SEPTA Wants to Know: Who Should Be Its Official Announcer?

Questlove? Nick Foles? Patti LaBelle? Kurt Vile? Vote now, and you could win a free September TrailPass — and hear a lot more of your favorite Philly voice.


septa announcer

Clockwise from top left: Photo via SEPTA; Nick Foles by Jeff Fusco; Patti LaBelle via iStockphoto.com/EdStock; Questlove by Jeff Fusco

SEPTA wants to know: Which famous Philadelphian’s voice would make you want to take public transit?

The organization is stealing ideas from Vancouver.

Last month, the Canadian city’s public transportation system, Translink, chose a familiar voice as its new periodic announcer: Seth Rogen. The Vancouver-born actor agreed to lend his voice to the transit system — for free. (In fact, he later agreed to voice announcements for Toronto’s public transportation system as well. We’re guessing ridership is going to rise in both cities.)

Now, SEPTA wants to spruce up its services in the same way, and it’s seeking your input. You can vote for your favorite Philly voice on the organization’s website — and if you do so before August 26th, you could win a free September TrailPass.

Let’s think, for a moment, about who we would want voicing our SEPTA rides. The Roots’ Questlove or Black Thought? Nick Foles? Jill Scott? Kurt Vile? Pink? Sly Stallone? Will SmithPink? Patti LaBelle?

Keep the ideas coming. To nominate someone, just fill out this form. The transportation agency will pick the 11 “most thoughtful” entries to receive prizes. As mentioned, the grand prize is a September Anywhere TrailPass — but 10 runner-ups will receive SEPTA t-shirts. (Because who doesn’t want a SEPTA T-shirt, right?!)

A warning: If you’re thinking about nominating Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins or former-Eagle Connor Barwin, brainstorm some more. Both of them are already announcers for SEPTA (if you’ve never noticed before).

The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. on August 26th, so be sure to get your vote in before then.

Like Vancouver’s Translink, SEPTA is hoping to recruit a new announcer for free, by the way.

Here are some ideas Twitter has offered so far.

https://twitter.com/MelloMcjello/status/1027988793834528768

https://twitter.com/goodnight_guy/status/1028691640616202242