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December 8, 2009
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December 8, 2009
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December 8, 2009
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December 8, 2009
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December 8, 2009
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Entries in budget (9)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
9:28AM

WTF: Why Bother With Transit?

Posted by AuthorColin at Date9:28 AM in under , ,

The fare hikes are coming, one way or the other. Plan Philly has comprehensive coverage of what's on the table, as well what was said at last night's fare meeting. One of the biggest contentions is the hike from 75c to $1 for transfers. Advocates are pushing to reduce the transfer cost to 50c, and increase the cash fare to $2.25. If you use a TransPass, it will become a lot less useful: valid only for trips to the airport and through Center City zone stations. The tariff changes list that they will receive "Anywhere" status on weekends, but isn't clear what that means.

Across the river, NJ Transit passengers will be getting a fare hike of over 25% next month. This is exacerbated by the fact that NJT is also eliminating off-peak round trips, sending the cost of a round trip even higher than 25%. Fares to Atlantic City will be going from $8 to $10.

With both agencies hiking fares, If you're headed to NYC, the transfer at Trenton will now cost you $15.50 each way, bringing the round trip total on the Jersey side to $31, up from $21.50. Combine that with SEPTA's increase ($8.75 to $10 depending when and where you buy your ticket), and Amtrak's deal of $35 each way when you book 2 weeks in advance is suddenly a bargain. And don't forget that Bolt Bus stops right across the street from 30th Street Station.

The other important issue is that SEPTA now lacks dedicated funding, since Uncle Sam has said no tolls on I-80. This means that some major projects have been put on hold, including the new smart cards and the renovation of City Hall Station. It's very safe to say at this point that we are not going to be seeing a smart card fare system any time in the near future, so hold on to your tokens as long as you can. In fact, with fare hikes on the horizon and no cards any time soon, it's the perfect time to stock up.

Renovations are on hold, leaving stations like City Hall dirty and decrepit for the foreseeable future. A modern fare system that doesn't involve tokens and human cashiers is on hold, meaning you'll be carrying pockets full of tokens for a while, and will be continuing to pay the on-board fare when taking the train at odd hours or from outlying stations. No upgrades at all, but a ride will cost you even more out of pocket.

But, hey, at least we're getting new bus shelters, right?

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Monday, March 22, 2010
8:25PM

List of Deferred Capital Projects

Posted by AuthorColin at Date8:25 PM under ,

This is the list of deferred capital projects in SEPTA's proposed FY 2011 Capital Budget.

69th Street Parking Garage
Ardmore Transportation Center, Paoli Line
Berridge Shop Roof Replacement
BSS Erie Station ADA
BSS Snyder Station ADA
Chestnut Hill West Bridge 0.35 Replacement
City Hall Station
Elwyn to Wawa Improvements
Exton Station, Paoli Line
Levittown Station, Trenton Line
Loop Program - 23rd & Venago, 33rd & Dauphin, 61st & Pine, Parkside & Wycombe
MSFE 5th Street Station
MFSE 40th Street Station ADA
MFSE Margaret-Orthodox Station ADA
New Payment Technologies
Paoli Line Amtrak Interlockings/Signals - Phase 2
Paoli Transportation Center Parking Expansions / Improvements
RRD Substation Improvements - Jenkintown Substation and Static Frequency Converter
Vehicle Washer - Frazer and Frontier
Villanova Station, Paoli Line
Wayne Junction Station

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Friday, August 21, 2009
7:30AM

TGIF SEPTA news round-up

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under , , , , , ,

And now, a round-up of recent SEPTA news:
  • Remember last year when the Commonwealth told SEPTA that it would be getting a dedicated funding stream in part due to a plan to toll I-80? That plan's run into some problems and SEPTA is now worried it's going to be $120 million short this fiscal year.
  • Remember the senseless murder of Sean Conroy, the Starbucks manager who was jumped by a gang of teens at the 13th & Market El concourse? His alleged attackers are on trial this week. This past Tuesday, they jury went on a field trip to the scene of the crime.
  • Remember the construction that was set to begin on the Spring Garden and Girard Street BSL stops? It's begun.
  • Remember how on-board cameras caught that grisly hammer attack on the BSL? SEPTA's now installing cameras on the El, too.
  • Remember your manners? SEPTA started a new poster campaign this week to encourage politeness and civility for riders.
  • Remember Darby? The Darby Borough Historical & Preservation Society is squabbling with the Darby Historical Commission over what should go on the historical markers outside the new transit center. Somehow, SEPTA's gonna get blamed for all this.
Oh yeah, and a couple accidents:

(image credit.)
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
7:30AM

Scenes from a budget hearing

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under ,

A dispatch from DVARP's Matthew Mitchell from yesterday's budget hearing at SEPTA HQ--

Thought I'd share a little vignette from the operating budget hearing at 1234 today. With little or no controversy in the budget--certainly nothingthat you would find in a first glance, attendance was very light and DVARPwas the only outside party with substantive testimony (the city was therebut will submit its testimony later). For those who are interested, ourstatement (titled "Facing Uncertainty Together") will be posted towww.dvarp.org soon.

About 12:00, as the hearing was winding down, Joe Casey wandered into theBoard Room, acknowledged a couple of nods of greeting from employees and others, and took a seat in back. Rich Burnfield and the other staffers were handling the situation just fine, so Casey felt no need to speak up. Earlier, Bernice Hall, a senior citizen from Frankford testified. As is often the case at the operating budget hearings, she was more interested intalking about the system as she saw it than in talking about the budget.

She shared a few complaints and some high praise for the SEPTA Police and the cleaning and maintenance staff at the El stations, and wrapped up by expressing her appreciation for the mobility SEPTA provides her. When the hearing was through, I greeted Casey and gave him a copy of ourstatement (he read a lot of those while he was budget director). Then Itold him that one of the riders had made some very perceptive observations--the kind Casey thrives on--and would he come over to meet Ms.Hall.

I don't know who was more pleased to see the other: Ms. Hall getting to meet the man in charge and have him listen to her comments, or Joe seeing his customer service agenda paying off.

A good day for all us transit advocates, seeing the difference SEPTA makes in people's lives.

Thanks, Matthew!

(image credit.)
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
7:30AM

SEPTA to grab $200m from stimulus package

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under ,

The Philadelphia Business Journal is reporting that SEPTA's going to get $200 million as part of the stimulus package.
Schools will be able to use funding to prevent cutbacks, layoffs and modernize schools, Rendell said. Some highway projects could get underway as early as the end of April in the state, Rendell said. Locally, SEPTA expects to receive in the neighborhood of $200 million, but is still awaiting details of how dollars will be allocated, SEPTA Chief Financial Officer Rich Burnfield said.
Stay tuned to see where it goes.

(image credit.)
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Monday, February 9, 2009
7:30AM

SEPTA expansion: thinking big

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under , ,

The Senate is expected to pass the economic stimulus package this week, and recently, there's been lots of chatter about whether SEPTA--and Philadelphia--is thinking big enough about expansion plans.

Dan U-A at youngphillypolitics.org writes that the regional mass transit proposals are too small. After listing all the projects that SEPTA and Philadelphia are requesting as part of the stimulus package, he notes:
All worthy projects, I am sure. But really, that is it? Is expansion of the system not worth going after?
And speaking of thinking big (eg, major route expansion) vs. thinking small (eg, renovating the bathrooms at 69th Street Station), check out DVRPC's new report on a long range vision for regional transit. Urban Direction blogs about it here.

The report has four major themes:
1. "Service extension in the urban core:" including extension of the Broad Street Subway to the Navy Yard and north along Roosevelt Boulevard, with a bus-rapid-transit alternative for the latter project.

2. "Transit as an anchor for waterfront development:" including new rail along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, and connection with Transit First bus service.

3. "Reconnecting and reinforcing older suburbs:" including PATCO extension to Glassboro, with connections to other systems.

4. "Improving transitional, reverse, and intersuburb commutes:" including the construction of the Paoli Transportation Center, extension of the Route 100 High Speed Line to King of Prussia, an extension of the R6 Line to Phoenixville, and restoration of rail service to Quakertown.
Keep an eye on Washington this week to see how things shape up--for transit and for the country.

UPDATE: Kim Scott Heinle, SEPTA's Assistant General Manager for Customer Service & Advocacy responds:
No federal funding program comes without a set of rules. The Stimulus program is no different. SEPTA has worked diligently to define a range of programs that meet not only the federal criteria, but ones that also meet our own internal criteria related to customer convenience and geographical diversity. Only those projects that are engineered and "ready to go" made out list. Others are advancing where we can quickly wrap-up and advance them through our procurement process within 180 days. All candidate projects need to also create jobs, which is the fundamental purpose for the Stimulus program. They must also begin promptly and must be complete in two years.

Transit properties that pitch expensive, complicated "new start" projects into their Stimulus packages are making a risky gambit. They may end up with nothing. Our list not only meets all criteria, but we have other projects waiting in the wings when new money becomes available because of the federal "use it or lose clause". And that's use it NOW. Any local issue that might derail a project places allocated funding in jeopardy. SEPTA will not be losing anything based upon our submission choices and steps taken to secure additional short-term engineering and procurement resources to move the package forward. SEPTA customers will see improvements across the system very quickly. The icing on the cake for our customers may well be the "trickle down effect" of Stimulus. It will enable us to use this new money for items in our capital program in order to accelerate other projects that were delayed due to lack of funding.
(image credit.)
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Monday, January 12, 2009
7:30AM

SEPTA hearings today on what to do with its money next year

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under ,

What should SEPTA do with its capital budget next year?  
  • Bus Rapid Transit up Roosevelt Boulevard?
  • Extending the R3 to West Chester?
  • Installing token machines at each station?
Let SEPTA know your thoughts by emailing capbudget@septa.org or coming out to one of two hearings today at SEPTA HQ.  One's at 11am and one's at 5pm.  Both are at the board meeting room at 1234 Market Street.

Last year's capital budget is available here.  (It's a big pdf.)
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Friday, December 12, 2008
7:30AM

Round-up of SEPTA news this week

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under , , , ,
  • That photo above is from this article. It's pretty cool. I wonder what's going to happen to the old Silverliner cars once/if we get new ones on the Regional Rail next year? (Thanks to David for this link and the last one.)
  • That auto bailout package that went down last night in the Senate? It would have helped SEPTA's $21 million exposure that we wrote about last week.
  • DVRPC announced earlier this week that it hit the $200 million mark in TransitCheks since it started the program in 1991.
More than 700 companies and organizations participate in the program, which provides tax breaks of up to $450 to commuters who use public transit. Employers pay a service fee and shipping and handling for vouchers used in the program, which can be used on all transit providers in the region, but benefit by savings on FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes, DVRPC said.
Great news, of course, but I'd like them even better if they were called Transit Checks.
  • According to the American Public Transportation Association, SEPTA ridership continued going up in the 3rd quarter of the year (July, August, and September).
SEPTA's commuter rail ridership increased 7.86 percent, heavy rail (subway and elevated trains) increased 1.55 percent, bus ridership increased 0.45 percent, purchased bus services increased 20.17 percent and light rail ... was up 7.86 percent. Overall, ridership is up 3.93 percent for the quarter and 6.56 percent year-to date.
Every new SEPTA bus, for instance, is equipped with eight cameras, SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said. Many train cars are now equipped with 12 cameras, he said.
  • And finally... ever get confused about how to put your bicycle on the bus racks? Check out this rap. It's for the Louisville, KY buses, but they look about the same as ours.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoFFg0W9UME&hl=en&fs=1]
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Thursday, December 4, 2008
7:30AM

SEPTA's world of financial hurt

Posted by AuthorMichael at Date7:30 AM under

Remember when we thought SEPTA had finally stabilized its financial books? How quickly things change....

Exhibit 1
From October 2007 to [October 2008], the value of SEPTA's pension fund fell from $800 million to $550 million, a drop of 31 percent. And the fund's value declined further [in November 2008], chief financial officer Richard Burnfield said.
Exhibit 2
SEPTA, which is only five months into its budget year, also faces reduced revenue from the state, as sales-tax receipts drop with lower consumer spending. SEPTA gets 4.4 percent of Pennsylvania's sales tax revenue, which last year amounted to about $400 million.
Exhibit 3
NJ Transit and SEPTA are among 30 transit agencies scrambling to rescue multi-million-dollar deals threatened by the collapse of American International Group, the insurance giant that U.S. taxpayers recently rescued from bankruptcy....

SEPTA has a $21 million exposure.

Exhibit 4

Nearly three months after a man beat Eric Najee Derrickson half to death in the same underground concourse where a Starbucks manager died after being confronted by a group of teens, Derrickson's family took a first step in a civil suit against SEPTA and the city, their attorney announced this week....

"SEPTA has the duty as a common carrier to do all that is possible to stop riotous or assaultive conduct by third parties, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a stranger or it's a targeted attack," [Derrickson's family's attiorney] said.

Further, SEPTA and the city "had notice" - via Conroy's slaying on March 26 - that such violence could happen in that location and failed to bolster security appropriately, [the attorney] said.

(image credit.)

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