Yours truly contributed to an article by Jeff Gammage in the Philadelphia Inquirer today about SEPTA. The article covers the perception of SEPTA from the point of view of riders and non-riders. Unsurprisingly, regular riders hold SEPTA in a higher regard than non-riders.

In three surveys between 2004 and 2007, non-riders scored SEPTA more poorly in terms of convenience, reliability, value, travel time, cleanliness, and personal safety.

Regular riders, however, rated SEPTA higher.

On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest mark, the agency scored 7.4 on its overall performance in 2007, up from 7.1 in 2005.

SEPTA scored 7.4 on reliability and on-time efficiency, 7.5 on the courtesy and helpfulness of drivers, and 7.7 on the operational safety of the vehicles - all higher marks than in 2005.

They also talk to Albert Yee of SEPTA fail about how it should be unremarkable when SEPTA does what it's designed to do: "provide fast, courteous, and clean transportation."