SEPTA would much rather you spark up a conversation than a blunt.
Before 2020, complaints about smoking on Philadelphia public transit were relatively rare. In 2024, whether it’s vaping, tobacco, marijuana, or K2, smoking is one of SEPTA’s most common complaints.
“In 2017, we averaged about 10 [customer smoking complaints] a month, in 2018, about 19 a month, and in 2019, in the low 20s,” a SEPTA official told Billy Penn. “It changed with COVID. Today, including Transit Watch, we see on average about 260 customer [smoking] complaints a month.”
In response, the transit agency partnered with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health on a no-smoking campaign in 2022. “Respect the Ride” rolled out print and digital signage with humorous anti-smoking slogans on platforms and in vehicles, encouraging riders to report smokers.
Now, the partnership is continuing as “Smoke-Free SEPTA,” which will soon implement initiatives like redesigned signage, verbal announcements on platforms and in vehicles, and increased police presence to keep the momentum going.
“What we need to do is kind of turn back the clock to an earlier day when there are social norms that you need to abide by on transit, and there will be consequences if you don’t abide by them,” said Kim Scott Heinle, SEPTA’s assistant chief operating officer for customer programs and a lead on Smoke-Free SEPTA.
One of the primary intentions behind the campaign is to let concerned customers know SEPTA is aware of and actively working on the smoking issues.
“We want our quote-unquote ‘good customers’ to know that we know this is an issue, and we’re trying to do something about it because a lot of them felt that we were just oblivious to the whole problem, which is not the case,” Heinle said.
The campaign encourages those who witness smoking to report it, directly involving them in the process. Complaints can be anonymously submitted through the SEPTA Transit Watch App or by texting SEPTA Transit Police at its text-to-tip number 215-234-1911.
“We want all of our customers to help us with solving the problem, and that’s really what it comes down to,” Heinle said.
While most users who submit a complaint will be long gone before seeing police arrive on the scene, each complaint receives a response and investigation. Heinle says analyzing the data and knowing where to intervene is more important than the complainant seeing a specific incident addressed.
The campaign has been successful in increasing customer engagement with complaints.
Customers sent in 872 Transit Watch smoking alerts during the fourth quarter of 2023—a 34% increase from the prior quarter.
The increased complaints have led to a slight rise in Administrative Enforcement Notices (AEN), a ticket that carries a $25 fine for quality-of-life violations. People who receive four AENs are banned from SEPTA.
SEPTA Police issued 2,019 AENs from October to December 2023, and smoking violations represent about 25% of all AENs, so around 505 were for smoking. At about 126 per month, the number is a slight increase above average.
Smoking is one of the reasons some riders, like Kamryn Contee, 22, don’t enjoy the SEPTA experience.
“The smoke can be disruptive to the train experience,” Contee said. “I know firstly, as somebody who doesn’t smoke weed, it can be a lot to be in a car that feels essentially hotboxed. So I don’t love it. People end up leaving tobacco on the trains and that’s very unsightly. It’s unpleasant.”
Aside from being a nuisance during a daily commute, smoking is an issue for maintenance, safety, and public health.
Smoke leaves behind residue on transit car surfaces, which increases maintenance costs for cleaning and repairing vehicles or infrastructure, according to SEPTA. Sparking up in a confined space also increases the risk for fire, whether a smoker accidentally ignites flammable materials or causes a track fire.
Most commonly, secondhand smoke is known to induce health issues, especially among children, senior citizens, and anyone with respiratory problems. The campaign focuses on vulnerable people’s health to encourage passengers to stop smoking on SEPTA.
People who smoke are often resistant to anti-smoking messaging for their own health, so the campaign uses ‘subtle shaming’ on signage to remind them that their actions are unhealthy and harmful to those around them, Heinle said.
“You may enjoy smoking, but you have to be respectful of the other people there,” Heinle said. “If you’re not respectful of the law against smoking, then try to at least be compassionate for the people that you’re around.”
Actually making some positive improvements, even if it is a slow process, is the other primary intention behind the campaign.
“That begins with education and outreach, that begins with partnerships outside of SEPTA with elected officials and others, and only then bringing in the enforcement piece,” Heinle said. “The last thing we want to do is do anything on the enforcement side that appears to suddenly be overly heavy-handed, and then we get that pushback, like, ‘Well, they were only smoking a cigarette, why did you put them in handcuffs?’”
SEPTA is increasing the presence of police and staff on trains and platforms to approach people smoking. Usually, the person smoking puts out their cigarette and apologizes when asked, Heinle said.
Police officer presence was also increased by 25% at SEPTA during the last year, and the agency has a goal of adding 40 more officers.
Connor Descheemaker, coalition manager at Transit Forward Philadelphia, believes the smoking issue stems from a ruptured social contract and that there are solutions that can address it before escalating to policing and criminalization.
SEPTA’s SCOPE program, which stands for safety, cleaning, ownership, partnership, and engagement, prioritizes safety and cleanliness by connecting vulnerable individuals, like those experiencing homelessness, with community support and services.
This resource connection-based approach can improve rider and employee experiences without resorting to tickets, bans, or arrests, which can create further disorder by placing people within the criminal justice program, Descheemaker said. Addressing the issue as a public health crisis by investing in people and social services can encourage wide-scale participation in creating safer and cleaner environments.
Transit Forward Philadelphia also encourages SEPTA to implement environmental factors to prevent smoking, like alarms that will sound when smoke is detected, and to utilize all aspects of communication beyond social media advertising, like print, video, and audio announcements.
Smoke-Free SEPTA plans to continue signage and include audio announcements in the continuation of its campaign.
Transit Forward has noticed a positive impact from the campaign.
“When it first rolled out, it was something that was pretty prevalent, and I did notice a change in behavior,” Descheemaker said. “But I think that it’s something that’s going to require continued vigilance and continued investment in the program because it’s not something that’s going to be solved overnight with all of the other stressors and socio-economic factors that are pressing on Philadelphians.”
Some riders, like Clifford Beckford, 19, haven’t noticed much of a difference in smoking.
“I don’t think anybody really minds [the campaign] much, no one really cares, sadly,” he said.
Beckford said increasing large signage and directly speaking to riders about efforts to reduce smoking can help to spread awareness, as he previously was unaware of the campaign.
Smoking continues to take place at alarming rates based on customer reports and police data.
The city recently contributed $40,000 through the Department of Public Health to Smoke-Free SEPTA. Currently, the campaign is in the process of rebranding, but its mission remains the same — and so does the smoking problem.
“I think what [Smoke-Free SEPTA] is doing is a great thing promoting positive messaging, and unfortunately, the people who are going to break that rule will break the rule,” Contee said.
