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Transfers forever

  By Philadelphia, Transportation

The Confusion Over Transfers Conceptual confusion has marred the transfer debate ever since SEPTA wrongly justified eliminating transfers by saying that they would not be necessary once an electronic fare system was in place. I spent some time trying to correct the confusion in blogs and my emails. But the politics of saving transfers took precedence over the clarifying the difference senses of “transfers.” So now is a good time to get some clarity about the multiple meaning of “transfers” and, also, about what moving to an electronic fare system might mean for our fare structure. Two meanings of “transfers” We use the word “transfers” to talk about two different things. The first is what, from now on, I’m going to call “paper transfers” that is, the physical mechanism by which SEPTA implements a reduced fare for someone who takes two (or more) different buses or trains on one trip… Continue reading

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Save the SEPTA transfers

  By Transportation

This promises to be a good week for riders of public transit in our region and throughout the state. It appears that the predictable, dedicated funding that our transit agencies so badly need—and for which we transit advocates have been fighting for years—is to be part of the state budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. If that comes to pass—and if the amount of dedicated funding is sufficient to both keep SEPTA alive and to allow for some modernization and expansion of the system—we will have to thank Governor Rendell and the General Assembly and, in particular, the legislative leaders in this effort, Senator Vincent Fumo and Representative Dwight Evans. But, for all our happiness, one thing sticks in the craw of advocates for public transit, SEPTA’s short sighted and unfair decision to eliminate transfers. And, when that policy goes into effect on August 1, it should,… Continue reading

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SEPTA Board meeting today; Help save transfers

  By Transportation

Join us as the SEPTA Board meeting today, Thursday July 26 to protest SEPTA’s decision to eliminate transfer as of August 1. The SEPTA Board meets at 3:00 PM on the mezzanine level at 1234 Market Street. No one is exactly sure why SEPTA is so determined to eliminate transfers since, once we factor in the loss of ridership that will inevitably when transfers are eliminated, it is very hard to believe that they will save much money. After all, anyone who needs a transfer to travel on SEPTA to work five days a week and to take one other round trip on the weekend will find that it makes more sense to buy a pass. The only ones, in other words, for whom the pass makes no sense, are occasional SEPTA riders.  Their fares will rise by 36% if they use one transfer and 55% if they use two.… Continue reading

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Will Philadelphia home rule go up in smoke again?

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Smoking

The General Assembly is moving forward with plans to enact a state wide smoking ban. But, in the process, it is likely to weaken the ban already in place in Philadelphia. And, even worse, it is likely that the General Assembly will prohibit Philadelphia and other cities and towns from making laws more stringent than the new state law. So, once again, teh state will override the right of Philadelphians to make laws that concern only ourselves. . The Senate passed smoking ban legislation a week and a half ago. It bans smoking in many public places but it exempts 25 percent of the space in casinos and private clubs. And it also allows smoking in businesses in which less than 20 percent of revenues come from food sales, which will allow smoking in many bars. What’s worse, the bill prohibits municipalities from enacting smoking laws that are tougher than… Continue reading

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The fire next time

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

I sent this to a group of progressive activists who were meeting in Philadelphia in June 2007. I couldn’t attend because my daughter was graduating from middle school at that time. The May 2007 primary was disappointing for many of us. But I thought then, as I still do now, that good things would come out of the effort many of us had made during and before that primary. While I very much want to hear what you all have to say, I don’t think you will lose much from my absence as I’m still too close to the recent election to have had the time and energy to think through what it all means for the progressive movement in this city. Continue reading

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The Budget For The Bus Goes Round and Round, Round and Round

  By Transportation

Originally appeared in The City Paper, May 30, 2007 After an election that, for all its turmoil, actually wound up giving us some hope for the future of Philadelphia, we are facing a transit crisis that, more than anything besides our murder rate, threatens to dash our prospects for economic growth, equity and sustainability in the city and region. Unless Gov. Rendell and the General Assembly take action to provide adequate, dedicated funding for public transit in the next few months, SEPTA will be forced to adopt a doomsday budget in early September. Fares will increase by an average of 30 percent. In addition to the cash fare going up from $2 to $2.50: Continue reading

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The transit crisis continues and your help is beeded to end it

  By Health Care

After a holiday weekend, the morning trip back to work is always hard. Now imagine your trip costing substantially more than it costs today for we are facing an 11% increase in SEPTA fares in July and a total increase of 30% by September. -The cash fare will go up from $2.00 to $2.50, an increase of 25% -Transfers will be eliminated so a token and transfer will go up from $1.90 to $2.80, an increase of 47% -A weekly transpass wil go up from $18.75 to $25.00, an increase of 33% -A monthly transpass will go up from $70 to $105, an increase of 57% -Zones 1 and 2 on the regional rail will be merged. A monthly combined zone 1 / 2 regional rail pass will go up from $70 (zone 1) or $106 (zone 2) to $143.50, an increase of 105 and 35 respectively. And, whether you… Continue reading

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On ward politics and street money

  By My 2007 Campaign, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Ward politics

Originally posted at Young Philly Politics. A number of my responses to comments made at YPP are below There is an article in the Inquirer today that briefly reports on some of my experiences with ward politics during the last election. I was disappointed by the article, in part because I thought I was talking off the record with the reporter and in part because the article is misleading about the role that wards and street money played in my campaign or other grass roots campaigns. (The Inquirer will be running a clarification about part of the article tomorrow.) I plan to write about this subject in detail later, because these are two subjects that most people interested in Philadelphia politics do not understand very well and about which I learned a great deal in the last five months. Here are some preliminary points. Continue reading

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Thank you all from Marc Stier

  By My 2007 Campaign

Dear Friends, I want to thank all of you who voted for me on Tuesday. And I want to thank even more all of you who worked for me in various ways—going door to door with my literature, working the polls, sending out emails to your friends, making phone calls, and raising or contributing money. I am honored and humbled to have had so many good people around the city believe in both me and the ideas I presented during this campaign. I am, of course, disappointed by the result. I knew from the start that this was going to be a difficult race. But the response I was getting around the city was so positive and supportive that there were one or two moments when I thought I might even squeak by. Optimism is certainly useful in a race as difficult as the one I ran. But, even after… Continue reading

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Bob Brady's finest hour

  By My 2007 Campaign

Bob Brady campaigned extremely hard up to the end, even though he had known for some time that he had little chance to win. But, as he said at a ward meeting I attended, the situation in the Mayor’s race was fluid. And as he did not say…but some of us knew…by campaigning hard in particular areas of the city, and by running hard hitting ads against Knox, Brady helped made Michael Nutter win. He did not, as far as I know, release ward leaders to support Michael Nutter. And that, too was a good move because had he done so, many of those ward leaders might have supported Knox. Continue reading