thus passes the city of brotherly love
Two nights ago, I went to an open house hosted by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, showcasing the six proposals for the second Philadelphia casino license. That license has been up for grabs since the collapse of the South Philadelphia Foxwoods proposal slated for the Delaware waterfront at Reed Street. Casinos in Pennsylvania, especially in …
Continue reading “May the odds be ever in your favor: Philadelphia’s Second Casino”
One measure of unlimited passes is: at what point do they become cheaper, per ride, than paying for rides individually? This ratio is one that calls for balance from any transit agency. Lower pass prices encourage the prepayment of fares, which is good for the agency financially, and increases discretionary ridership that drives mode shift …
Continue reading “FY2014 and NPT: The Monthly Pass Break-Evens”
As much as I give SEPTA a hard time for its failings, I try to also point out where it does a good job. This goes doubly for the realm of customer service and communications, an area where SEPTA has historically done quite poorly, and where it still falls short on occasion. In that spirit, …
Continue reading “Another weekend of bustitution on the Manayunk/Norristown Line”
Late breaking news tonight, that the Amtrak Pennsylvanian, which serves New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and intermediate points, will continue to run past October of this year. That is when PRIIA ’08 mandates that all Amtrak routes shorter than 750 miles either receive state support, or be removed from the national network. The only two routes …
At a ceremony this morning at the Hyundai Rotem assembly plant on Weccacoe Avenue in South Philadelphia, officials from SEPTA and Hyundai Rotem celebrated the construction of Silverliner Vs 881 and 882. When this pair of cars completes its testing period and is accepted by SEPTA, it will mark the end of the Silverliner V …
The transit side of SEPTA’s July 1 fare hike is, mercifully, easier to write about than the railroad side. One almost sees why SEPTA has such a mania for oversimplifying its fare structure. But such is the lot of the (alleged) transit professional: while Your Humble Blogger gets to complain about typing volume, the accountants …
Continue reading “FY2014 and NPT: City and Suburban Transit Divisional tariffs”
SEPTA is required by law to hold public hearings whenever it enacts major fare changes. SEPTA, at least in its current incarnation, takes these meetings seriously. To reiterate the point I made Friday night, they are not show trials. This is not the MTA. While some things are unavoidable (a complaint about a fare increase …
Going into further depth on SEPTA’s proposed fare changes, I am seeing disturbing trends. Apart from the flaws in the technical implementation of NPT (another post in itself), SEPTA’s changes to fare rules and structures indicate an attitude of not wanting to deal with the complexity of the world it exists in and the ridership …
Continue reading “FY2014 and NPT: Railroad Division tarriff”
Updated 2013-3-16 7:00p After months of speculation, and not a little bit of pleading from this blog and others, we are finally learning some of what is waiting in store for SEPTA riders when NPT rolls out later this year. This is coming wrapped up with fare hikes and rule changes that SEPTA will be …
Continue reading “SEPTA releases proposal for July 1 fare hike and NPT-related fare rule changes”
Yesterday, with its beautiful weather, was a good day to get out of Philadelphia, for me, but even more for those who lacked the option, because they are fixed, inanimate objects. In three separate incidents, drivers plowed their cars into the Wawa at Delaware and Tasker in South Philadelphia, a Dunkin Donuts on Ridge Ave. …
Continue reading “The card in your wallet with the bad photo is not a License to Kill”
Sic Transit Philadelphia 