thus passes the city of brotherly love
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 …
Continue reading “Sign the Petition: Unsuck SEPTA Wilmington service”
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. …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading “SEPTA Regional Rail strikers ordered to return to work tomorrow”
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 …
Continue reading “SEPTA Regional Rail on strike for first time since 1983”
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 …
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 …
Continue reading “A bicyclist’s guide to Delaware Carmageddon”
DelDOT officials have confirmed what many suspected when Interstate 495 was closed late Monday after an inspection: shifting support pillars have left the Christina River Bridge unsafe to drive on, and the bridge will remain closed indefinitely until major repairs are complete. That means Interstate 495, the main highway link between Southeast Pennsylvania and points …
Continue reading “Carmageddon Delaware: I-495 bridge to be closed “for weeks”.”
Shortly after my update on the state of play went up last night, TWU 234 president Willie Brown came out of the negotiation session saying that a deal for a short-term, two-year contract was “close”. Talks are scheduled to resume this morning at 11:00. In terms of an actual contract deal, I’m taking an “I’ll …
Continue reading “Strike Watch remains in effect, but resolution may be close”
Conditions are favorable for the development of negotiation breakdown capable of producing a strike. If deadlock has either produced a strike or radar has indicated intense walkout activity, then a Strike Warning will be issued. With City Transit Division contracts expired, and Suburban Transit Division contracts expiring Monday, this blog rates the probability of a …
Continue reading “STRIKE WATCH: SEPTA City and Suburban Transit”
Sic Transit Philadelphia 