Somebody get John Sisson a calculator and show him how to use it

In remarks to Jake Blumgart writing for Next City, John Sisson, CEO of the Delaware Transit Corporation, says as part of the first official response to the #SEPTAWILM petition that doubling service will result in quintupling costs. That is an extraordinary claim, and nobody should take it at face value until they provide extraordinary evidence, …

Sign the Petition: Unsuck SEPTA Wilmington service

On the subject of Better Living through Higher Frequency: Friend of the Blog David Curtis has posted a Change.org petition calling on DelDOT and SEPTA to attack the low-hanging fruit of SEPTA’s Wilmington/Newark Line, and extend all off-peak and weekend Marcus Hook trains to Wilmington. This comes after the bewildering success of the petition to …

America is about Freedom. Freedom comes from Frequency.

Greetings from East Glacier, Montana! I hope everyone back in Greater Philadelphia had a good holiday weekend, and that the weather I hear you’ve been having hasn’t been inconveniencing you too badly. The scenery here is breathtaking, and the weather has been mild and cooperative. I want to tell a few stories about Frequency Anxiety …

July 4 Holiday notes

Just as a reminder, the Independence Day holiday brings with it a suite of service changes. Four of the five local major transit services (SEPTA, PATCO, NJT, Amtrak) will be operating on Sunday or Major Holiday schedules tomorrow, July 4th. DART First State will be shut down entirely except for Routes 201-208 and Route 305. …

Home news

It’s been a very busy few weeks in Greater Philadelphia transportation news. The 24 hour Regional Rail strike. The continuing saga of Delaware’s I-495 bridge. The reintroduction of overnight weekend service on the El and Subway, which despite the lack of staffing at most stations, has so far been a smashing success. PATCO’s travails with …

SEPTA Regional Rail strikers ordered to return to work tomorrow

And just like that, it was over. President Obama has created a Presidential Emergency Board to intervene in the strike by engineers and electricians at SEPTA Regional Rail, which forces both sides back to the negotiating table and forces the strike to be called off for the next 240 days. As the order is timestamped …

SEPTA Regional Rail on strike for first time since 1983

Engineers and electricians hit picket lines at the close of the service day last night, marking the first strike against SEPTA Regional Rail since the first year SEPTA operated the service. Governor Corbett is publicly stating that he will ask President Obama to compel workers back to the negotiating table and back to work, under …

STRIKE WARNING: SEPTA Regional Rail

It is the duty of this blog to forecast that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, Division 71, will commence a strike action against SEPTA’s Regional Rail Division tonight at 12:01 am. What remains unclear is how long the BLET will remain off the job. Under the Railway Labor Act, President Obama may, at …

A bicyclist’s guide to Delaware Carmageddon

As the I-495 bridge closure passes its third day with not even a hint from DelDOT that they are considering expanding transit service, Reddit user /u/wild-tangent has created an excellent overview of bike facilities in Northern New Castle County, especially those that interface with SEPTA Regional Rail stations. Check it out. If you use Reddit …

I-495 bridge closure: how to go around the snarl

Today has been a second consecutive day of traffic nightmare in Delaware, as the First State copes with the failure of the I-495 Christina River Bridge. While people making short trips to Wilmington or Philadelphia should switch to transit, those relying on the I-95 corridor for longer trips may not have such an easy alternative. …