MORE WEEKEND PROBLEMS The Philadelphia Marathon is not the only event that will wreak havoc on SEPTA this weekend. Due to trackwork in the subway portion of the Market-Frankford Line, SEPTA will be forced to single track between 5 St and 30 St stations. On Saturday, the westbound (to 69 St) track will be taken out, while Sunday will see the eastbound (to Frankford) track out of service. To make matters worse, a 20 minute headway will be in effect. The good news is that this is expected to be the last major disruption on the El this year, as next week, the holiday shopping season kicks in.

FOX CHASE FIASCO In what would seem to be yet another brilliant move by the "transit" experts running the Regional Rail system, the SEPTA Board is expected to approve an agreement with CSX that would in effect force single track operations on the R8 Fox Chase line between Newtown Jct (north of Wayne Jct) and Olney Station. CSX had complained about the inability of its freight trains to use the Fox Chase line segment which also follows the former New York Short Line branch. And people wonder why SEPTA's Regional Rail Division is the laughing stock of the industry...

DEVELOPMENT ISSUES A 10-lot housing subdivision in Upper Gwynedd is raising concerns among neighbors who live near the R5 Lansdale-Doylestown line. The Lansdale Reporter says that residents have cited the proximitiy of the rail line as a safety issue, since there is a steep drop-off nearby. Just another example of sprawl at work...

MARATHON IMPACTS Sunday will not be a good day for passengers who would normally take the R1 Airport Line. With the Rail Power Project shuttle buses still in effect and the Philadlephia Marathon taking place on Sunday, SEPTA has decided to run buses from Eastwick, University City, 30 St, and Market East instead of the more convoluted University City to Eastwick via Center City and the Airport, as Arch St will be closed. This is in addition to detours on virtually every single SEPTA route which serves Center City, Wissahickon Transfer Center, Manayunk, and Ridge Av (or any combination thereof). Most Wissahickon Transfer buses will board and alight at Ridge and Midvale. The affected routes include the 2, 5, 9, 17, 21, 27, 32, 33, 35, 38, 40, 42, 43, 48, 61, 65, 124/125, C, and R.

SOUTH JERSEY BOONDOGGLE UPDATE New Jersey Transit is planning to start testing of its new diesel LRT cars for the Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit system, which will run between Camden and Trenton. The SNJLRT has come under justified criticism from the McGreevey Administration for a lack of planning and for the massive cost overruns, which will bring the tab for the project to nearly $1 billion. Perhaps "Fearless Leader" and her cronies at 1234 Market may want to pay attention to the fiasco in South Jersey to avoid the same mistakes with Schuylkill Valley and Cross County. The project - boondoggle as it may be, no matter how well intentioned the concept of expanded rail transit in South Jersey may be - was concieved originally as a system connecting Mount Holly, Camden, and Glassboro before vocal NIMBY opposition forced NJT to choose the Trenton-Camden corridor. (PLUG ALERT: If you want more details on the entire SNJLRT fiasco, you may want to become a DVARP member; in this month's newsletter, there is a well written piece on the entire SNJLRT history.)

NEW NJT PARK & RIDE LOTS SNJLRT notwithstanding, NJ Transit also announced plans at its November Board Meeting to expand the Washington Twp Park & Ride lot at Cross Keys and Fries Mill Rds (I believe this is also known as Avandale) by adding 300 new spaces and to build two new P&R lots in South Jersey: One would be located in Willingboro, the second at a yet to be determined location in Cumberland County, probably in the Vineland or Millville areas.

NEW BOSS AT NJDOT New Jersey Transportation Commissioner James Fox was recently named Gov. Jim McGreevey's Chief of Staff, meaning that NJ Transit will have a new chairman of the board (the NJDOT Commissioner also doubles as NJT Board Chairman, among other responsibilities). NJDOT Deputy Commissioner Jack Lettiere, who was in charge of the agency's Capital Program, is the front runner to become new NJDOT Commissioner. This should not have a major impact on NJT operations, but given the often bizarre world of New Jersey politics, who knows?

RIDERSHIP NUMBERS SEPTA's quarterly ridership and revenue report shows some very interesting tidbits, as they always seem to do (all increases/decreases are based on comparisons of the first three months of FY2002 and FY2003). To wit:

• Ridership on the Broad Street Line, for example, was boosted by nearly 8,400 riders using the Pattison/Sports Complex station for the Iggles home opener against the Dallas (hey, didn't you used to be the) Cowboys
  
• Ridership on the 124/125 fell 13 percent, primarily due to the sagging economy; while the King of Prussia malls account for a large number of riders, the office vacancy rates at nearby office complexes north of the malls and along Gulph Rd have increased, with a lot of the "dot.com" and related businesses closing up shop
  
• Ridership on the 123, however, increased about 8 percent, mainly due to more local ridership along West Chester Pike as riders who would've normally used the 104 during peak hours are discovering that the 123 (and, to an extent, the 112) also covers the West Chester Pike corridor between 69 St and Eagle Rd
  
• The 123 ridership increases may be a factor as to why ridership on the 104 decreased 7 percent; of course, SEPTA's foolish plans to reduce weekend service to West Chester may have had something to do with it as well
  
• Ridership along the 113 between 69 St and Marcus Hook increased 10 percent compared to the first quarter of FY'02; I can't seem to figure a reason as to why, but it's possible that people are starting to discover the night owl service on that line
  
• Ridership on the 35 in September doubled, from 160 riders last September to 335 riders this past September; many of the new 35 passengers are undoubtedly displaced 9 riders in Upper Roxborough and Andorra
  
• The 61 has also seen an increase in ridership by about 500 riders compared to September 2001; again, this is most likely related to the Andorra route changes
  
• Compared to last summer, ridership fell sharply on the 98 between Norristown, Plymouth Meeting, Blue Bell, and Willow Grove; it's likely that the Blue Bell area is encountering the same office space problems that King of Prussia and Conshohocken are experiencing (ie. low vacancy rates)
  
• Despite pitiful reliability during the PM peak periods, ridership on the 92 increased 21 percent from last summer; however, ridership on the 133 fell 16 percent, partially because of missed connections, but there is probably a office vacancy rate issue in the PA 252 and Swedesford Rd corridors in Tredyffrin
  
• Ridership on the 203 is, well, pathetic. Only 44 riders/day were being counted in September, which tends to tell me, CMAQ grant or not, that this line is in very deep trouble; except SEPTA Board Chairman/Radio Impresiaro/Turnpike Commissioner/Land Developer Extraordinaire (did I leave something out?) Pasquale T. Deon, Sr. will probably have a lot to say about that, since the 203 serves Lower Bucks
  
• On the other hand, ridership on the other Lower Bucks route seemingly on the endangered list - the 304 - has been steadily increasing (32 percent)
  
• Ridership on the R5 Lansdale-Doylestown line appears to have returned to pre-Ft Washout levels. Recorded ridership on that line in July 2001 was only 9,166; July 2002 ridership was recorded at 13,462, which is about average for that line

Overall ridership on SEPTA was up 2 percent in the first quarter of the present fiscal year, however numbers may be slightly skewed as the fallout from September 11 impacted ridership.

RED ARROW HAPPENINGS A few interesting tidbits from 69 St...

• Recently, Suburban Operations issued a bulletin order requiring buses deadheading eastbound on West Chester Pike to "work in service", picking up passengers along the corridor. This order came in response to numerous complaints from riders about off-duty buses passing up passengers
  
• Red Arrow reportedly has recieved "Lateness Cards" which are supposed to be issued to passengers if a delayed bus causes them to be late for work or school
  
• Neoplans assigned to Red Arrow are not supposed to be used on any route on Sundays; on Saturdays, all lines are supposed to be wheelchair accessible
  
• The 37, 108 and 305 are apparently being detoured around the International Plaza complex due to construction work. It is expected to be a minor re-routing which will continue to serve existing stops

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ACCIDENT The Daily News reports that an accident involving an Allegheny artic running the R1 Airport shuttle collided with a car on Market near 12 St yesterday. The accident occured at around 5:45pm, as the bus was headed towards University City. The two occupants in the car were treated and released at Hahnemann Hospital for minor injuries; no passengers on the bus were injured.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER Just in time for the morning commute, PennDOT officially opened the ramps from southbound Ridge Av to southbound City Av/US 1, meaning the lengthy detour via the northbound Ridge Av ramps to City Av is now officially over.

LRV ACCIDENT FOLLOW-UP The trolley involved in the derailment at 51 St and Chester Av on the 13 line was 9014. The accident occured towards the tail end of the AM peak on October 28 (this item was posted in the guestbook). Some pictures and the gory details can be found at Bill Monaghan's web site.

NEW BUS UPDATE The deadline for RFPs for SEPTA's next batch of 300 low floor buses was extended to December 11. Take that for what it's worth...

MORE RAIL PROBLEMS Between the annual slippery rail problems and the rotten weather, Friday night would not be a time for the entire Regional Rail system to shut down. Well, guess what? It did. According to the Inquirer, the distribution center at Wayne Junction lost power at around 5:45pm, right at the tail end of the PM peak. In yet another classic quote of stupidity, SEPTA spokesman/apologist/liar Richard Maloney called the power failure "a case of 'Murphy's Law'". Either that or SEPTA forgot to pay the electric bill. The Inky also noted that all Regional Rail trains were stalled, with some trains stuck in between stations. The Great Valley Flyer managed to arrive at Downingtown only 2-3 minutes behind schedule, arriving at 6:22pm. Despite the Inky's article, it appears that delays were mainly on the RDG side of the system. Service was partially restored by 8:20pm. Suffice to say that little information was made available as to whether or not shuttle buses were available (I highly doubt it).

INJURED LIST Callowhill 5414 - the bus which suffered major curb-side damage following Tuesday's accident in Germantown - is now at Midvale undergoing a damage evalutation before determining whether to send it to Wyoming for repairs or to the scrap yard. Comly 5547 is the latest bus to be involved in an accident on the 14. No further information is available about the accident, which occured on Wednesday. This is at least the 4th New Flyer from Comly in the past few months to be involved in an accident on either the 1 or 14.

LUCY LOOP CHANGES The Loop through University City (LUCY/Route 316) is being restructured to offer more service in the University City area. Green Loop service will operate via Market St, 40 St, Spruce St, the Civic Center area, and 33 St, starting at 30 St Station at 6:10am until 7:30pm; Gold Loop service will operate via Market, 34 St, the Civic Center area, 38 St, Walnut, 42 St, Chestnut, 39 St, and Market St between 7:00am and 7:18pm; the Mid-Day Express will operate via Market, 38 St, Spruce, 33 St, Walnut, and 36 St between 9:20am and 3:55pm. These changes will take effect on Monday.

RED ARROW UPDATE The union representing Red Arrow operators are expected to approve a plan that would change the reporting procedure for operators, as noted last week at this site. The other rumor that's starting to fly around is that Red Arrow may lose some runs on the 108 and/or the 124/125 with the next picking in February.

WOODBOURNE-GATE Officials in Middletown Township (Bucks) are threatening legal action over malfunctioning crossing gates on Woodbourne Rd at the R3 West Trenton/CSX rail crossing located north of Oxford Valley. A Middletown (Bucks) supervisor told the Courier-Times that the gates keep activating even when no train is passing through the station area. As a result, the township is has retained an attorney for a possible complaint against both SEPTA and CSX with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission. SEPTA claims that while CSX ownes the tracks between Neshaminy Falls and West Trenton, SEPTA repairs the crossing gates when it affects R3 service. Middletown (Bucks) Township Manager John Burke told the Courier-Times that he believes CSX owns the equipment, while CSX officials tell township officials that the gates are working properly. Somehow, I don't think that SEPTA Board Chairman/Radio Impresiaro/Turnpike Commissioner/Land Developer Extraordinaire (did I leave something out?) Pasquale T. Deon, Sr. isn't exactly going to be bragging about this matter to his buddies at Doylestown Courthouse.

MYSTERY DETOURS AND DELAYS Due to road paving along PA 252 between West Chester Pike and Gradyville Rd near the Marple/Newtown township line, the 118 may experience delays of between 5-10 minutes (as I found out the hard way today). Traffic on this stretch of 252 is reduced to one lane, with flaggers allowing only one direction of traffic through at a time. In Folcroft, a water main reconstruction project on Primos Av will force the 115 and 305 to detour via Sharon Av until late December. Gee, isn't it nice of SEPTA to let the public know about these things?

OUR LONG CITY AVE NIGHTMARE IS OVER PennDOT reports that the southbound ramp from Ridge Av to City Av/US 1 will reopen today (if it hasn't already). This marks the end of a long detour for the 9, 27, 38, 61X, 65, 124 and 125 via a northern access ramp off of Ridge Av. This should dramatically improve travel times on the above listed routes.

ACCIDENT IN GERMANTOWN Callowhill 5414 bus was involved in a serious accident in Germantown earlier this afternoon. At around 1:15pm, 5414 was on the 65 when it was struck by a City of Philadelphia Sanitation Department truck at the intersection of Walnut Ln and Morris St, near the Tulpehocken Rail Station on the R8 Chestnut Hill West line. WB17 reports that the trash truck reportedly skidded and spun out while eastbound on Walnut Ln, struck a curb, and blew a tire before striking the curb side of 5414. KYW 3 reports at least 25 passengers and the operator were injured and taken either to Temple University Hospital or MCP. The trash truck reportedly t-boned 5414 as it was westbound on Walnut Ln en route to 69 St Terminal. 5414 appeared to suffer some major damage to the side as it was reported that the front of the trash truck was embedded into the side of the bus. As expected, service on the 65 was disrupted for most of the day, though some residual delays on nearby Wayne Av caused some delays on the 53.

FATAL ACCIDENT An Eldorado was involved in a fatal crash on US 202/DeKalb Pike at Township Line Rd in Lower Gwynned Twp earlier this afternoon. At around 3:30pm, the bus was deadheading to Montgomery Mall to enter service as a 94 when a car travelling south reportedly crossed into the northbound lanes and hit the bus head on. NBC 10 reports that the passenger in the car was killed. The Times Herald reports that the impact of the collision sent the bus into a property on the east side of US 202, damaging two fences and a hedgeline. US 202 was closed during most of the evening rush hour, which made travel on the 96 north of Montgomery County Community College/Whitpain next to impossible.

NOT SO FAST... (BUS DEPT.) Apparently, the plans to buy new cruiser buses is on hold. Contrary to earlier reports, SEPTA has not issued a request for bids on such buses, and there are no immediate plans to do so. Also, the plans to purchase new cutaways to replace the junk that masquerades as buses (the Fords) have not advanced, even though most of the Fords assigned to Frontier are literally starting to fall apart.

NOT SO FAST... (RAILROAD DEPT.) New equipment delays are not limited to the bus side of operations. SEPTA has yet again extended the deadline for Silverliner V proposals another month. Instead of December 4, the proposals are now due at SEPTA on January 8, 2003. The way things are going, the City of Philadelphia could (and hopefully will) elect a new mayor before SEPTA finally moves forward on the Silverliner V cars.

WITLESS PROTECTION PROGRAM Someone at Callowhill must have forgotten the first rule of buses. Make sure the vehicle number is visible from the outside. NABI 5004 now sports a full wrap for the Franklin Institute's Fels Planetarium. The problem is that nowhere on the wrap is the fleet number visible. Perhaps 5004 is a very unlucky number at SEPTA...

VETERAN'S DAY DETOURS On Sunday, the 104 will be taken off of Gay St in West Chester between Montgomery Av and High St due to the borough's annual Veteran's Day parade. On Monday, the 101 will be busing between Bowling Green and Orange St in Media due to Media's Veteran's Day parade.

FOR YOUR DINING PLEASURE... Trolley fans may be interested in visiting a new diner located at 43 St and Baltimore Av in University City. Accoring to the Daily Pennsylvanian, the newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania, the Green Line Cafe will open its doors early next month. No, SEPTA's not running it, but rather the diner is named after to unofficial name for the subway-surface lines (which were, as far as SEPTA is concerned, called the Green Lines, but that name is no longer in official use). There's no truth to the rumors that your order will be free if it's more than 15 minutes late...

PROBLEM SOLVED ... WE HOPE The union representing Red Arrow operators is expected to approve what is referred to as an "AM/PM" list, in which operators (presumably spare operators) would report to the depot every 15 minutes until a certain hour. This would eliminate the "draft" process, in which management forces operators to work on off days or risk disciplinary action. Predictably, members of UTU 1594 are expected to overwhelmingly approve the plan.

FLYING HIGH? In a recent press release, SEPTA reported an increase of nearly 11,000 fans have been using the Broad Street Line over the first four Eagles regular season games (35,000 this year compared to 24,000 at the same point last year). This would explain why more Broad Street Express trains have become crowded like sardines. It would appear that SEPTA has been slow to react to this massive increase in ridership. Well, hopefully, the ridership increases sends a message to "Fearless Leader" and the folks who plan the Broad Street Line service for Eagles games.

IF A TRAIN RUNS IN THE WOODS, WILL ANYONE RIDE IT? On a side note, SEPTA is planning to operate two extra Sports Express trains on Friday night to accomodate fans attending the Sixers and Phantoms games, as well as added service on Saturday night between 6:30pm and 7:00pm to accomodate fans attending the World Wrestling Entertainment event at the First Union Center. Somehow, considering how far WWE business has dropped off, it would appear that they'd be lucky if they drew 5,000-6,000 to the Center on Saturday night. The bright side is that we're no longer subjected to weekly cover stories in various magazines about Vince McMahon and his third-rate, one-ring circus that is professional wrestling.

SEPTA'S DUMBEST CRIMINAL No, that's not a reference to the consultants who seem to think that super-sized light rail is the best option for the Schuylkill Valley and Cross County corridors (the price tag for Cross County, by the way, has apparently jumped to about $1.02 billion). That honor goes to one Anna Toni Haas, 37, of Upper Darby. The Delaware County Daily Times reports that Haas was arrested on drug charges and for resisting arrest after an incident in the women's restroom at 69 St Terminal. SEPTA Police were alerted to a suspicious odor in the women's restroom. When an officer arrived, Haas allegedly was searching for something she had dropped. Police allege that she said "I dropped my f***ing crack," right in the presence of an officer. After the officer ordered her out of the stall, Haas attempted to flush "four packages containing a white powdery substance" down the toilet, then attempted to throw a 40-ounce beer bottle at the officer, who promptly maced her. Police confiscated several packages of what would later test positive for cocaine and marijuana. Haas - who will be charged with drug possession, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, resisting arrest, and tampering with physical evidence - is now being held at the Delaware County Prison in lieu of 10 percent of $10,000 bail, pending a preliminary hearing. This raises two questions: (1) How stupid do you have to be to announce to the whole world that you've misplaced your illegal drugs, and (2) Who knew that the toilets at 69 St Terminal actually work properly?

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP On a somewhat related note, the customer service office at 69 St Terminal reopened today, after a broken water pipe caused some water damage to the office. This is the third plumming problem to plague 69 St Terminal in the past year. A couple of months ago, SEPTA work crews began work on the operator's lounge after plumming problems. So, SEPTA is trying to get nearly $3 billion for two "super-sized" trolley lines of over 60 miles each, but can't be bothered to check the plumming at one of it's major transit centers? Ye gods...

REVENGE OF THE TREES An engineer running an R5 Paoli train fell victim to a tree branch towards the tail end of the evening rush hour last night. At around 6:45pm, a westbound train - believed to be #573, the 6:12pm from Center City to Malvern and running about 10-15 minutes late - was approaching Wynnewood station when a tree branch fell and struck the windshield of the train car. The engineer was hit in the head by the branch, and later treated for minor injuries. The branch took down some of the catenary, causing delays for most of the later evening on the Paoli line.

BUS 1, CAR 0 Comly 5560 was involved in an accident as it departed Neshaminy Mall on a 14 to Frankford Terminal (1128 block). At around 11:30am, 5560 turned onto Neshaminy Blvd when it struck a car which was about to turn into the mall. The car suffered major front end damage and had to be towed. 5560 only suffered minor damage to the front bumper and to the bike rack. The area around Neshaminy Mall was congested until around 12:15pm. Complicating matters was the main bus entrance to Neshaminy Mall was closed at least through today due to construction in one of the mall's parking lots.

WHERE'S HARRY KALAS WHEN YOU NEED HIM? Happy 80th birthday to the Frankford El, which was opened on this day in 1922. The Frankford El, originally built by the City of Philadelphia's Transportation Department (which no longer exists), connected with the Market Street Elevated at Front and Arch Sts - which is right around the general area of the Ben Franklin Bridge. It would've been nice if SEPTA had made some passing mention of it, but that would be asking too much.

FOUND: COLUMNIST IN NEED OF SENSITIVITY TRAINING In this week's editions of the Main Line Times, Managing Editor Kevin Williamson reported on a recent debate between State Sen. James Gerlach (R-44) and Democrat Dan Wofford which took place recently at a synagogue in Gladwynne, Lower Merion Twp. Gerlach and Wofford are running for the newly created 6th Congressional District seat (as if you hadn't noticed the slew of ads not seen in a congressional race in the western suburbs in recent memory). As expected, Schuylkill Valley came up, with this amusing exchange by Wofford as part of the debate:

The most amusing bit came when the two were discussing the proposed Schuylkill Valley Metro Rail, which would link Center City to Reading (with a stop in Bala Cynwyd, Main Line Times readers will note). Gerlach, like any local leader who wants to be elected, is much in favor of the proposal, but Wofford darkly proclaimed that - you guessed it - "right-wing extremists" in the GOP would stymie Gerlach's efforts to support mass transit. As if Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were holding Nuremberg-style rallies to burn bus passes and marching against SEPTA. "Javol! Get off zee bus! Vee have vays of making you drive zee SUVs!"

Mr. Wofford apparently hasn't seen the make-up of the SEPTA Board, which is dominated by Republicans who live in the suburbs (disclosure note: I am a registered Repblican myself). Apparently, Mr. Williamson seems to forget that there's a large Jewish population on the eastern end of the Main Line - particularly in Lower Merion - who might be offended by the last two sentences of the above noted paragraph. (The link above deals with what Williamson percieves as a lot of "extremist" talk by Wofford; the above paragraph is in the middle of the article.)

WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR No, that's not the new rallying cry of the Phillies (who better sign either Jim Thome, Tom Glavine, or any big name free agent this off-season, or I - and scores of other Phillies fans presently on the fence - might not be inclined to buy season ticket plans for next year or when (This Name For $ale) Stadium opens in 2004), but rather a warning for R2 Marcus Hook and R3 Elwyn riders as it pertains to the Rail Power Project. At some point next year, during Phase 2 of the project, all weekend R3 Elwyn trains will be cut back to University City. I haven't heard any official confirmation about R2 trains being cut back to University City, but judging from yesterday's fiasco, I wouldn't be shocked if that's the case. Shuttle buses from University City to Center City would probably be operated by Callowhill. On a side note, fare collection on the R1 Airport shuttles are being handled by RRD conductors as opposed to collecting fares via the farebox on board the buses. Considering the bus operators are not as familiar with the RRD fare structure, that's not really a bad idea.

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS SEPTA is already in full planning mode as it relates to extra holiday service to and from area malls. Extra service would be added from Exton Square, Granite Run, Montgomery, Plymouth Meeting, and Franklin Mills malls. More details are expected shortly.

B.S. ALERT An open house is scheduled for Wednesday regarding the Cross County boondoggle - uh, I mean "Metro" - at 1 Montgomery Plaza (Swede and Airy Sts) in Norristown. The open house will take place from 4:30pm until 8:00pm. Anyone capable of translating "SEPTA Double-speak" is strongly encouraged to attend - and possibly flush out the lies about this glorified trolley line.

RAIL POWER PROJECT MESS So much for a relatively easy time on the RRD during the Rail Power Project. This afternoon, there were reports that R2 Marcus Hook trains were terminating at University City instead of 30 St as the timetables noted, particularly #64622 (the 4:48 from Marcus Hook). It also appears that some RDG-side trains were originating and terminating at Market East instead of Suburban Station. As we speak, I'm sure someone from SEPTA is preparing a long winded statement (undoubtedly full of b.s.) denying that any information on the Rail Power Project timetables are incorrect.

SHUTTLE PLANS Shuttle buses on between Market East and 30 St are being operated by Allegheny and Midvale drivers. However, Red Arrow and Southern buses are covering the R1 Airport shuttle on Saturdays, while Allegheny drivers are covering the Sunday R1 Airport shuttles on Sunday. Already, even those shuttles haven't been off to a great start. There were some reports yesterday that operators were operating to Center City via the Arrivals lane at Philadelphia International Airport instead of the Departures lane. The assignments for the R1 shuttle is due to lower ridership to the Airport on Saturdays. Red Arrow was given some trips - over TWU objections - since some planners consider the routing similar to the 108.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: On a related note, the destination signs on the Airport shuttle buses only read "RAIL SHUTTLE" despite the fact that there should be programmed signs to either read "R1 EASTWICK", "R1 AIRPORT", or "R1 UNIVERSITY CITY". The "RAIL SHUTTLE" reading is very confusing for those passengers waiting for these buses at Market East Station.

YOUR FARE DOLLAR$ (ALLEGEDLY) AT WORK: SEPTA Police officers seem to have no concept of "Quality of Life" issues. A very disorderly person walking along Filbert in front of Market East station and across from the Greyhound Terminal was swearing up a storm right in front of a SEPTA Police officer (either the disorderly moron was drunk or oblivious to the fact that there was a cop right in front of him). In true SEPTA fashion, the officer (#142) didn't even budge from his post nor tell this guy to shut up. On any other transit system with its own police department - at least from my observations over the years - you could guarantee that any police officer would have stopped such a disorderly person and either tell him to shut up or place him under arrest (WMATA's Metro Transit Police are among the best at enforcing their agencies rules and regulations; same with NJ Transit and the Maryland Transit Administration). Nope, not the SEPTA Police. It would appear that "enforcing the laws" and "maintaining order" is a foreign concept down here and it would be asking too much for SEPTA's police officers to do their jobs.

ZERO STARS ... AND ONE FINGER UP: SEPTA's automated travel information line seems to have a few bugs in the system (which wouldn't be unusual when you remember who we're dealing with here). Some routes have yet to be updated with the newer routings and/or departure times, while some routes are not even listed at all. For example:

• The 104 lists the departure time from New and Market in West Chester as 7:05pm, which is the scheduled time from Church St and University Av on the West Chester University campus
  
• Information on the 111 - at least the menu - still reflects the Springfield Mall via Glenolden routing which is now part of the 122
  
• Other routes - particularly the 122 and 305, along with some of the contracted routes - have no information at all; trying to get info on these lines directs you to a customer (dis-)service rep, when the Travel Information Center is actually open. When the TIC is closed, however...
  
• ...you're booted back to the main menu, which shouldn't be a problem in most cases, except that choosing certain options (ie. pressing # to access the route menus) requires hitting the specific key several times before the system gets it.

It certainly didn't help that the TIC closes at 6:00pm on weekends. The reason for the call in the first place was to attempt to complain about the 6:30pm 108 bus to 69 St Terminal that ran at 6-7 minutes early departing the Airport and passed by several irate passengers waiting at Terminal E.

COLONIAL PARK CHANGES: Starting tomorrow, southbound PM Peak trips on the 122 will only serve Colonial Park upon request to the operator when boarding. Please don't ask me what the logic of this plan is, unless Colonial Park ridership is next to nothing.

BAD OMEN DEPARTMENT: Well, the Rail Power project is off to a roaring success. The 9:47am from Downingtown to Center City was running about 15 minutes late (kinda makes you wish the "Alleged Service Guarantee" was in effect on Saturdays). While the conductor didn't come right out and say it, the delays can be attributed to the Rail Power Project and what would appear to be a collosal mess on Market St. Let's hope this is not a sign of things to come for the next several months.

GUARANTEE? WHAT GUARANTEE? It seems that the Philadelphia Daily News is finally catching on to what many have suspected about SEPTA's alleged "Service Guarantee". It's not quite that effective. In today's Daily News, there's a detailed article about complaints from many Reading side commuters about delays in processing service claims, in which SEPTA is supposed to offer refunds to passengers if Regional Rail, subway, P&W, or Route 101/102 trolleys are over 15 minutes late. The snail's pace in honoring (or rejecting) refund requests has intensified due to the infamous September 9 meltdown on the Reading side of the Regional Rail system.

BROAD STREET SAFETY: After a Daily News article nearly a year ago focusing on the lack of safety measures along the Broad Street Subway, SEPTA is planning to add security devices to the Cecil B Moore/Temple University station. Among other items, SEPTA will install fire alarms, chemical sensors, and closed circuit cameras which would directly link that station to the Control Center at 1234 Market. If the program is successful, SEPTA will add these features to all Broad Street Line stations. There is already a closed circuit system in place on the Market Frankford El.

MORE BUSES TO ROWAN: NJ Transit is about to offer more service to Rowan University. Starting with the January schedule change, the 313 bus will be extended to the Rowan campus in Glassboro, offering the first direct Sunday service from Rowan to Philadelphia. In addition, four new on-campus stops will be added to improve access, following the request of Rowan administrators and Gloucester County officials. In addition to the routing changes, the Rowan University Bookstore is now an authorized NJT ticket agent.

SEPTA's problems maintaining scheduled service apparently are not confined to the suburbs. There have been days where service levels on the 27 have not been met, with reports of 2 buses being spotted on the 27 within a 35 minute period during Monday's PM peak. Part of the reason may be due to heavy congestion on the Vine St Expressway and the Schuylkill Expressway.

In addition to the problems on the 27, the 35 has been suffering from chronic lateness, mainly because the ElDorado buses used on the 35 are having difficulty making turns through the Manayunk routing. Cars are apparently blocking the turns, which has caused cascading delays along the line. In addition, despite the increased ridership, there are rumors that the "new" 35 routing may be endangered, due to complaints from some people along Silverwood St, which has some of the steepest grades in Manayunk.

On a brighter note, the "new" Bridge Street between Penn St and Frankford Av is now reopened to traffic. It will have little to no impact on SEPTA routes in the area, since the construction of the new Frankford Terminal is well underway. As for rumors about the demise of the trackless lines in Northeast Philadelphia, that doesn't appear to be the case right now, as new trolley poles and catenary are being installed in the north side of Frankford Depot. That tends to tell me that the trackless service in the Northeast appears to be safe once service is restored next year. The new Bridge St was reopened at a ceremony attended by - among other people - "Fearless Leader" and outgoing U.S. Rep Bob Borski (D-3). The Northeast News Gleaner reports that part of the former Bridge St will be used to allow storage for additional buses for assignment at Frankford Depot. The new terminal building will be opened next summer.

The board of supervisors in East Vincent Twp rejected a proposal to build a bus shelter at the intersection of PA 724 and Hill Church Rd, which is served by the 99 bus. The Pottstown Mercury reported that supervisors were less than thrilled with the proposed design of the shelter, which one supervisor called "ugly."

And now, for the Press Brown-Noser of the Week, we present Keith Phucas of the Norristown Times-Herald. In Monday's Times-Herald, Phucas' story on the Schuylkill Valley rail project came off as so slanted in favor of "MetroRail", you'd have thought he was on the SEPTA payroll. My question is how could the editors of the Times-Herald allow such a slanted, one-sided "news" story to have run in their paper? Phucas seems to think that Pennsylvania's congressional delegation will be making a trip to Norristown in the near future to hand over a blank check for $900 million - half of the cost of the proposed "Schuylkill Valley MetroRail."

SEPTA will be adding extra Regional Rail, Market-Frankford, and Broad Street line service following tonight's Eagles game. Extra trips will be added to serve Marcus Hook, Warminster, Elwyn, West Trenton, Thorndale, Doylestown, and Trenton. In addition, both the Broad Street Subway and Market-Frankford El will see later train service this evening until at least 1:00am to accomodate the expected large crowd of Eagles fans (and hopefully not too many Giants fans) to and from the Sports Complex tonight.

The missing bus syndrome strikes the 104 yet again. Yesterday, the 1:05pm and 5:05pm (4217 block) departures from West Chester to 69 St Terminal failed to appear. As a result of 4217's no-show, the 6:05pm from West Chester (4215 block) was nearly half full before the bus entered West Goshen.

The 92, 104, 119, and 314 will be impacted later this evening due to West Chester Borough's annual Halloween parade. I have yet to determine what the detour routings are, since SEPTA has been kind enough not to include mention of these detours at its web site. You mean to tell me that the borough couldn't hold it's Halloween parade on a Saturday like Media does? It would make a lot more sense, plus fewer people would be inconvenienced. As a follow up, the West Chester Halloween Parade has been postponed due to rain; there has been no rain date announced as of this update.

The schedule changes for Frontier routes have now been posted. Regional rail changes will be posted no later than Saturday.

There are very few things that gets by this web site. One note in particular comes from - of all places - a web site in Hungary. The Budapest Sun reported that on October 10, SEPTA had initiated legal action against NABI over warantee issues that SEPTA claimed NABI had not fulfilled. Both parties later settled out of court. Of interest is a note where SEPTA has actually invited NABI to submit a bid for the forthcoming 360 low-floor bus order, at least according to a NABI spokesman.

R2 service on the Marcus Hook/Wilmington branch was delayed after a trespasser was struck and killed by an New York-bound Amtrak train. The incident occured at around 10:30am near the Crum Lynne station when an unidentified man was walking southbound (towards Wilmington) on the northbound tracks, and was struck by Amtrak's Metroliner #106. Ridley Park police told NBC 10 that victim made no attempt to get out of the way of the Metroliner as it was en route to Penn Station/New York. Several trains, including Acela Regional #174 and #184 and Metroliner #108, along with SEPTA #9234 to Market East, were delayed while Ridley Park and Amtrak Police investigated. Service was restored by 2:00pm.

SEPTA is planning to make life miserable in 2005 and 2006 for residents along Market St in West Philadelphia (then again, SEPTA tends to make life miserable for virtually everyone to begin with). According to KYW 3, there will be five scheduled outages along the west end of the El lasting nine days each. The first two outages will take place in the summer of 2005, two more will take place in the summer of 2006, and the final one will take place in the summer of 2007. Additionally, the cost of reconstructing the El structure is increasing from $420 million to $567 million, due in part to an increase in steel prices.

So much for that shuttle on the 11. Towards the tail end of the PM peak today (from around 6:00pm to 6:25pm), I observed all of 2 buses running shuttle service in Darby Borough - an unknown NABI and Southern 3186. Considering that trolley service is supposed to run approximately every 10 to 12 minutes during the timeframe I made these observations, that tends to tell me that something isn't quite right. I would shudder to think about what would happen if this was earlier in the peak period. Additionally, because of CSX's "construction complications" at the Main Street rail crossing, buses are now running at all times - including peak periods - instead of during the mid-day. Watch SEPTA try and blame "a lack of resources" for failing to provide adequate shuttle service for passengers in Darby Borough (who seem to be treated just as badly as most riders in West Chester). Well, there is a solution... bill CSX for the added shuttle service. Hey, it's their fault that 11 trolley service is being disrupted.

As strange as this sounds, I just noticed this today when I picked up a new 99 timetable. When SEPTA restructured most of the Norristown hub routes (93, 97, 98, and 99), passengers in Phoenixville were promised 30 minute headways during peak hours. Stop me if you've heard this one, but SEPTA lied to the people of Chester County yet again. Two short-turn trips do operate beyond King of Prussia, but terminate at Egypt Rd and Brower Av, not in Phoenixville as SEPTA promised. This, along with the routing through the Oaks Mills area of Upper Providence - which will add 3 minutes to travel time from Phoenixville, Spring City, Royersford, and Pottstown - is an indication that SEPTA couldn't care less about Chester County.

This just in... SEPTA's getting sued again. This time, it's by a long-time jazz musician by the name of William Byard Lancaster, who told the Daily News that he occasionally practices his various instruments in the Suburban Station councourse. On July 26, 2001, SEPTA Police Officer F. Whitaker (that's how he was identified in the article) cited Lancaster for "excessive noise" in a complaint that was later tossed by a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge (unfortunately, it wasn't Seamus McCaffery) on First Amendment issues (plus the fact that P/O Whitaker didn't bother to show up for the hearing). Lancaster and his attorney, Paul Messing, are suing SEPTA on grounds of false arrest and violation of his First Amendment rights. Not that I'm defending musicians performing in stations, but one would've thought that SEPTA had better things to do with their police department. Next thing you know, they'll be enforcing "Fearless Leader's" recent employee dress code at 1234 Market.

An 11 trolley collided with a car at 4-Main Sts in Darby Borough at around 6:30am today, causing massive delays on the 11 and 13 (the 13 dead-heads to Yeadon via Main St and 9 St in Darby. This was less than 2 hours before bus bridges were supposed to start on the 11 between Island Av and Darby Loop due to CSX track work on Main St.

On Thursday, the operator shortage at Red Arrow hit a new low, as runs on the 103, 104 (the evening short turns to Newtown Square after 7:30pm were not filled) and 120 were not covered. Red Arrow commuters can vent their frustrations on Thursday, November 14, when SEPTA holds an on-site session at 69 St Terminal between 6:30am and 8:30am. That should make for an interesting day to say the least.

For the first time that I can recall, SEPTA is posting schedules for it's "SEPTA On-Site" for the remainder of 2002. Media and Sharon Hill riders should be aware that a SOS event will take place at Drexel Hill Jct/Shadeland Av station tomorrow morning between 7:00am and 9:00am. Another event is scheduled for Chester Transportation Center at the same times, but on Wednesday, October 30.

If there was ever a bad time for the Broad Street Line to suffer signal problems, less than 45 minutes before the kickoff of an Eagles game would certainly qualify. Well, that's exactly what happened today. At around 3:30pm, a southbound Eagles Express train was stalled at Walnut-Locust, just as it was leaving the station, apparently due to signal problems (and not sabotoge by Jon Gruden as one passenger on my train joked). The train was stalled for at least 5 minutes before continuing - albeit slowly - to Pattison. This particular train was overcrowded to the point where people could hardly move; in other words, par for the course when it comes to SEPTA and Eagles games. Fans were still filtering into the Vet shortly after kickoff, due to a combination of (a) the traffic congestion around the Sports Complex, (b) the lengthy lines at the security checkpoints entering into the Vet, and (c) the pitiful service on the Broad Street Line.
Several passengers had noted that there appeared to be fewer trains operating today, despite promises of 10 minute service from Fern Rock. When asked about the apparent lack of trains on the Broad Street Line, the supervisor - whose arrogant attitude probably means he's a closet Cowboys fan - denied that there were missing trains. When I mentioned that the train I was was stalled at Walnut-Locust, his attitude worsened. In other words, there's an assistant's job to Richard Maloney waiting for him if he ever decides to take a desk job at 1234 Market. If you think it's bad this season, wait until next season when the new Eagles Stadium opens and the Eagles and Phillies are playing at once (unfortunately, the Vet will still be open next season) when parking will be worse than it is now. If there ever was an arguement in favor of adding express buses from outlying areas (Frankford, 69 St Terminal, Cornwells Heights, Springfield Mall, Granite Run Mall, West Chester, King of Prussia, Lawrence Park, etc.), today's fiasco would certainly qualify.

Significant delays occured on the 44 and 65 mid-day due to a 2 car accident on City Av in front of the KFC (between Bryn Mawr Av and Bala Av). This may have been the reason that 3428 was thrown into service on a "wildcat" trip.

Trolley service on the 11 will be cut back to Woodland and Island due to CSX track work at 6-Main in Darby Borough. Shuttle buses will operate between Island and Darby Loop. This bus-bridge will take place this Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 2:00pm.

In a follow-up to yesterday's notes on the Regional Rail shuttles, the R1 Airport shuttle bus will be jointly operated by Red Arrow and Southern. About 30 buses will be used over the course of the day, though I doubt that they will all be used at the same time (it most likely is that the Airport shuttle will require 30 runs split between the two depots).

I don't know who's fault this is, but yesterday's Metro paper - October 16 - published the SEPTA News page which originally appeared on September 16. I don't know if SEPTA sent the wrong page or if the publishers posted the wrong page, but that's yet another black eye in the realm of public mis-communication by SEPTA.

SEPTA is in the process of making access improvements to the Malvern station, which many commuters told the Main Line Times were long overdue. SEPTA is planning to move the stairway closer to the sidewalk along Warren Av and make improvements along the north (Thorndale-bound) side of the station. By next year, SEPTA plans to install a walkway in order to avoid having passengers use the Warren Av underpass. For years, passengers at Malvern have risked their lives by crossing the tracks, which has a blind curve just west of the station. Recently, Amtrak installed fencing at Malvern, but a few commuters still take their lives into their own hands by either scaling the fence or crossing the tracks just west of the end of the fence. On a side note, similar fencing has also been installed at Exton - another site of frequent track crossing by passengers - which has reduced the number of such passengers to virtually none.