Category: Transportation

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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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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 crises continues and the PTC is back.

  By Pennsylvania, Transportation

The Money Is Running Out In the spring of 2005, thanks in large part to the efforts of everyone who worked with the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition, Governor Rendell transferred (or, in transit-speak) flexed, hundreds of millions of dollars of federal highway funds to save public transit in Pennsylvania. The money runs out in December 2006. Continue reading

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Improving transit

  By Philadelphia, Transportation

Two weeks ago, the front page of the Inquirer’s Sunday Currents section published a piece by Randall O’Toole entitled “SEPTA out of loop on transit needs.” A copy of the article is available on my website. The article starts out reasonably enough by pointing out that SEPTA is not serving suburban commuters very well. It continues by pointing out that because the Philadelphia suburbs have been developing in a sprawling low-density fashion, it will be difficult for public transit to meet the needs of those commuters. These are reasonable points that any serious transit planner and advocate should consider. But the piece goes downhill from here. Even if you don’t know the author and his history, the article quickly reveals his ideological biases. It soon becomes evident that it is an analysis of public transit and urban planning from the standpoint of someone for whom sprawling suburban development and the… Continue reading

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Trolleys and Buses

  By NW Philly, Philadelphia, Transportation

Another Trolley Dustup in Mt. Airy We in Mt. Airy have been having one of our periodic dust-ups with SEPTA. Without giving us any warning SEPTA covered over the trolley tracks on a few blocks of Germantown Avenue. To add insult to injury, they did this right in front of our local eatery, the Trolley Car Diner. SEPTA argued that this was the most efficient way to fix the road bed around the tracks, whose deterioration has lead to a number of accidents in the last few years. When SEPTA covered over the trolley tracks, many of us in the Northwest got upset because we want our trolley back on Route 23, which was once the longest trolley line in America and, perhaps, the world. When buses replaced the trolley SEPTA committed itself to eventually bringing the trolley back. (That same commitment recently led to the restoration of the route… Continue reading

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Trolleys, the public good, and political will

  By Published Op-Eds, Transportation

Chestnut Hill Local, June 16, 2005 Many of us involved in public transit issues in Northwest Philadelphia are eager to see the return of the 23 Trolley on Germantown Avenue. Indeed, public transit activists around the world are seeking to create or recreate the trolley systems, which now go under the name “light rail.” Trolleys are much more energy efficient than buses. Each trolley can carry far more people than a bus, while at the same time giving each rider a bit more room and a much smoother ride. Most people prefer riding trolley to buses and evidence from around the world suggests that transit ridership declines when buses replace trolleys.   Ridership has declined on the 23 line by at least a third since the buses started running in place of trolleys on Germantown Avenue. Reviving the 23 trolley would be particularly beneficial in Northwest Philadelphia where the trolley could… Continue reading

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Renewing Coalitions: Labor, Community Groups and the PTC

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Politics, Published op-eds, Transportation, US

Published in the Philadelphia Public Record, May 2005 Someday—I hope it won’t be long—we will be talking about how, where, and when political activists associated with the Democratic Party revived first themselves and then their party. When we do, I would not be surprised if we point to the victory for advocates of public transit in Pennsylvania last years as one important step towards this revival. Continue reading

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We can't afford to flunk transit

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Published Op-Eds, Transportation

The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16, 2004 As a teacher, I know that review sessions are useful, so the end of an academic semester and calendar year is a good time for a review of public transit 101. A final exam is coming up soon, both for our political leaders and for us citizens. We all are in danger of failing. Our semester’s project has been to put pressure on our political leaders to make sure that there are no service reductions or fare increases at SEPTA. That means all of us should be contacting the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties in Harrisburg, Gov. Rendell and Speaker of the House John Perzel, as well as our own legislators. It is easy to find excuses for not doing our homework. SEPTA is an unloved course for most of us. It often is unresponsive both to low grades and constructive criticism.… Continue reading

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SEPTA is beyond band-aid fixes

  By Published Op-Eds, Transportation

Center City Press, October 20, 2004 The crisis in transit funding is real. SEPTA is facing a $62 million deficit for the current year. Without new, dedicated funding for public transportation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, SEPTA will be forced to institute a fare increase of 25% coupled with a gigantic reduction in service of 20%. Weekend service will be eliminated as will much evening service. This, we know, sounds familiar. It seems that SEPTA threatens fare increases and service reductions every year. And every year, at the last moment, SEPTA receives an infusion of funds, its proposed cuts and fare increases are rescinded, and life goes on much as it has before. So why should we believe the threat this year? One answer is that SEPTA was not crying wolf in the past. Other major transit agencies have what is called dedicated funding, tax revenues that automatically go to… Continue reading