HEARINGS DELAYED

The Philadelphia City Council hearing on the police department's Reimbursable Overtime Program was continued until December 17 at 10:00am. As noted a couple of days ago, SEPTA is believed to have been one of the companies that participated in the program, despite having its own police department. One possibility that had been circulating was that SEPTA in the past had brought in officers from the PPD's Public Affairs (plainclothes) unit, particularly during board meetings in the middle of labor disputes and/or during fare increase season. This hasn't been confirmed, and probably won't be until the hearing itself takes place.

ROUTE 115 HEARING SCHEDULED

SEPTA will hold a public hearing next month on the changes to the 115 that were implemented as part of last year's Annual Service Plan. The changes involved the extension from Delmar Village to MacDade Mall and the cutback from Ardmore to Brookline. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, December 23 at 1:00pm at the American Legion hall, 29 Bartram Av, Glenolden.

STATION PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD

At least two contracts are now out for improvements to two stations on the R5.

The Fort Washington station project went to a pre-bid meeting today, with contracts expected to be awarded sometime early next year. At Fort Washington, plans include a parking lot expansion, nearly tripling the number of available spaces from 202 spaces to 585; installation of a pedestrian tunnel and adjoining ramps and supports for a future high-level platform; reconstruction of the bus loop; and construction of a new bike trail.

At Exton, fewer details are available right now, however one would have to guess that it would involved extending the existing platforms to allow longer trains to safely board and alight passengers. Which is fine and dandy, but the platforms were already improved less than two years ago. If SEPTA or Amtrak knew there going to be train length issues at Exton, why not fix those problems then?