BLOCKED ... AGAIN The fencing that effectively rendered the walkway between the front of the center platform and the trolley boarding platform at 69 St Terminal has been reinstalled. It had been removed while the interior corridors connecting the West Terminal with the Main Terminal area was being rehabbed to comply with ADA regulations. An inquiry as to why the fencing was installed was met by a rude SEPTA Transit Police officer who didn't give a straight answer and two other SEPTA employees who said nothing at all. The rumor from a Red Arrow operator was that the fencing was installed to comply with the ADA. Wonderful. In order to comply with a well-intentioned law to assist the disabled, SEPTA has once again made it more difficult for people getting off the trolleys or the 107, 109, 110, 111, and 122 in order to connect with outbound trolleys or West Chester Pike buses. I wonder what portion of the cost to reinstall the fencing will be applied to SEPTA's burgeoning budget defecit...

FAREWELL TO THE VET ... AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO THE 03 PHILS! As expected, a large crowd attended the Phils swan song/disappearing act at the Vet this afternoon. As you can also expect, reports that the lower level at Pattison Station would be in use today turned out to be false (surprise, surprise). After the closing ceremonies at the Vet, a large crowd waited at the platform as a grand total of ... 2 trains were in the station, with an express pulling out and the local train parked with its doors closed. And, as you'd expect from the liars at SEPTA, the lower level sat unused. When I asked a whiteshirt (SEPTA-speak for "service manager") about the lower level, all I got was a ton of attitude. Let's just say that it was appropriate that he was assigned to Pattison, since he is about as overpaid for his job as Jose Mess-up was as the Phils closer...

This is not surprising, since it seems virtually most management level people on the operations side seems to have an attitude problem and have no concept of professional courtesy when dealing with the public (case in point: Red Arrow managers at 69 St Terminal, who either know about delays and can't be bothered to explain the situation to irate passengers, or don't know what they're doing). There's no reason as to why at least 2 or 3 trainsets couldn't be stored on the lower level instead of deadheading trains to Fern Rock or Walnut-Locust. Wait, that would require something very unusual at SEPTA: managers doing some actual thinking...

On a brighter note, the Iggles did win today. Bring on Spurrier and the Skins!

MORE PROBLEMS ON R5 As if two days of suspended service on the R5 Paoli Thorndale line last week wasn't bad enough, now this...

A tree fell on an outbound R5 train west of Wynnewood station yesterday morning. #505 was about to depart Wynnewood en route to Malvern when the incident occured. The train had just left Wynnewood when the tree fell. Buses were dispatched to transport the stranded passengers on the #505. R5 service to Paoli and Thorndale was restored shortly after 11:00am; service from Thorndale and Paoli to Center City was restored at around 3:00pm.

FINALLY GETTING ON BOARD SEPTA seems to have finally realized the potential threat of bio-terrorism on its subway tunnels and is turning to a source right up the street. Researchers at Drexel University are developing a sensitve bio-terrorism detector that can detect a wide range of chemicals and other biological agents, then instantly send wireless signals to appropriate police and fire agencies, ensuring a rapid response. The system is slated to be up within a year.

I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT SEPTA reports that additional trains would be added to regular Broad St line service to accomodate fans attending this week's Phillies "games", which will be meaningless except for the fact that these are the final three games ever at the Vet (back-to-back choke jobs and losing two of three to the "Indianapolis" Reds last weekend have made it virtually impossible for the Phils to win the NL Wild Card - nice managing of your pitching staff, Bowa). Of course, after Sunday's game, there was only one train - an express - prepared to leave the station. And, no, I don't buy the arguement that a train could've pulled out when I entered the station, since Broad St managers have even less credibility than SEPTA's Minister of Misinformation Richard Maloney (and that's hard to do, by the way).

Reportedly, the rarely used lower level of Pattison station will be used to accomodate the large crowds for Sunday's game. The lower level was recently used two Sunday's ago when the Iggles embarrassed themselves (again) at "The New $512 million, Partially Taxpayer Subsidized License for Lurie and Banner to Gouge Prices at 11 St and Pattison Av." Well, fear not, Iggles fans ... the Iggles are now on the clock with the first pick in next year's draft...

Interestingly enough, SEPTA hasn't made such a big deal over people using the Broad St Subway for tomorrow night's FIFA World Cup Soccer matches at the "The New $512 million, Partially Taxpayer Subsidized License for Lurie and Banner to Gouge Prices at 11 St and Pattison Av." That either tells me that (a) nobody gives a damn about soccer in Philadelphia (though the Manchester United soccer match that opened up "The New $512 million, Partially Taxpayer Subsidized License for Lurie and Banner to Gouge Prices at 11 St and Pattison Av" to a packed house last month) or (b) someone at SEPTA is not paying attention to events at the sports complex as well as we would have expected.

ISABEL RECAP Most of SEPTA's bus and rail lines were operating as close to normal on Friday, just after the worst of Tropcial Storm Isabel passed through the area. The only lines that were out of service for most or all of Friday were the R5 Paoli/Thorndale, R6 Cynwyd, and R8 Chestnut Hill West. Service was restored to the Chestnut Hill West line by mid-day, however Paoli and Cynwyd line service was out all day. Paoli service was out all day due to numerous downed trees along the line. Despite SEPTA's announcements to keep the system running, thousands of Paoli Line riders were forced to find alternate routes, with no SEPTA shuttles available. Now, it's one thing to inconvenince less important lines like Cynwyd, but Paoli? Service was restored in time for the start of Saturday service.

TROLLEY ACCIDENTS Within a 72 hour period, two accidents were reported along the subway-surface lines.

The first accident occured on Friday morning at 49 St/Woodland Av when one K-Car rear-ended a second. About 20 people were injured.

The second occured on the diversion route, when K-Car 9001 derailed and struck a house at 42 St/Spruce St while working on the 13. About 10 people, including the operator, were injured.

ISABEL UPDATE Most of the routes out of 69 St Terminal are operating as close to schedule as possible. The 4241 block on the 104, however, was running about 15 minutes late getting into Newtown Square (unfortunately for those who normally take that block, which includes the 11:05pm West Chester to 69 St run, that's close to normal), however the 4299 block (10:05pm West Chester to 69 St) was operating close to schedule, arriving only a couple minutes late. Most of the traffic lights along High St between Rosedale and Union in West Chester and along West Chester Pike between PA 352 (Chester Rd) and PA 252 in Newtown Square are out. The signal at West Chester Pike and Old West Chester Pike is flashing, but operable (sort of).

The P&W, however, is another story. KYW NewsRadio 1060 reports that the P&W is operating a bus-bridge along the entire line, however a SEPTA employee reports that buses are only running as far as Bryn Mawr. In either case, expect major delays tonight if you're travelling between 69 St and Norristown. Also, 102 riders may want to be alert in case of flooding at the CSX underpass between Collingdale and Sharon Hill.

The R5 is still running with approximately 30 minute delays on the Paoli/Thorndale side (and my boss is going to be thrilled when I have to tell him why I'm late for work tonight, but what can you do?). There is no word just yet as to what the status of Regional Rail service is

There have also been reports of scattered tree falls throughout the region, particularly in Philadelphia. As a result, most lines may experience unscheduled diversions and/or cutbacks due to Isabel. SEPTA may not be able to report all of these delays (despite my constant complaining about this issue, there are probably tons of delays - KYW can't even report all of the tree and wire incidents), so prepare for a long night, and a very long day tomorrow.

WELCOME, ISABEL ... NOW GO AWAY! As you can imagine, the next 24 hours will be very difficult from a commuting standpoint, as Hurricane Isabel - or the remnants thereof - strike Philadelphia. As of 6:00pm, the R5 Paoli-Thorndale and R6 Cynwyd lines are already impacted. The R5 is running with nearly 1 hour delays due to a downed tree near Merion. The R6 is not running at all, with passengers being forced to transfer to shuttle buses at Overbrook.

On another weather related note, the 104 and 119 were also running with delays, due to an accident on West Chester Pike at PA 352 in Westtown. 4232 block, which normally runs short-turns between 69 St and Newtown Square was forced to cover missing West Chester runs, with 4231 block catching up to it at West Chester. The 119 that normally arrives in West Chester at 5:35pm was running about 10 minutes late, which is highly unusual for that section of the line.

It would not be a surprise if SEPTA ran Regional Rail (or at least the lines they can safely operate) on a Saturday or Sunday schedule (at least on the Paoli-Thorndale line, it better be a Saturday schedule, otherwise there'd be no service between Malvern and Thorndale) tomorrow. SEPTA reports that shuttle buses would be deployed as required on major rail lines, so it's also possible that transit service could end up operating on a Saturday or Sunday schedule as well.

The only advice that I can offer is to listen to as many news outlets as possible tomorrow (as sometimes, information tends to vary from station to station).

OPEN HOUSE AT ELMWOOD The first of 18 refurbished "PCC-II" trolleys will be on display at Elmwood Depot tomorrow between 1:00pm and 3:00pm. PCC-II 2320 recently returned from a major overhaul in Brookville, Pa. and will be used on the 15 starting in April 2004.

MAJOR BUS MOVES The most notable bus moves as part of the Fall signups saw the 73 return to Frankford from Comly; Comly also lost parts of the 19/67 and the R to Frankford with the rehab of Frankford Depot now complete. In addition, Callowhill's portion of the G was moved to Southern. Now, all G and 64 runs operate out of Southern, despite terminal points in West Philadelphia that are closer to Callowhill than Southern. So much for efficiency...

WHAT A ME$$ The Inquirer reported that SEPTA may be in worse financial shape than originally anticipated, as if that's even possible. SEPTA is reportedly delaying action on the DRACONIAN SERVICE CUTS and fare increase that was proposed to have taken effect this month. Meanwhile, SEPTA's deficit has grown from $41 million to $50 million since the start of the fiscal year on July 1. That's an average of $790,000 per week. Short of blaming Harrisburg (which seems to be the only defense from Fearless Leader and the Rotating Resumes at 1234 Market), SEPTA seems to think that the legislature is going to hand SEPTA a blank check without any pressure to institute reforms.

"We hoped that buckets of money would be delivered to us ... We may still have service cuts and fare increases. I am optimistic that will not happen." - Fearless Leader on the current financial situation

Of course, the Iggles did the same thing for Donovan McNabb, and look where it got them - an 0-2 mark after two terrible games at the new $512 million taxpayer subsidized playpen known as Lincoln Financial Field, and the real possibility of an 0-3 start in two weeks. Pretty soon, you may have thousands of fans dressing up as empty seats as the season progresses (or regresses as the case may be).

Considering the report from Gov. Rendell's point person on SEPTA and the Port Authority of Allegheny County should be finished and released soon, the chances of SEPTA making any significant changes in it's structure and in the corporate attitude are slim and none - and slim just left the station. If SEPTA continues to bleed money at it's current pace ($790,000/week), the budget deficit may be close to $80 million by the time June 30 rolls around - that's $41 million ON TOP OF the current $41 million hole. In short, that's double what SEPTA's current hole is now.

Then again, if SEPTA wouldn't waste it's money for ads on Howard Stern (one aired on that show last Tuesday) or on those stupid "Race to the Vet" promos at Phillies games (among other things), maybe we might be looking at a better financial situation than what we're starting at now...

IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH... After having the same 9/11 related message on her official page for nearly a year and a half, Fearless Leader has done something that can almost be described as amazing...

She updated her "Message from the GM" page.

That should, in theory, dispel rumors of her departure. Unfortunately for us...

SEPTA STUPIDITY STRIKES AGAIN... It's amazing how SEPTA's parochial attitudes manage to affect not only commuters travelling to Philadelphia, but now residents of southern Bucks County who travel to New York and North Jersey are feeling the impact as well. Last month, the Bucks County Courier Times reported that plans for a NJ Transit rail station in Falls Twp, which was proposed as part of NJT's new rail yard for Northeast Corridor Line trains, has stalled. Let the finger pointing begin...

Last week, NJ Transit spokesman Ken Hitchner said his agency is still receptive to picking up commuters in Bucks. As proof, he noted that in designing the maintenance yard - which is scheduled to be completed this fall - space was left to accommodate a passenger station. But ironically, now that the philosophical hurdles have been cleared, neglect, lack of money and engineering problems have conspired to kill the project.

For example, Falls township Manager Wayne Bergman said that while there was initially some interest over the station, that has since waned.

"Perhaps SEPTA can take the lead now," he said.

Mr. Bergman, welcome to the world of SEPTA, where stupidity in planning reigns supreme, even over providing quality transit service. Asking SEPTA to take the lead in another agency's project is like asking Larry Bowa to coach the Iggles (though he can't do any worse than Dumbo Reid did last Monday night).

SEPTA's director of capital and long-range planning, Chris Patton, did indeed meet with NJ Transit officials earlier this year. But during that meeting, they talked about space set aside for a SEPTA station in Falls, not the NJ Transit station.

That SEPTA station would be the last stop on the Cross Country Metro connecting Bucks and Chester counties. That line is many, many years in the future, Patton concedes.

"It's news to me that NJ Transit won't pay for the station," he said last week about a Falls NJ Transit station.

Yes, friends, this is the same Cross County Boondoggle that SEPTA is attempting to extort nearly $1 billion from Washington and Harrisburg (on top of the nearly $2 billion for Schuylkill Valley), complete with the ridiculous bells and whistles that will drive the project costs upward.

PennDOT is also putting pressure on SEPTA to take the lead in constructing the station. Yeah, right. We're talking about a transit agency that took four years to renovate the Overbrook Rail Station, not to mention a transit system that claims wheelchair access to new rail stations, but forgets to build the proper ramps to allow access while claiming the project is "complete" (see Chester, Radnor, and Strafford stations as prime examples) - and it appears that Overbrook will be in the same situation.

Yet, the problems may be more than just inter-state finger pointing. State Rep. Dave Steil (R-Bucks) claims that despite three possibile locations for the platform, all three are unworkable due to various engineering quirks. Uh huh. He also added this gem right out of the SEPTA Ministry of Misinformation's playbook:

"It just proved to be too costly ... It probably won't happen until SEPTA builds the Cross County Metro and that probably won't happen in my lifetime."

That would be the understatement of the century...

Meanwhile, the Courier Times penned an editorial on this issue the very next day. The editorial passed the blamed - among other people - the overrated Congressman from Bucks County Jim Greenwood (R-8th), who despite his relative high senority in Washington, has done very little in recent years, except get into a shouting match last year with a Pennsbury High student, and the Bucks County Commissioners, who won't sign off on the plan unless parking fees pay for the construction.

Conspicously missing from all of this? None other than your favorite SEPTA Board Chairman/Turnpike Commissioner/Radio Station Owner/Land Developer and alleged champion of public transit (at least in Bucks County) Pasquale T. Deon, Sr. Considering that Don Pasquale has done a lot for SEPTA riders in Bucks (at the expense of the other three suburban counties and the City of Philadelphia), he has been remarkably silent on this issue.

Perhaps he's too busy irritating homeowners in a section of Bristol Twp where the Turnpike Commission is planning to build a massive interchange between the Turnpike and I-95, at the expense of dozens of homes in that area.

Perhaps he's too busy turning SEPTA Board meetings into a less democratic forum that is more inflexible to public comment than your typical United Nations meetings (now, public comments are limited to 2 minutes, which is dangerously close to being a borderline violation of open meetings laws).

Or, perhaps, he just doesn't give a damn...

FAKE TROLLEYS IN DEPTFORD? Officials in Deptford Twp, Gloucester County, are looking into a possible shuttle system, using fake replica trolley buses. The Gloucester County Times reports that the Deptford Township Council approved funding to study such a system. Township officials note that traffic in the township's shopping district - which includes the Deptford Mall and several other major chain stores - has increased significantly, due in large part to the easy access from NJ 42 and NJ 55. The study is expected to be complete by next year.

NJT service to the Deptford Mall and other shopping centers in the adjacent area could be described as mediocre at best. The only two routes that serve the mall are the 400 between Center City Philadelphia, Camden, and Sicklerville, which only operates hourly, even during peak hours (very poor, even by South Jersey standards, when you consider the high amount of service to Cherry Hill and Moorestown Malls) and the 455 which connects Cherry Hill Mall with Paulsboro via Deptford Mall and Haddonfield, and also operates hourly; on Sundays, the 455 only operates between Paulsboro and Deptford Mall on a limited schedule.

Bear in mind that Cherry Hill Mall is served by the 317 (stops on NJ 38), 404, 405, 413 (on NJ 38), 450, and 455; Moorestown Mall is directly served by the 317, 407, 413, and 457. How TPTB in Newark can ignore the increased number of traffic generators in Deptford Twp is really not surprising, considering that South Jersey has long been the rotten stepchild of the entire NJT system (as evidenced by the North Jersey junkers that are constantly sent south to run their last miles).

27/32 HEARING SCHEDULED A public hearing is scheduled for Friday, October 10 at 1234 Market to make the southbound re-routing of the 27 and 32 off of 15 St onto Broad St permanent. The hearing will start at 10:00am.

MORE 104 PROBLEMS ... AGAIN Stop me if you've heard this one before... There are more problems with late running buses on the 104. Yesterday's 5:05pm to West Chester departed 69 St 10 minutes late. One would think that the schedule change would improve on-time performance. But no, that's not the case. And, to make things worse, it seems that the slowest operator from Red Arrow is now working 4241 block, meaning that one of the two late night buses coming in from West Chester will always be running 10-15 minutes late. And there's still no PM express service from West Chester, hence the same overcrowding continues on inbound buses from West Chester during the PM peak. Here we go again...

BROAD ST LINE SETS RECORD Nearly 12,000 Iggles fans travelled to the Linc via the Broad St Subway, exceeding last year's totals for the Monday Night Football game against the New York football giants. Now, if Andy Reid can interrupt his cheesesteak dinner to actually develop a game plan that doesn't look like something that the Strath Haven football team can figure out, then maybe next week's game against New England will have a better result.

The 12,000 passengers could increase by a few more if SEPTA could actually add extra buses on some bus routes operating from Bridge-Pratt and 69 St which end service after the game, but that would be asking too much...

DANGER ZONE IN ANGORA It appears that for the second time in three days, bullets struck a SEPTA bus at 58 St/Baltimore Av. On Sunday, one man was shot to death on 58 St south of Baltimore. The incident occured at 2:54pm, when shots were fired in the area. Bullets struck both a SEPTA bus and a taxi. On Tuesday, the curb side windshield on 3346, working as a northbound G to Overbrook (7696 block), suffered damage, as a small hole which appeared to come from a bullet (that had not been confirmed) was seen in the bottom of the windshield near the front door. There was no other indication that it was a shooting, but considering what had happened 48 hours earlier, nothing could be ruled out.

SEPTA SCHEDULE CHANGES Here is a partial listing of schedule changes and service adjustments in the City and Red Arrow divisions, which will take effect this weekend:

MARKET-FRANKFORD LINE Mid-day service reduced to every 8 minutes.

ROUTE C Artics will be deployed on Ogontz Loop/City Hall service, with headways increasing from 10 to 12 minutes; Sheaff Lane trips will be replaced by a shuttle from Broad St/Oregon Av.

ROUTE J Officially designated as a bike route; also designated as a 100 percent wheelchair accessible line.

ROUTE 8 Mid-day service is eliminated; service will not operate eastbound between 9:00am and 2:00pm; westbound service between 8:35am and 1:25pm will also be eliminated; officially designated as a bike route.

ROUTES 9, 11, 33, and 48 Peak service on these lines will be reduced.

ROUTE 12 Officially designated as a bike route.

ROUTE 26 Weekday AM peak eastbound service will be adjusted between Germantown and Olney Terminal.

ROUTE 27 Weekday PM peak service between CAPA (Broad/Washington) and Plymouth Meeting Mall is revised; a new 5:14pm northbound departure from 15 St/JFK Blvd has been added (presumably to Plymouth Meeting, but I'd have to check the timetables).

ROUTE 28 The detour routing along Rhawn St in Fox Chase will be lifted; all 28 buses will be back on it's normal routing.

ROUTE 31 Buses will continue to be detoured off of Market between 46 St and 63 St; a 31 Shuttle will be introduced, operating between 52 and 60 Sts between 11:00am and 7:00pm Monday-Saturday; eastbound service will be reduced between 8:00am and 11:00am to every 30 minutes; evening service will operate hourly starting at 7:20pm.

ROUTE 37 Officially re-designated as a bike route.

ROUTE 44 A new westbound short turn will depart 54 St/City Av at 7:08am to Ardmore; all Ardmore trips will now return to 52 St and Overbrook Av.

ROUTE 52 The new routing to Overbrook will be reflected on the new timetables.

ROUTE 53 Officially designated as a bike route.

ROUTES 63/64 Routes 63 and 64 will be consolidated; the 63 routing along Christian and Catharine Sts will be eliminated; the new 64 will operate mainly along Washington Av through South Philadelphia, with a diversion to the Ellsworth-Federal station; service also extended west from Wyalusing Av/Lancaster Av to Parkside Loop.

ROUTE 65 Buses re-routed to improve connections at 63 St/Malvern Av loop.

ROUTE 66 AM Express service eliminated.

ROUTE 77 Weekday 7:25am departure from Roosevelt Blvd/Cottman Av will run 20 minutes earlier to improve connections to Bishop McDevitt High School in Cheltenham Twp.

ROUTES 101/102 Mid-day service reduced from 20 minutes to every 30 minutes between 8:30am and 12:30pm.

ROUTE 103 Ardmore-bound service to be re-routed via County Line Rd and Ardmore Av; southbound service to operate via Cricket Av.

ROUTE 105 Ardmore short-turns to terminate at Cricket Terrace.

ROUTE 108 New weekday round trip departs 69 St Terminal at 8:12pm to 67 St/Elmwood Av; return trip departs 67/Elmwood at 8:35pm.

ROUTES 111 and 119 Outbound service from 69 St Terminal or Chester will only serve Franklin Mint on request to operator.

ROUTE 112 Sunday service will be discontinued.

ROUTE 113 Owl service eliminated; no service between 1:00am and 5:00am; new 6:45pm departure from 69 St Terminal to Darby Loop, return trip departs Darby at 7:04pm.

ROUTE 114 Sunday service will now operate between 6:00am and 11:00pm.

ROUTE 115 All service after 6:30pm discontinued.

ROUTE 120 Fewer through trips between 69 St and Cheyney; more shuttle trips between Newtown Square and Cheyney connecting (in theory) with 104 buses, much to the delight of those who deal with already overcrowded 104 buses coming in from West Chester.

ROUTE 305 Mid-day time adjustments due to 102 schedule changes; service to Delaware County Emergency Services Training Center (DelCo Community Coorections satellite site) in Darby Twp eliminated (however, the official SEPTA press release indicates that it "will be adjusted to maintain connections with Route 102."

In addition, Red Arrow routes service Chester Terminal will see adjusted times due to new traffic patterns in downtown Chester, which were implemented earlier this summer.

DART PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED DART First State has scheduled two hearings next week regarding the December 1 schedule change for bus routes in New Castle County. Most of the changes involve minor time adjustments, with a new Route 7 to operate between the Wilmington Rail Station and St Francis Hospital, and minor routing changes to Routes 16, 28, and 65. Hearings will be held in Wilmington on Monday at the State Office Building and on Tuesday at Newark City Hall.

CHANGES IN SOUTH JERSEY, AS WELL There are some routing and service changes in South Jersey on NJT bus routes:

PHILADELPHIA SPECIAL ROUTES

ROUTE 313 Service to Bayside State Prison and Southern State Correctional Facility has been discontinued due to low ridership.

ROUTE 316 Seasonal express service discontinued until June 2004.

ROUTE 317 Now operating directly into Moorestown Mall.

SOUTH JERSEY TO PHILADELPHIA

ROUTE 400 A new 7:49am weekday departure from Center City Philadelphia to Audubon has been added to relieve overcrowding.

ROUTE 403 The seasonal service to Clementon Park has ended and will resume in June 2004.

ROUTE 405 New timetables issued, but no apparent changes.

ROUTE 407 A new time point for East Gate Square has been added to the schedule.

ROUTE 413 The 6:32pm weekday departure from Burlington City will now depart 7 minutes later to improve connections with the 409 in Burlington City.

SOUTH JERSEY LOCAL

ROUTE 451 Now offers direct service to Camden County Library via Laurel Rd in Voorhees Twp.

ROUTE 452 No changes to base schedule, but school trippers are no longer listed in the timetable.

ROUTE 457 Timepoints have been relabled to clarify routing between Kings Hwy and Moorestown Mall; otherwise no apparent time changes.

ROUTE 459 New routing via Laurel Rd to offer direct service to Camden County Library in Voorhees Twp; new timepoint for Laurel Corp Ctr in Voorhees Twp

ATLANTIC CITY/JERSEY SHORE

ROUTES 502 and 509 All inbound buses to Atlantic City re-routed in Pleasantville along Chestnut St via Black Horse Pk and W Jersey Av

ROUTE 553 Two AM trips from Atlantic City, one PM trip from Vineland, and on PM trip from Upper Deerfield Twp will operate via the Atlantic County Courthouse on Unami Av in Mays Landing.

TRENTON/MERCER COUNTY

ROUTE 601 5:54am weekday departure from Trenton Rail Station now cut back from Project Freedom/Hamilton to Hamilton Marketplace; 6:42am departure from Project Freedom/Hamilton now departs from Hamilton Marketplace at 6:38am (these trips no longer serve Project Freedom/Hamilton)

ROUTE 605 6:45am departure from Quaker Bridge Mall now departs 5 minutes earlier; 8:45am departure from Montgomery Center departs 5 minutes later

ROUTE 606 Weekday service via the Ames Mall discontinued; selected weekday/holiday trips will operate via NJ 33 between Washington Blvd and CR 526 in Washington Twp/Mercer

ROUTES VANISH Several smaller shuttle routes not directly operated by SEPTA have disappeared in recent weeks, with the most notable being the Summer Phlash. Various reasons, including a lack of funds and low ridership contributed to their demises. Among the victims:

The Phoenixville Phlyer, a shuttle service operated by the TMA of Chester County, which ceased operations on Friday.

The Summer Phlash, which was formally discontinued following service on Monday. The Phlash had operated on a limited routing within Center City, and was managed by the City of Philadelphia, yet operated by SEPTA.

Earlier in the summer, the Pennridge/Quakertown Rush bus operated by the Bucks County TMA was disconinued. The Pennridge/Quakertown Rush bus had been two separate lines before they were merged earlier in the summer.

The SCCOOT bus also underwent a major schedule and routing overhaul recently. The SCCOOT, which had operated between West Chester and Oxford via Chadds Ford now operates limited service to West Chester, mainly during peak hours, with West Chester service now operating via Pocopson Twp/PA 52. Most trips now terminate at Kennett Square. The base fare also increased to $2.00, yet SEPTA TransPasses and TrailPasses are still not accepted on this line.

IN BURLINGTON COUNTY, HOWEVER... The Board of Chosen Freeholders there have announced that the BurLink shuttle system, which connects parts of west central Burlington County with major NJ Transit lines in the Pemberton, Mt Holly, and Willingboro areas, will be expanded once the Trenton-Camden line officially starts service. Two peak hour routes would be added in January 2004. One line would connect the Florence LRT station with the Haines Industrial Park and Burlington Coat Factory off of US 130; during off-peak hours, that particular bus would link the Riverside LRT station with the new Hartford Crossing Shopping Center on US 130 in Delran Twp. The second line would operate between the Burlington City LRT station to a park-and-ride lot off CR 541 in Burlington Twp; during off peak hours, the shuttle would operate between Willingboro Town Center on US 130 to the Burlington Center Mall and other major shopping centers in Burlington Twp. NJ Transit will provide at least two 20-passenger cutaway buses for the expanded service, similar to what NJT has done in several municipalities in North Jersey.