the amount Jefferson paid to plaster their name all over it, how much would it cost me to purchase the rights to Allegheny station (formerly known as 22nd St.)? I want to rename it Swampoodle for the very expensive interlocked switch and stub track aiming right at it from the the location on the Chestnut Hill West line that was formerly Westmoreland station. When will I be able to take that single-seat ride directly from Chestnut Hill West to Bryn Mawr that Professor Vuchic promised some 30 years ago? (Not that anybody really wants to make that journey.)

Based on my experiences with the CHW line on the NEC, I think it would make a lot of sense.

westernfalls wrote:

Clearfield wrote:

Jersey_Mike wrote:It also drives up the cost of medical care which we all end up paying for at the end of the day.

Please explain how Dr. Mike.

Oh come on Mr. Clearfield, maybe you've never had to write out a check to Blue Cross for $700 every month

Clearly, many people do not understand that the station naming has ABSOLUTELY NO IMPACT ON HEALTHCARE COSTS. And that's understandable. In reality, the costs are controlled by the insurance companies, not the hospitals, or in this case a University. Now if IBX bought naming rights to as much as a hot dog cart I'd be screaming cost containment!

And BTW, I shell out $975 to IBX monthly because i'm in that insurance sweet spot over age 59 and under age 65.

Actually I was implying that increased health service advertising increases the overall use of healthcare which in most cases "somebody else" is paying for. It's bad public policy to allow the healthcare industry to try to convince people that they are sick and should seek out treatment. As a public agency SEPTA just might want to be more thoughtful about whom it sells its naming rights to. I don't consider hospitals to be the most scrupulous of actors right now. Unlike a more typical "transit ad", selling the name directly associates Jefferson Hospital and SEPTA. Remember Enron field?

Jersey_Mike wrote:Actually I was implying that increased health service advertising increases the overall use of healthcare which in most cases "somebody else" is paying for. It's bad public policy to allow the healthcare industry to try to convince people that they are sick and should seek out treatment. As a public agency SEPTA just might want to be more thoughtful about whom it sells its naming rights to. I don't consider hospitals to be the most scrupulous of actors right now. Unlike a more typical "transit ad", selling the name directly associates Jefferson Hospital and SEPTA. Remember Enron field?

Fair enough.

Beggars can't be choosers as the old adage goes, and in this case, SEPTA is a beggar because the PA Legislature openly hates public transportation.

ESPECIALLY SEPTA where the Local 234 workers make more than the average employee in the "PennsylTucky" portions of the state. And they haven't even struck yet to raise that number even higher.

The per capita income in Forest County PA is about $14,000.
The per capita income in Crawford County PA is about $20,000.
The per capita income in Adams County PA is about $25,000.

When the citizens in those (and other) counties see what a SEPTA bus driver earns, they elect representatives to the House who would level the playing field. That argument is ludicrous, but that's the mindset.

Driving a SEPTA vehicle is a dangerous occupation for a lot of reasons, including the behavior of the public, but one where the drivers know what they're in for when they apply for the job.

Clearfield wrote:Driving a SEPTA vehicle is a dangerous occupation for a lot of reasons, including the behavior of the public, but one where the drivers know what they're in for when they apply for the job.

Do city drivers get paid more than suburban drivers?

loufah wrote:

Clearfield wrote:Driving a SEPTA vehicle is a dangerous occupation for a lot of reasons, including the behavior of the public, but one where the drivers know what they're in for when they apply for the job.

Do city drivers get paid more than suburban drivers?

I don't know. Someone on this board must know though.

In any case they make more than the average worker in the sticks.

all city division crafts generally make a buck or two an hour more than similar suburban crafts, but the city wage tax takes care of that and then some .