Entries in buses (21)
Colin
Missing Buses; Silverliner V Update
Two quick Monday updates for you.
Missing Buses
The 2, 5, 8, 39, 47M and 89 buses are still not running. Many other routes are operating with detours, so make sure you check the list before heading to your bus stop.
Silverliner V Update
The WLADYSLAW ORKAN, the ship carrying the Silverliner Vs (previously delayed due to an incident) is in berth in the Port of Houston. The first Silverliner V cars should be arriving in the Navy Yard on February 27.
Her Concern is With SEPTA
MY CONCERN is with SEPTA.
Why won't the buses come to the curb?
They are stopping in the middle of the street. They won't let the step down for the elderly.
I'm starting to have knee problems. I ask the driver to let down the step, and they reply, what for, you can climb the step.
That's not all, but some of them, especially the women drivers, are the worst.
I think they need anger-management classes to deal with the public.
Lila Beckett, Philadelphia
I can almost guarantee that the busses aren't pulling all the way to the curb because someone is parked in the tail end of the bus zone.
As for not letting the step down, I'd get the driver's name and the bus number and complain to management each time it happened.
Street Furniture Survey
The city of Philadelphia is going to be looking for bids to provide and maintain bus stops and other street furniture, and they're looking for some feedback from residents.
While I had Ariel Ben-Amos's attention (from the Office of Transportation and Utilities) I decided to ask a question that's been plaguing me since I moved here: Why are newspaper corrals so often aligned as to block the back door of the bus? (i.e.: the 9/12/21/42 at 19th and Walnut). His answer:
Unfortunately there is no specific reason as to why there is such poor alignment. The placement of honor boxes is not really managed by the Streets Department, and the corrals that you mentioned (the green bar) were installed by the Center City District. However your concern is really germane and I will make sure to incorporate it in the general feedback and analysis about the RFP that I am working on right now.
So be sure to take the survey and give Ariel's office the information it needs to keep our street furniture looking nice.
UPDATE 11/27: Seems that above statement isn't entirely correct, and the Streets Department is involved with the honor box placement. I received this letter from Nancy Goldenberg, VP of Planning for the Center City District:
Indeed, the Street Department was involved with the placement of the honor box corrals. Every location, since the initial installation in 2007, was reviewed and approved directly by Streets.
While the Center City District facilitated the installation and agreed to help maintain the corrals, they are the property of the City and the administration of the boxes is handled by L&I.
Finally, the corrals were designed to be self-standing without being anchored to the sidewalk at the request of the Streets Department.
I just want to get off the back of the bus at 19th and Walnut St. and have more than 2 inches between me and the newspaper boxes. If you're riding an older bus that has back doors opening out, you have NO room to move when you get off at this stop, because the bus, doors, and newspaper boxes box you in.
Alleged attack at Frankford TC
Reader Susan sent the following email:
On Thursday Octorber 23 my son Sean was assaulted with a baseball bat by a man, while sitting at the 19 stop at the Frankford transportation center.
The man was about 30. Sean is 16.He is a man of African American decent about six feet tall and 140 lbs very thing, but from what Sean said. "just a normal guy" Sean is a Husky kid about 5 foot eight inches 190 lbs.
...
The blow had an upward angle as evidenced by the majority of the bruising being at the lower part of the imprint of the bat. He thinks he saw either a nail or a bar of metal in the middle of the bat.
Despite there being at least 50 adults all around him within 10 to 20 feel there was not one person who even asked my son if he was okay. There has been nothing on the news.
Philadelphia Police have reviewed video and have nothing. We are now waiting to hear from Septa.
Where do buses go on vacation?
I was driving back from Madison, WI last week and saw a shiny new SEPTA bus on a highway about an hour north of Chicago. Any idea why?
Where do buses go on vacation? Your reader/rider saw one of our new hybrid buses being delivered to SEPTA from the New Flyer plant in St.Cloud,Minn. The bus, one of 40 new hybrids recently purchased by SEPTA with Stimulus funds, was transported more than 1,500 highway miles. Once it arrives in Philadelphia, the bus will be in-service out on the streets of Philadelphia or the surrounding countries within 3 to 4 days after receiving the required tags and inspection.
City to study ways to move buses along faster
Anthony Campisi of planphilly.com broke another SEPTA story earlier this week when he wrote that the City will be convening a Transit First panel in October to recommend ways to speed up buses and trolleys on city streets.
The goal of the panel will be to “identify where the opportunities exist to improve travel times,” Stober said, adding that “the city is going to be working with SEPTA in the next year to closely look at new routes.”The Transit First panel will select routes and commercial corridors throughout the city where changes such as consolidating bus stops and introducing limited-stop bus service would cut down passenger travel times.
Curious SEPTA bus diversions
These signs went up awhile ago and appear to affect the 40, 124, and 125. According to SEPTA, there's a "weight restriction" on the Chestnut Street Bridge.
Buses operating over the Chestnut Street Bridge MUST OPERATE IN THE CENTER LANES ON THE BRIDGE. Transit stops at 30th, 29th & 24th St are temporarily discontinued until further notice. PULL OUTS ONLY!
52ND Race Transit stop relocated from farside to near side,,both direction,,
The purpose of the [replacement] project is to maintain mobility within the project area. The bridge is structurally deficient due to severe rust and advanced section loss. This project involves rehabilitating the Chestnut Street (PA 3) bridge spanning AMTRAK, I-76, Schuylkill River, and CSX Railroad, and includes replacing steel I-beams, and new pier caps bridge columns.The Chestnut Street Bridge over CSX Railroad was built in 1864 and is a brick arch bridge. The bridge is part of a larger brick arch viaduct with brownstone ashlar spandrel walls and granite arch rings. The bridge carries a 3 lane street with sidewalks on the eastern side of the Schuylkill River.Portions of the Chestnut Street Bridge over Schuylkill River were built in 1912 and the bridge was replaced in 1958. The bridge is a continuous deck girder.The Chestnut Street Bridge over Amtrak/I-76/30th Street is a 10 span bridge composed of 9 spans of composite continuous built-up stringers supported on built up column bents and a single supported span of the same type. The bridge is individually eligible for listing in the National Register.
SEPTA: Real time bus arrival info coming in "the not-too-distant future"
Anthony Campisi of PlanPhilly breaks the news:
SEPTA is getting ready to unveil a new system that will provide bus riders with real-time information about when to expect the next bus to arrive at their stop.Though the authority is wary of discussing the new project on the record before an official announcement — which SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said to expect “in the not-too-distant future” — such a service would allow SEPTA to catch up with other large transit agencies that say real-time information has become crucial for their riders.The new system will rely heavily on an Internet application that riders will be able to access on handheld PDAs and Internet-enabled cellular phones, Busch said.
