END OF ROAD FOR WHIRL?

It appears that the three year experiement in West Whiteland Township known as the Whril (SEPTA Route 207) may be coming to an end within the next couple of weeks. The new R5 Paoli/Thorndale timetable and Route 204 timetable both make no mention of the township-supported, SEPTA-managed line, which had suffered from very poor ridership. There has been no official announcement from SEPTA, however just looking at these two timetables indicates that the service is done. The WHIRL connected residential neighborhoods in the south end of the township with the Oaklands Corporate Center, Whiteland Towne Center, Exton Square Mall, Target, and Main Street at Exton. The service had been funded by a CMAQ grant to West Whiteland, however, that grant expires in May. The cost of the service, compared with the low ridership, will likely force the Board of Supervisors to not continue to fund the service.

It is interesting to note that SEPTA goes out of it's way to promote the Bucks County TMA operated shuttle buses on that connect with the R2 Warminster (Warminster RUSH), R3 West Trenton (Street Rd RUSH), and R5 Lansdale-Doylestown (Doylestown DART), not to mention the Partnership TMA bus shuttles (the Lansdale HOP and Community Coaster shuttle), with special boxes within the timetables, did no such thing for the WHIRL. In fact, both SEPTA and the TMA of Chester County have done very little to promote this line over the past several months.