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.

WATER-GATE A revenue collection officer working on the Broad St Subway noticed a suspicious item at the Hunting Park Subway station Monday night. According to the Daily News, 31 bottles filled with a "suspicious" substance were spotted at emergency exits along both the Broad St Line and Ridge Av Spur. Tests by the Philadelphia Fire Department's Haz-Mat unit determined that the substance in question was ... water.

Yesterday, Philadelphia Police and SEPTA officials held a joint press conference at the Roundhouse (Philadelphia Police Headquarters) to reassure Broad Street Line riders that all is well.

"We expect this to be an absolutely non-story. Non-issue. We're making sure that it's safe for our customers, and there's no reason to believe at this moment that it's anything but safe." - SEPTA Minister of Misinformation Richard Maloney

"There was nothing found that was of any hazard to anyone or anything. It's not anything that we would deem as being a serious threat to anybody. People don't have to be concerned with getting on the subway and going to work in the morning." - Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joseph O'Connor

Well, gentlemen, terrorism is probably the furthest thing from the minds of most Broad St line riders; the top concern for most would be getting to work without fear of being shot, as was the case on August 6 at Girard station.

According to reports, most of the bottles were placed at emergency exits leading from the tunnel to Broad St along the line between Olney and Pattison, and along the Ridge Spur. Police have ruled out terrorism, and believe that it may have been either a prank or some homeless people responsible for the scare. If this was a prank, it was a pretty stupid prank at that. If it was homeless related, then haven't these people heard of shelters? The last time I checked, the Broad Street Subway is not a homeless shelter, but that's another rant for another time.

(Of course, it could've been worse. The water could've been confiscated by Iggles officials at the Linc's first NFL game last Friday night - in which the Iggles showed less enthusiasm than the Phils did over the past two days...)

Philadelphia Inquirer

POLICING ITSELF? Six years ago, SEPTA commissioned a management audit by the Phoenix Group of Chadds Ford (who reportedly got the contract thanks to some strong support by former Delaware County Councilman and SEPTA Board member Wally Nunn). Now, SEPTA is required by law to conduct a management audit every five years. To that end, SEPTA recently issued an RFP seeking a company to perform a management audit of ... SEPTA. What may have seemed like a great idea in 1996-97, thanks in part to some actual forward thinking by Nunn (political connections notwithstanding), now seems like a bad idea, given the current micromanagement of SEPTA by Don Pasquale and the rudderless leadership of Fearless Leader and the rotating resumes at 1234 Market.

Somehow, given the fact that SEPTA management (and to a greater extend, the SEPTA Board under Don Pasquale) in recent years couldn't figure out how to be accountable to the public, for PennDOT to allow SEPTA to conduct a management audit of itself is akin to the Philadelphia Police allowing drug dealers to police their own neighborhoods. If SEPTA is required to have it's management structure audited, fine. The audit, however, should originate at either PennDOT or through the Auditor General's office in Harrisburg, not from 1234 Market. What's to stop the consultants from rigging the audit to come out favorably of SEPTA instead of uncovering the truth about the mismanagement that seems to occur on a regular basis, or to take shots at a union that - in the eyes of some outside observers - is not exactly unified (see the ongoing controversies involving TWU Local 234 President Jean Alexander and some of her more vocal critics within the union).

The report from the former Amtrak executive commissioned by Governor Rendell will probably have more of an impact on what changes need to be made within SEPTA more than a hand-picked consultant prone to rigging results to curry favor with the SEPTA Board. Then again, given the unwillingness by SEPTA to even consider even some of the most fundamental changes (such as an AGM solely for the Railroad instead of an AGM level manager overseeing both transit and Regional Rail operations), don't hold your breath, unless Fearless Leader actually decides to quit before 2004 (Faye Moore's contract, though publicized as a 5 year deal, is actually a 3 year deal with two 1-year options).

STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THIS ONE... The on-time performance on the 104 is starting to get worse. Not only are operators forced to deal with the construction on Market St in downtown West Chester, but West Chester University is back in session. Toss in a lot of congestion along Church St and on Rosedale Av near the college, and you have drivers who are supposed to cover the WCU to Market St/Westtown Rd in about 12-15 minutes taking nearly 30 minutes to cover. As such, buses during the mid-day hours have been arriving at 69 St Terminal anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes late, causing a ripple effect up and down the line. Pair that with the fact that the West Chester trips have seen the older and slower Neoplans and you have a recipe for reliability problems. And yes, the buses coming in from West Chester are very overcrowded. I will post some of the findings from today's mess either tomorrow or Wednesday (I grabbed the wrong notes ... d'oh!).

SCHEDULE CHANGE DATE CONFIRMED The City and Red Arrow schedules will change on Monday, September 8. I have yet to hear if any additional schedule changes or service cuts will be implemented in addition to those approved by the Board in June, but if I see one more trip added to the 14 while the 104 continues to get screwed, well, let's just say I won't be a happy camper...

(And if you can't tell that I'm in a bad mood, blame Randy Wolf and his second crappy outing in a row. And while you're at it, blame the Phillies alleged offense for going into witness protection since they left on their 13-game road trip last week.)

MORE 104 PROBLEMS It seems that every week, there's always at least 3 or 4 incidents of missing buses on 104 trips to West Chester. On Saturday, the 10:10am departure to 69 St Terminal was a no show, apparently due to mechanical problems. Yesterday, the 3:50pm to 69 St also never made it to West Chester for the same reasons. Missing buses, however, seem to be the least of the line's problems.

For the past two days, Sharpless St in West Chester has been blocked off due to a crane blocking the intersection of Sharpless and Church. In theory, 104 buses en route to West Chester University would turn right on Price St, then left on Church and resume the normal routing. Um, no. Some buses went one block south of Sharpless to University Av, which is a very narrow street and not suitable for 102-inch wide buses. Other buses were not running to the college at all, simply laying over at New and Market. From here, things get crazier...

The operator on the 4:20pm from West Chester claimed that the control center had instructed him to lay over at New and Market. A call to SEPTA's Travel Mis-Information Center claimed that no detours had been reported on the 104, but that the 3:50pm from West Chester was a no-show. This was in spite of the fact that the Travel Mis-Information Center was notified at around 12:00pm that Sharpless was closed and that buses would have to detour via Price. In fact, the 11:05pm to 69 St Terminal also bypassed the college, as, I'm sure, a lot of the other runs over the course of the day.

Somehow, with all the new technology that SEPTA has deployed over the past few years (or not deployed as is the case of the defribulators hiding in a closet at 1234 Market), you'd think that the Control Center would be able to give the Travel Mis-Information Center access to real-time transit delays and detours. You would also think that someone would be smart enough to send a supervisor out to West Chester to figure out what the actual detour is supposed to be. Of course not, this is West Chester we're talking about, which time and time again has become the step-child of the region as far as SEPTA is concerned. SEPTA has no problem posting detour information affecting routes in Montgomery or Bucks Counties, but once you get west of Lower Merion, you're on your own.

RED ARROW SCHEDULE CONTROVERSY The schedules for Red Arrow buses and trolleys were to have changed over Labor Day weekend. The schedule change was then pushed back to September 8. Now, the changes are on hold indefinately, thanks to a problem with the cutting of runs. Apparently, the runs were cut using City Transit Division policies, which involves a lot of en route relief points (such as Wissahickon Transfer Center for Allegheny runs). Such relief points are neither permitted nor feasible under the Red Arrow contract. So now, the rotating resumes at 1234 Market have to go back to the drawing board.

As a result of the run cutting problems, some extra 120 "trippers" to Cheyney will have to be added until the full fall schedule becomes official, which could be as late as September 15. By that time, both Cheyney and West Chester will be three weeks into their respective fall semesters, while Delaware County Community College starts its fall semester a week later.

The run cutting problems, apparently, was the reason why the June 16 Red Arrow schedule change was pushed back to July 7. Wow, and you wonder why a lot of the griping in the suburbs about SEPTA has come from the western suburbs?

THE NEW "BLOCK FROM HELL" And now, a message for anyone who has to rely on the weekday 4541 block on the 113: Watch out!

This warning comes after a female passenger suffered injuries to her left leg last week. The incident occured at around 4:30am as the 113 was barrelling through Darby Borough en route to Marcus Hook. As the bus sped past the intersection of Chester Pike and Springfield Rd, the bus - a 5500 series New Flyer - hit a pothole, and the unfortunate passenger ultimately suffered ligament damage. As a result, the victim went to Mercy Fitzgerald Hosptial and is due for x-rays later this week. Surgery is a distinct probability for this passenger, whose only crime seems to have been riding with a reckless and unsafe operator.

According to this passenger, the operator of 4541 block has been notorious for covering the 69 St to Darby stretch in 9 minutes, and driving excessively fast over the Lansdowne Av R3 overpass in Lansdowne (which can be a very dangerous bridge even if you obey the speed limit). During the day, the 69 St-Darby segment is usually covered in about 20-25 minutes, depending on how bad traffic is through Lansdowne. At night, the scheduled running time is no less than 15 minutes. Obviously, minimal ridership exists on the 113 OWL service (hence, SEPTA's decision to cut overnight trips), but still, that's no excuse for an operator to drive like a maniac.

At last report, the victim is filing a complaint with Customer Service, who hopefully will give her a number to call to file a medical claim. Though, given the institutional arrogance within SEPTA, I highly doubt it.

ARE YOU REALLY SAFE? The Northeast News Gleaner recently ran an article in which residents near the new Frankford Terminal have expressed concerns about ongoing drug and vandalism problems, particularly along Frankford Av. SEPTA Transit Police are scheduled to move the Zone 4 headquarters from Frankford Av between Margaret-Orthodox and Church stations to the new terminal building within the year. Whether or not they actually do any real police work remains to be seen...

And on a related note, SEPTA sure did a great job in burying this story. On August 5, a shooting occured on the southbound platform at Girard Station on the Broad St line. According to an eyewitness, two men were involved in an arguement while on board the train. Moments after they got off the train at Girard, shots were fired. Very little information has come out regarding this incident (not surprising, considering this is SEPTA we're talking about), however it appears that no other passengers were struck by stray bullets. I would suspect that both suspects are now facing weapons charges, but again, SEPTA isn't telling us anything.

WANTED: CAC MEMBERS Jere Downs reports in today's Inquirer that several positions are vacant on SEPTA's Citizens Advisory Committee. Many of the vacancies that have yet to be filled are from the City of Philadelphia, however other openings due to CAC members service well past their terms are due to open up in Chester and Delaware Counties. Chester County's representative on the CAC, Paoli attorney M. Scott Magargee, was initially appointed to the CAC in 1985; his term was to have expired in 1991, as CAC members are limited to 2 consecutive 3-year terms. The other two members whose terms have long since expired are Belknap Freeman, an Amtrak retiree from the Rosemont of Radnor Twp whose third term expired in 1990, and H. L. Lin Bongaardt, a transit consultant from Glen Mills, whose term expired in 1991.

While the CAC had been very active in support of the riding public during the mid- to late-1980s, in recent years, it would appear that their effectiveness has been reduced in recent years. Except of course to the rotating resumes at 1234 Market, as evidenced by this statement from SEPTA's Minister of Mis-Information Richard Maloney:

"They have provided over a period of time very valuable consultation and advice ... They study our programs and projects very carefully. They provide excellent, sophisticated consumer advice."

That advice has not necessarily been focused on SEPTA's current crisis - on the $41 million budget hole, the cutbacks in state funding or the system's declining ridership. Two committee members attended one budget hearing in May. But so far this year, the group's major initiative has been a study of rail-station signage, which was found to be antiquated at some stops and absent at others. The report was submitted to agency management in February.

"We've heard nothing since. It goes into a deep dark hole and that's it," said (Magargee).

File this under, "Oh how the mighty have fallen..."

Magargee, as noted, was still serving a term that was to have expired 12 years ago. However, whether or not this was related to the term limit issue that is finally being raised, he plans to leave the CAC at the end of this month.

"I have concluded that my usefulness is now over."

With all due respect to Mr. Magargee, that he feels that way shouldn't be entirely placed on his shoulders. Management has been thumbing its collective nose to the ridership at large for the past few years. Somehow, it seems as though the arrogance from the ivory towers at 1234 Market is slowly starting to spread to the CAC itself.

The term of Montgomery County representative and CAC Chair Robert Szwajkos is due to expire at the end of the year, had also indicated that he would also remain on the board after his term expires, unless TPTB in Norristown name a replacement. Szwajkos put in his own two cents on the matter:

(Swajkos) maintains that the committee can still be an effective voice for transit riders, not "in a public display of complaining and letters to the editor - but in establishing confidence with the management and SEPTA board."

"At the appropriate times," he added, "we may go public."

Establishing confidence with the management and SEPTA board? Good luck.

BLACKOUT HAD MINIMAL EFFECT HERE Despite the major problems encountered by NJ Transit, Amtrak, LIRR, and Metro-North, there were very few problems reported on SEPTA's Regional Rail, particularly the R3 West Trenton and R7 Trenton lines. The R7, however, may have been impacted indirectly due to the reduced service on NJT's Northeast Corridor line. If you were planning to head towards New York or North Jersey this weekend - don't. As for 3:30pm, all inbound NJT bus service to Manhattan is suspended, with only outbound service operating to the Meadowlands, where connecting buses will be available to points in Central and North Jersey. The NEC, North Jersey Coast Line, Raritan Valley, and Morris & Essex/Gladstone and Morristown branches are operating on a Saturday schedule. Rail lines to North Jersey, including the Pascack Valley and Main/Bergen lines, are not operating. Let's hope things can get back to normal by the end of the weekend...

ROUTE 29 HEARING SCHEDULED A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 16 in South Philadelphia regarding the "temporary bus detour" for trackless route 29. The 29 was "temporarily" converted to diesel bus due to the reconstruction of the Tasker Homes project in South Philadelphia and extended to Pier 70. The hearing will start at 6:30pm at the Barrett Nabuurs Rec Center, 2738 Dickenson St. Although SEPTA's tariffs are calling this a "temporary" bus operation, you get the feeling that SEPTA would rather have nothing to do with trackless trolleys, which is a damn shame...

UPGRADES ON THE MEDIA TROLLEY SEPTA is in the process of awarding a contract to upgrade 10 crossings along the 101/Media and 102/Sharon Hill trolley lines. It would appear that this would cover the mainline corridor between 69 St Terminal and Shadeland Av. The bids are expected to be opened in August with an award due by September or October at the latest.

MORE CONSULTANTS? Fresh off the controversy between City Council and SEPTA management over the Market St El reconstruction, SEPTA is soliciting proposals for "Affirmative Action Consulting Services" for the project. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than lip service by SEPTA to get City Council off their collective backs, but still, you have to wonder (1) if funding for these "consultants" will come out of the capital budget and (2) if not, how is SEPTA going to be able to pay for it given the financial uncertainty in Harrisburg.

EL RUNNING SLOWER Speaking of the El, service between 30 St and 15 St is running slower than usual due to the track renewal along the subway-surface tunnel. Most of the track has been removed between 22 St and 15 St eastbound. Rail renewal crews from Elmwood have, for the most part, been efficient enough to have normal service resume on schedule. On a related note, the 34 bus bridge ended this weekend, with reports that the track bed along Baltimore Av is in fact smoother than it was prior to the track renewal (as one would expect).

BRT IN FUTURE FOR CENTRAL JERSEY? The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's Regional Citizens Committee held a meeting yesterday at the Bourse, despite the massive power failure that struck Center City. (For the record, I was trying to get there on time, however when I got to the Bourse, power there had failed and was not restored until around 1:20pm, when the bulk of the meeting had ended. This, coupled with the slower running El and the even slower operator I was stuck with on the 10:15am 104 from West Chester (3263/4216 block), which arrived at 69 St Terminal 12 minutes late, prevented me from making it to the meeting on time.) The major topic of this meeting was a proposal by NJ Transit to operate a Bus Rapid Transit system connecting the US 1 corridor between Lawrence Twp, Mercer County and South Brunswick Twp, Middlesex County. An official alternatives analysis is due to be issued by NJDOT and NJ Transit by the end of the fall.

COATESVILLE RAIL STATION IN BAD SHAPE Today's Daily Local News reports that the Coatesville City Council approved a study regarding the renovation of the Coatesville Train Station, which is presently served only by limited Amtrak service. Preservation Pennsylvania recently listed the station - and the Amtrak stop in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County - among the 10 most endangered historic sites in Pennsylvania.

NEW BOARD MEMBER FROM DELCO Delaware County Council recently named Cornelius J. Cassidy, a major player in the Darby Borough GOP, to replace Tom Killion, who was recently elected to fill the house seat vacated by the death of House Speaker Matthew Ryan. Cassidy's appointment seemed to surprise some DelCo pols as he was selected over a Ridley Township commissioner.

BIKE RACK UPDATE SEPTA recently reissued a request for bids to purchase bike racks for the NABI, New Flyer, and Neo artic fleet. The original contract, which was awarded earlier in the year, requested 500 bike racks for the NABIs and New Flyers, however SEPTA has decided to re-bid the order to include an additional 155 bike racks for the Neoplan artic fleet. The deadline for the re-bids is Wednesday, with a contract to likely be awarded either in September or October. Delivery of the new racks would take place over an 18 month period upon awarding of the contract. For obvious reasons (ie. they're near retirement), the 40-ft Neos won't be getting bike racks.

HYBRIDS COMING? According to Andre Kristopans - a semi-regular contributor to one of my other sites - New Flyer Hybrid buses 5603H-5612H were on the assembly line in Minnesota on June 4. This would indicate that the remaining 10 hybrids, plus pilot buses 5601H-5602H are probably about to be delivered to SEPTA within the next month or so. This may mean that some of the Neoplan EBs at Southern may be about ready to be moved, possibly to Callowhill (to allow the remaining DKs to be retired).

RECAP OF FTC OPENING Amid great fanfare (by SEPTA standards), the new Frankford Terminal building opened for business at 4:00am this morning. The first bus to use the new bus lanes into the terminal complex was Comly 5549, arriving at 3:58am as a 20 from Knights/Mechanicsville via Keswick (1052 block). At 4:02am, 5549 became the first bus to depart from FTC as a 14 to Neshaminy Mall.

At 4:20am, the first passengers went through the new El turnstiles, making their way up one of two escalators directly to the platform (one of which was not operating, no surprise here). The first passenger to enter the station area was interviewed by Fox 29 and 6 ABC. (On a related note, if you noticed 5549 pulling away during the early morning or 10:00pm newscasts on Fox 29, that was my doing (sort of), as I pointed out the departure of that bus to the cameraman from Fox 29. You're welcome...)

At 4:39am, the first revenue train departed from the new El platform, operating closed door express to 15 St/City Hall, then all stops to 69 St. The train consisted of 1056, 1055, 1003, 1004, 1164, and 1164, and is normally a deadhead train to 15 St before entering service. At 4:49am, the first full all-stops revenue train departed from FTC, with 1195, 1996, 1121, 1122, 1198, and 1197 in the consist. At 5:24am, the first eastbound train from 15 St/City Hall arrived into FTC, with 1187, 1188, 1203, 1204, 1013, and 1014 in the trainset. A/B skip-stop service resumed shortly after 7:00am.

On the bus side, here are the first departures for each of the FTC routes (in chronological order):

• 4:02am ROUTE 14 - Neshaminy Mall: 5549/1052 block
  
• 4:05am ROUTE R - Wissahickon Transfer Center: 5292/2704 block
  
• 4:12am ROUTE 66 - Frankford Av/City Line: 5549/1052 block
  
• 4:20am ROUTE 73 - Richmond St/Westmoreland St: 5579/1451 block
  
• 4:39am ROUTE 3 - 33 St/Cecil B Moore Av: 3279/2201 block (scheduled for 4:35am)
  
• 4:40am ROUTE 20 - Knights Rd/Mechanicsville Rd: 5089/1070 block
  
• 5:00am ROUTE 5 - Front St/Market St: 5340/2251 block
  
• 5:02am ROUTE 67 - Bustleton Av/Verree Rd: 5360/1401 block (scheduled for 4:50am)
  
• 5:05am ROUTE 58 - Bustleton Av/County Line: 5582/1353 block
  
• 5:10am ROUTE 8 - Olney Terminal Express: 5286/2301 block
  
• 5:18am ROUTE 88 - Holme Av/Pennypack St: 5501/2501 block (scheduled for 5:15am)
  
• 5:22am ROUTE 19 - Grant Av/James St: 5549/1052 block (scheduled for 5:19am)
  
• 5:26am ROUTE 24 - Fox Chase: 5559/1271 block (scheduled for 5:26am)
  
• 5:45am ROUTE 25 - Pier 70/Delaware Av: 5511/2177 block
  
• 5:47am ROUTE 84 - Knights Rd/Academy Rd: 5363/1505 block (scheduled for 5:40am)
  
• 5:52am ROUTE 26 - Chetlen Av/Rittenhouse St: 5233/3086 block

As you can expect with a major event such as this, most high ranking managers from 1234 Market were out and about the terminal area directing and greeting passengers. And yes, even Fearless Leader made an appearance at the opening, while also giving seemingly rare interviews to reporters gathered in front of the Thriftway store at Frankford and Pratt. Despite the few buses that left late (part of the reasoning is that some operators aren't quite used to the new routing just yet), everything seemed to be running as smoothly as one can expect, which is a major accomplishment for an agency that seems to shoot itself in the foot more often than not.

OH, YES, THERE IS OTHER NEWS... A couple of quick hit news items, now that the giddyness of the FTC opening is out of my system...

• A federal judge upheld the right of TWU Local 234 President Jean Alexander to hire and fire staff as she feels fit. The Inquirer reports that the latest court ruling would "add to the factionalism" that has long divided TWU 234. With more than 7 months remaining before the current collective bargaining agreement expires, things are going to get very interesting...
  
• A water main break made life very miserable for residents in the People's Republic of Lower Merion and Radnor Twp on Wednesday. It was made even worse for P&W riders. The incident occured at around 6:00am Wednesday morning at County Line Rd near the Blue Route, as a 24-inch water main broke, spilling water and rocks onto the P&W right of way. A bus-bridge was deployed between Radnor and Norristown for most of the day, however single track service was restored by the PM peak.
  
• The last two R5 trains to Thorndale will be operating with nearly 15 minute delays for the next 6-8 weeks due to Amtrak replacing ties along the line. Service between Paoli and Thorndale will be impacted. (Which means that my commute for the next two months will royally suck...)
  
• Subway-surface trolleys will be operating "over the top" starting next week, as SEPTA replaces rail inside the subway-surface tunnel. At the same time, trolley service will be restored on the 34 along Baltimore Av.

SWING UNDERWAY Considering the confusion that was bound to happen, the Frankford SWING operation and bus-bridges have been going fairly well so far, considering the complexity of it all. This was in spite of some SWING Shuttle operators taking a circuitous routing from Arrott Terminal to Bridge-Pratt on Sunday, with some drivers departing from the bus lanes, then running via Margaret St and Penn St before turning RIGHT on Oxford Av, left on Frankford, left on Harrison, and right on Griscom before heading north on Oxford towards Bridge St. Today, however, the circuitous routing was dropped.

El trains are operating as far as Margaret-Orthodox, with single track operations on the westbound platforms between Margaret-Orthodox and just north of Erie-Torresdale. On Sunday, the train operators had to leave the cab and visually inspect the platform area before closing the doors (the CCTV system is not operational at Church due to the ongoing renovations). Today, a porter was stationed at Church, allowing the operators to stay within the cab of the train.

Over the weekend, SEPTA staffers had maps of the re-routed bus routes available at Erie-Torresdale; today, none were to be found.

Overall, though, considering SEPTA's track record regarding service disruptions, things haven't really been that bad.

EDITOR'S NOTE I will catch up on some of the older news items that have been out there over the past week. I've been very busy with other things lately, so I haven't had the chance to update the blogger lately. I hope to have more items posted tomorrow.

RAIL PROBLEMS STRIKE AGAIN... Stop me if you've heard this one before. On two consecutive days, SEPTA's Regional Rail system was stymied due to power problems. At around 6:00pm Monday, Amtrak lost power along most of the Northeast and Keystone corridors through the Philadelphia area. Most service was delayed nearly 45 minutes, however riders on the R5 Paoli/Thorndale, R6 Cynwyd, and R7 Trenton line saw service suspended for nearly 90 minutes. The Inquirer reported that passengers stranded aboard one R5 train got off the train at Overbrook and walked over the 63 St/City Av, most likely to catch the 65. Passegners on a Paoli bound R5 saw their train halted as it approached Wayne, then forced to back up to St David's, where passengers were forced to get off. Without being shocked, SEPTA didn't provide any alternate transit options (read: shuttle buses) despite the incident occuring during the end of the rush hour. SEPTA announced in a seat flyer that the "Service Guarantee" would not be honored because it was Amtrak's fault, not SEPTA's.

Meanwhile, late night service was disrupted on Tuesday, after reports of wire problems near Jenkintown. Trains heading on the PRR side were departing nearly 30 minutes late. The last R5 to Thorndale (#591) left nearly 30 minutes late, but not until a replacement train was sent from Frazer into Center City. Did it ever occur to SEPTA to pull a two-car trainset from Powelton Yard as opposed to having to call out to Frazer - which is between Malvern and Exton towards the outer end of the Thorndale branch - so riders on the #591 wouldn't have to wait as long? If you had to replace missing train sets, then have a yard crew recover the used set after the train returns to Frazer and send it back to Powelton.

But wait, this is SEPTA we're dealing with. You know, the owners of the laughing stock of commuter railroads...

SEPTA REALLY DOES STINK! So says Daily News "Stink-meister" Dan Geringer. Over the past three weeks, Geringer has been pointing out several SEPTA locations which have become virtual open air toilets.

On July 7, Geringer paid a visit to the virtual homeless city that exists in the plaza area near Burger King at Suburban Station (16 St at JFK Plaza):

What used to be an oasis of planters and picnic tables for SEPTA commuters is now a thoroughly-trashed hobo camp where the homeless eat, sleep, urinate and defecate amid their bedrolls and their junk.

Inside the Suburban Station concourse, commuters can watch this pigsty patio through dirt-streaked picture windows.

But wait, there's more...

While much of the surface-streets malodor emanates from Philadelphia's growing homeless population, one of Stinkmeister's faithful colleagues has twice spotted well-dressed men peeing in the Suburban Station concourse, blissfully ignoring its 24-hour restroom.

Leslie Hickman, chief officer of SEPTA's High Speed Operations, said the homeless are ousted nightly when stations are shut down for cleaning, so the subterranean system's most prolific pee-and-poop perps are regular rail riders, not drip-dry drifters.

Oh, so it's the fault of commuters and not the slime who desire to call the plazas and concourses home, right? Talk about passing the buck...

Meanwhile, it wasn't just the Suburban Station concourses that are under attack by such stenches:

On a good day, the SEPTA stairwell on the 15th Street side of the Municipal Services Building reeks of urine. But this was a bad day. Descending the stairs toward Suburban Station, the Stinkmeister almost stepped in a cowpie-sized deposit of human excrement. Luckily, the sight of flies landing on it alerted the Stinkmeister in the nick time.

...

Directly across 15th Street from the Stairwell of Stench lies the Exit of Excrement, an ancient SEPTA stairway that opens on the west side of LOVE Park. Recently, a stinking pile of feces, covered with a hyperactive posse of flies, lay on the urine-stained landing. It did not look fresh.

...

The stink-weary Stinkmeister was almost pooped in more ways than one while ascending the City Hall SEPTA stairwell at Broad and Juniper streets, and encountering: Manpie!

A takeout menu from a well-known pizzeria had obviously been used as toilet paper. Flies buzzed. The stench was overwhelming. Emerging at the top of the pee-pool-pocked stairwell and taking huge gulps of fresh air almost gave the Stinkmeister the bends.

A couple of days later, SEPTA had poured so much disinfectant on the stairwell that the Stinkmeister had tears in his eyes. A few days after that, the forces of feces had returned.

July 8: Geringer filed a report from City Hall station on the Broad St line, finding similar results.

Posted on Tue, Jul. 08, 2003

After the Daily News Stinkmeister, voice of the pee-and-poop plagued public, reported the city's urine-and-feces infested hotspots yesterday, readers roared: SEPTA! SEPTA! SEPTA!

And the subterranean transportation giant replied: We know! We know! We know!

"Years and years of 'stuff' has accumulated at our City Hall stations," said Leslie Hickman, SEPTA chief officer for high-speed operations. "Urine is the larger problem, 24-7. Then there are 'intermittent deposits' of the other stuff. The hotter it gets, the more it smells - until the odor just about knocks you off your feet."

So what does SEPTA do about it?

"We mop. We deodorize," said Hickman. "But when people stand on the edges of the platform and urinate into the track area, the urine embeds itself into the track, a hole, a crack. You can't deodorize that."

Larry Smith, director of SEPTA stations, said his guys dumped 1,200 gallons of enzyme deodorizer on City Hall platforms and stairwells this spring.

"Plus, I put 400 stickup deodorizers under the platforms," he said. "We powerwash the floors with hot water at 3,600 PSI (pounds-per-square-inch pressure). But they still smell of urine and our customers still complain."

This is despite the fact that 163 employees over three shifts clean most - if not all - of the 61 subway-elevated and subway-surface stations throughout the system. At City Hall, in particular, law enforcement is non-existent, which is typical for high profile stations such as City Hall.

July 15:

Good news and bad news to report on the SEPTA stink front. First the good news, regarding the Suburban Station homeless camp:

Thanks to SEPTA's swift sanitizing safari, the former courtyard of crap is now a vagrants-and-their-fragrance-free zone.

Construction workers who are renovating Suburban Station walled off the patio, ensuring that it will remain clean until it's rehabbed as a new atrium for SEPTA commuters.

Now the bad news. Geringer stumbled upon a new stink zone, which fortunately for riders will no longer be in service after tomorrow:

"I say goodbye to my family and make my way up the stairs on the corner of Frankford and Pratt," writes Manny Santos. "I smell the foulness of the built-up urine layers that cover the floor and walls in the dark recesses of this trainstop. Imagine walking up two long flights of stairs and, as you reach the top to catch your breath, you inhale the foul microbes from the heavily urine-stained walls."

The Stinkmeister doesn't have to imagine, Manny. He walked those stinking stairs yesterday of the Frankford Transportation Center from the Entrance of Elimination to the Exit of Excretion. He feels your nose's pain.

July 16: The owner of a newsstand at the Margaret-Orthodox/Arrott Terminal complex complained to Geringer about people urinating into the soda machines.

... Raoji Prajapati ... said, "I have a newsstand at Frankford and Oxford, under the Margaret-Orthodox El station. They're urinating in my Coke machine and in my Pepsi machine. You reach in there for a soda, you don't know what you're touching."

Grabbing his gas mask, the voice of the pee-and-poop-plagued public sped to Prajapati's pee-stained newsstand.

The urine stench emanating from the two soda machines brought tears to S-Meister's eyes.

So did the thought of reaching into those machines - after Prajapati pointed out the urine stains near their delivery holes.

The space between the machines was soaked in fresh urine.

It gets better, folks. The area in front of Prajapati's newsstand is a much smaller scale of the Suburban Station homeless city.

"They sleep behind my newsstand every night," Prajapati said. "They pee. They poop. I work here from 6 in the morning to 7 at night. I clean with Pine Sol and with bleach. They keep coming back. This is their bedroom and their bathroom. Mostly, their bathroom."

Neither SEPTA Transit Poice nor the Philadelphia Police seem willing nor able to assist Mr. Prajapati in maintaining a clean and presumably successful business.

Prajapati is not sure whether the property his newsstand sits on is SEPTA's or the city's. He only knows that neither SEPTA nor city cops have rid him of the oozing boozehounds.

"When I call, sometimes the police come, sometimes they don't," he said. "When they do come, they say, 'If we don't see them drinking, we can't do anything.' The drunks hide their bottles when they see cops."

The Philadelphia Police seem to have a valid excuse. Apparently, since that stretch of Frankford Av isn't part of Emperor Street's "Operation Save Street - um, I mean Safe Streets" initiative, you'd have an easier time scoring seats behind home plate at "Not Your Typical Ballpark" next season than you have of finding a Philadelphia cop anywhere near Frankford and Oxford. The SEPTA Transit Police zone office is a few blocks away, near the Church St El station (until the new terminal at Bridge-Pratt opens next month), but except for traffic control near the construction site where Bridge St, Frankford Av, and Bustleton Av converge, SEPTA Police coverage in the Northeast is sporadic at best.

July 21: Back to Center City. Geringer reports on the plight of El passengers at the Spring Garden El station.

Pee stench overpowers the public entering SEPTA's Market-Frankford El stop on Spring Garden Street near 2nd, or waiting for SEPTA buses underneath it. A long-shuttered newsstand, piled with festering garbage, has become a reeking open-air urinal in the middle of a heavily-traveled public sidewalk. Yoo hoo, SEPTA? You got some explainin' to do!

"The summer stench at that SEPTA bus stop can make your nose run and your eyes water," wrote reader David Cornish. "I blame the lack of public restrooms for the urine stain on Philly's name. SEPTA transports hundreds of thousands each day, but you can count the restrooms open to its riding passengers on just one hand!"

Despite calls for more public toilets from the riding public, SEPTA seems to think the complainers are full of (ahem) s---. With that, we present the latest idiotic grumblings from SEPTA's Minister of Mis-Information, Richard Maloney:

"You and I and the 400,000 people who work in Center City each day know where to go when Nature calls. ... In any area of Center City, you kind of learn intuitively where there are available places to do that - Suburban Station, Market Street East (sic), Reading Terminal, a store, a restaurant."

Has Maloney ever used the bathrooms at Market East? Everyday Center City workers may know where to go, but tourists and most other infrequent Center City visitors aren't going to know off the top of their heads where to go if they have to go.

"So you're looking at a social/psychological question rather than a functional problem. ... I ride the train every day. When I leave work to go home, I go to the bathroom before I go to the station. I believe that 99.9 percent of people who live in this urban area and ride public transportation know how to make those kind of plans."

Gee, thanks for talking down to us, oh great Minister of Mis-Information. Perhaps if stations were open at more convenient hours during from the AM peak through the PM peak, people wouldn't have such problems, now would they?

"Would more public facilities eliminate that problem? My guess is: not much, if at all. And it's a nonstop problem for us to keep the facilities that we do have clean and safe. They become gathering places for people that other people don't want to associate with."

Apparently, our Minister of Mis-Information has never had the honor of using the restrooms at 69 St Terminal; at least the ones near the West Terminal. It also doesn't help that the restrooms close at 8:00pm, which really does nobody any good if they get to 69 St at, say, 8:15pm, and have to wait over an hour for the next 104 or 109 bus to head home.

"I am hearing no clarion call for more public restrooms."

Guess what, Minister. Now you are.

This, by the way, is apparently the after-effects of SEPTA sponsoring those stupid animated "Race to the Vet" features at Phillies games this season. Well, I hope it's worth it for SEPTA to blow tons of money on animated bus and/or subway races at Phillies games while commuters start considering whether or not to bring gas masks along for their commutes.

MISSING: PARENTING SKILLS? A 9 year old Philadelphia boy managed to find his way to Upper Darby over the weekend, causing a massive search throughout the city. At around 8:20pm Saturday, Asher Twine slipped away from relatives in Germantown and boarded an R-8 Chestnut Hill West train (believed to be the #1860 CHW to Fox Chase) en route to 30 St Station. A SEPTA employee reported seeing the child in the station later that evening, however police were not able to find him there. The child was later spotted at the UA movie theater complex on S 69 St in Upper Darby, having apparently taken the El to 69 St Terminal. A movie patron reported the child to authorities, who later placed him in a foster home in Chester.

This is not the first time that young Asher Twine slipped away on an adventure. His mother told 6 ABC:

"The Fourth of July he slipped away in a crowd that was headed downtown for the fireworks and he got caught at 30th Street Station."

6 ABC also reports that Asher Twine suffers from autism, but it didn't specifiy the severity.

Okay, three questions: (1) Wouldn't some red flags have been raised among the train crew on the #1860 after seeing a 9 year old riding alone on a Saturday night? (2) Wouldn't somebody at either 30 St or even 69 St Terminal have had the same thoughts, assuming the fare was not paid? (3) Why the hell were the parents paying better attention as to where their son was (see the P&W tragedy last month, when the mother was reportedly surfing the internet while her 4 year old son was struck by an inbound P&W train)?

(On a side note, when I was much younger - about 13-14 - and living in New England, I'd occasionally ride the T into Boston and spend a little time riding the subway system when I spent time with my aunt in Lincoln - whose condo was near the Lincoln Rail Station on the Fitchburg line. Of course, I was a little bit older than Asher Twine, and didn't spend too much time that my mother or aunt would've called the state police. At the same time, I was once able to bike about 12-15 miles between Nashua and Manchester; now I can barely ride 1-2 miles without feeling pain in my legs. All of this was about 15 years ago, in case anyone was asking...)

It's fortunate that Asher Twine is still alive. Could you imagine the PR nightmare SEPTA would've faced if this child ended up falling into the El tracks or was struck by an R8 train (to say nothing of the harsh criticism of the parenting skills by Mr. and Mrs. Twine)? Considering that we're talking about an autistic 9 year old, I'd suspect that would require far more supervision than was apparently provided this past weekend.

MORE GREAT ADVENTURES It appears that NJ Transit is slowly expanding the number of bus routes serving the Six Flags/Great Adventure theme park in Jackson Twp, Ocean County. As early as three years ago, there were only two lines available - the 308 from New York and Newark and the 318 from Philadelphia and Camden. Two years ago, the 307 from Freehold and the 309 from Toms River were added. Earlier this year, NJT introduced the 310 from Trenton Rail Station. Now, a fourth new line to Great Aventure has been added - the 311 from Point Pleasant Beach, Sea Girt, and Belmar. Connections from Philadelphia, Camden, and Mt Holly are available at Point Pleasant Beach via the 317 line.

52 CHANGES NOT SITTING WELL WITH SOME The St. Joseph's University dorm construction project at 54 St/City Av brings along some good news/bad news for riders on the 52 and residents in the Wynnefield area.

The good news (at least for riders) is that the during daytime hours, the 52 will be re-routed to serve Overbrook Rail Station, allowing a connection for West Philadelphia residents to the R5 Paoli-Thorndale line; the daytime routing will be via 54 St, City Av, Cardinal Av, Overbrook Av, 59 St, Drexel Rd, and City Av to 54 St south of City Av, using most of the same streets as the G bus. The evening routing will not serve Overbrook Rail Station, but will simply loop through a parking lot across from the construction site on 54 St.

Now, the bad news... the Inquirer reported on Friday at some residents in Wynnefield are less than thrilled about the prospect of more buses through the neighborhood.

But one problem with (St. Joseph's) new plan is SEPTA buses. (Wynnefield Residents Association Director Robin) Trent said that in the past, buses on the 52 route used the property where the dorms will be built to turn around. Now the buses are using Overbrook Avenue, and that bothers residents, Trent said.

The new routing took effect on Sunday. In fliers passed out by SEPTA, it's noted that the routing is being instituted on an experimental basis. I'm sure the WRA will be very thrilled with that.

Whether or not SEPTA or St. Joe's dropped the ball on this one is up for debate. The re-routing was forced since the former turn-around point for the 52 is now part of the new dorm's construction site.

RAIL POWER PROJECT REDUX? It appears that SEPTA will be operating subway-surface trolleys over the top (that's via the diversion routing in local parlance) for three weeks starting the weekend of August 8th. The diversion is required to repair the eastbound rail between 22 St and 15 St. Let's see how SEPTA handles the public relations on this project...

SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME... Sunday's Inquirer had an interesting story about why SEPTA isn't getting what it claims to be a sufficient amount of funding from Harrisburg. The legislature created a Public Utility Realty Tax fund (PURTA) that earmarked a portion of its funding to transit agencies across Pennsylvania. In 1997, SEPTA recieved $37.4 million out of this fund. 1997 was the year that Harrisburg de-regulated the industry, which led to power-plant taxes no longer being paid into the PURTA. Since 1997, SEPTA's share of state funding from PURTA collections decreased to nearly $18.6 million - a nearly 50 percent drop-off from 1997. As a result, SEPTA is joining the City and School District of Philadelphia in legal action regarding the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant in Salem Twp, Luzerne County. The Inquirer article notes that the PPL-owned plant was once a source of nearly $30 million in PURTA revenues. For once, this mess can't be blamed on SEPTA, but rather TPTB in Harrisburg, who didn't really think about the repercussions of de-regulating the electric industry.

95/IKEA UPDATE The latest on the proposed (but stalled) re-routing of the 95 into the Market Place at Plymouth Center complex is being delayed due to problems at IKEA's end. Apparently, IKEA's management had signed off on the idea, but the owners of MPPC have yet to give formal permission for the 95 to enter the property. One would think that SEPTA would've held off on an announcement in the Metro paper and other outlets until after all the I's were dotted and T's were crossed, but it's hard to pin all the blame on SEPTA.

ROADEO RECAP SEPTA held it's annual Bus Roadeo at the Philadelphia Park racetrack in Bensalem Twp, Bucks County yesterday. After using the NABIs as Roadeo buses for the past three years, SEPTA began using the New Flyers for the first time at course buses. Red Arrow 5404 (which now has the two arrows on the rear engine cover, replacing the yellow "CAUTION: FREQUENT STOPS AND WIDE TURNS" sticker), Callowhill 5421, Frankford 5524, 5531, Comly 5583, Southern 5630, and Midvale 5710 and 5711 were this year's course buses; Frankford 5513 was used as the "photo op" bus, while 2025 - which will probably be off the roster by the end of the year, and not a minute too soon - was used as the "judge's" bus.

In addition to the standard historic fleet buses, SEPTA's display buses included Frontier 2053 (Ford), Red Arrow 4536 (ElDorado), Southern 3332 (Neoplan 40-ft), Callowhill 5271 (NABI), Allegheny 7131 (Neo artic - your editor managed to get a "104 WEST CHESTER" sign on the display for a photo, like you'd ever see an artic along West Chester Pike), and Midvale 5712 (New Flyer - same thing, only the sign read "92 EXTON SQUARE MALL"; at last year's event, I was able to get a picture of a New Flyer with a "133 EXTON SQUARE MALL" sign, but have since lost the disposable camara during a recent move - d'oh!).

Visiting companies included David Thomas tours with a brand new D4000 (complete with NJT type turn signals), Krapf's with one of its two brand new MCI J4500s (great, they can afford brand new J-series coaches, but don't even bother asking them about getting better transit buses on the Coatesville-West Chester run), Martz Trailways (bringing an older MCI 102A3 coach with an 8V92 engine), DART First State (NABI Low Floor #560), the Maryland Transit Administration (Neoplan low floor #0284B - B designates which garage the bus is from; in this case, Bush Division), Greyhound (G4500 #7202), and NJ Transit (MCI D4500 #8250 from Howell). The School District of Philadelphia also brought five of their school buses to the event.

Usually, the highlight of the Roadeo is the celebrity competition, in which personalities from the print and electonic media outlets drive a bus through a modified version of the Roadeo course. However, this year's celebrity event featured one of the weakest fields in recent memory. Mainstays such as Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky and 6 ABC's Sally Ann Mosey were scheduled to attend, as was 6 ABC's Cecily Tynan, but were no shows. Last year's celebrity roadeo champion Tug McGraw did not compete this year as he's recovering from a brain tumor.

Competing in the celebrity roadeo this year were Fearless Leader (5630), NBC 10's Via Sikahema (5531), CBS 3's traffic reporter Bob Kelly (5421), TWU 234 President Jean Alexander (5404 - yes, I've already noted the irony in the president of the union that represents city and Frontier operators was driving a Red Arrow bus), Tony McPete from the Philadelphia Kixx indoor soccer team (5524), KYW NewsRadio's Amy Caplan (5583), Kixx mascot "Socceroo" (5711), and SEPTA's training officer Tracy Innaurato (5710).

Innaurato won this year's celebrity event despite doing fairly poorly in the "diminished clearance" portion of the course (replace "clearance" with "judgement" and that tends to sum up SEPTA management at times); Alexander placed second, and McPete finished third.

In the real Roadeo:

The Berridge/Wyoming team of Tim Mason, Lee Zdunkiewicz, and Al Swander won the maintenance competition, defeating teams from Allegheny, Callowhill, Comly, Frontier, and Midvale.

John Rinylo from Southern repeated as Roadeo champion for the "who knows how many-th" time (I think it's 4th, but don't hold me to it); Mike Shepard from Elmwood finished second overall - amazing since (1) no buses are stored at Elmwood and (2) the only buses used on scheduled bus bridges are the 40-ft Neos; Allegheny's Carl Porter finished third overall - a remarkable feat since the only buses at Allegheny are the Neo artics.

This year's Depot winners:

• ALLEGHENY: Porter
  
• CALLOWHILL: Victor Tarver
  
• COMLY: Hal McCleary
  
• ELMWOOD: Leon Spencer
  
• FRANKFORD: Brian Murphy
  
• FRONTIER: Joe Schrier
  
• MIDVALE: Marcus James
  
• SOUTHERN (non-Rinylo division): Michael Thompkins

MORE RED ARROW PROBLEMS More problems seem to be popping up within Red Arrow's management. On Saturday, a New Flyer working the 5:05pm 104 to West Chester broke down on West Chester Pike just past PA 926 in Willistown. Passengers on that bus were stranded for nearly an hour before the 6:05pm 104 arrived to finish the trip. Two major issues seemed to arise from the incident: (1) A passenger reported that the operator had called into the control center to report that the bus was overheating, yet was instructed to "keep running the bus until it broke down." (2) Despite the fact that service to West Chester on Saturdays runs hourly after 5:00pm, no replacement bus was brought out in order to allow the 6:10pm from West Chester to 69 St Terminal to be covered. Remember that this is not during the height of Friday rush hour, but on a Saturday, when vehicle requirements are significantly smaller.

JUMPER HALTS EL SERVICE Reports of a jumper near 40 St Station caused major delays on the El last night. At around 5:20pm last night, an unidentified person reportedly jumped in front of a westbound El trains. Reports of 20-25 minute delays throughout the subway portion of the El was reported. Most passengers were forced to detrain at 15 St/City Hall or at 30 St. Service was restored about an hour later, however there were no reports of shuttle buses being deployed to lessen the loads once train service was restored.

DELAYS IN WEST CHESTER The 92, 104, and 119 are being detoured off of Gay St between High and New Sts in West Chester due to West Chester Borough's monthly "Swinging Summer Thursday" event. As usual, there was no notice given to operators or the public. Why the powers that be in West Chester think this is a great idea to draw people into town is beyond me. It's one thing to hold a street festival on a Sunday, but you can't block off a major street during the height of rush hour once a month and not expect to get criticized for it.

TROLLEY MESSES NEXT WEEKEND In addition to the scheduled grade renewal at Lansdowne and Garrett on the Red Arrow trolley main line, the subway surface lines will also be diverted to the 40/Market El Station next weekend, with a "scheduled construction project" as the reason.

FRANKFORD SWING STARTS SUNDAY The first phase of the "Frankford Swing" - which will eventually move all bus routes presently terminating around the Frankford Terminal area - begins on Sunday, when the 3, 5, 8, 24, R, and Market-Frankford OWL buses are moved from various locations at or near Pratt St to "new" Bridge St: The 3, 5, and Market-Frankford OWL buses board on the south side of Bridge adjacent to Frankford Depot; the 8, 24, and R board on the north side of Bridge adjacent to the El yard. The new locations will be in effect until at least August 4, when the new terminal building will begin seeing El trains. Phase 2, which starts July 25, will see El service cut-back to Margaret-Orthodox and most Frankford Terminal bus routes operating to Erie-Torresdale. Expect a lot of confusion during this time period.

NOW, HERE'S A CONCEPT... More living proof why Philadelphia is a national joke compared to other large cities. According to the Chicago Tribune (viewing link requires free registration to the Tribune web site), the Chicago Transit Authority - which is similar to SEPTA in that it features an aging subway/elevated rail system and a substantial bus network - is cracking down on quality of life crimes within the system. A 51-year-old Chicago man with nearly 50 violations of CTA policy has been banned from the system for 18 months, and faces a 12 month jail term if he violates the ban.

Robert Ross pleaded guilty last month to two counts of criminal trespassing for asking riders for cab fare and selling individual cigarettes on CTA property...

Under the new program, which began in October, people convicted more than once of soliciting, begging or other unlawful conduct on CTA property will be barred, agency spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said.

The offenses are "annoying and worrisome for our customers, and we want it to be a pleasant ride for them," Ziegler said.

Although many of us who ride SEPTA wish that something similar was placed into effect in order to improve the quality of life on SEPTA - especially when passing through major terminals and rail stations - don't count on it. Between SEPTA's seeming inability to remove many of these vagrants from the property and the spineless judges - save for Seamus McCaffery - elected by the people of Philadelphia (or, more accurately, hand picked by the various ward leaders and other political scum), it would be too much to ask for SEPTA or even the City of Philadelphia to even attempt to be aggressive.

It certainly doesn't help that Emperor Street appointed one of the weakest Police Commissioners in recent memory - and father of a SEPTA Police Lieutenant presently invovled in a racial discrimination lawsuit - who seems to take a very favorable view on idiot protestors who illegally obstruct Center City streets.

Heck, the Upper Darby Township police seem to have an "I don't give a damn" attitude towards this issue when it comes to 69 St Terminal, especially after midnight, when several of Philadelphia's finest collection of vagrants plop themselves along benches outside South Terminal, seemingly with nowhere to go.

Okay, I'm done venting ... for now...

MIXED BAG ON SCHEDULES The 95 is not operating to the IKEA in the Market Place at Plymouth Center complex in Plymouth Twp, as was supposed to have happened today. The 95 was to have operated via Ridge Pk and Alan Wood Rd to Market Place, then via Alan Wood, Seven Stars Rd, and Gallager Rd to Metroplex, and on route to Plymouth Meeting Mall and Penn Square. Whether this decision came from SEPTA, Plymouth Township officials, or the shopping center's management is unclear at this time. My gut feeling is that someone at SEPTA once again dropped the ball; in fact, there was nothing noted about this last minute change in today's SEPTA Page in the Philadelphia Metro paper, nor is there anything posted about it on the SEPTA web site. Meanwhile, new Sunday service was supposed to start operating between Conshohocken and Plymouth Meeting Mall is still tentatively slated to start, but that hasn't been finalized. Peak hour 95 service between Gulph Mills and the Conshohocken Rail Station has finally been reduced to 15 minutes in order to match P&W schedules (even though P&W service was reduced from 12 to 15 minutes nearly a year ago).

On a related note, southbound 92 trips to Parkway Shopping Center is only operating via Gay, New, and Market Sts by request only. Northbound trips will still loop to New & Market Sts. It appears that SEPTA has streamlined the number of buses used on the 92/133 as the 6016 block covered the 1:25pm departure from West Chester, which was formally covered by 6019 block; 6019 block now appears to start its run as the 3:00pm 133 to King of Prussia as opposed to the first trip on 6019 block departing King of Prussia at 12:00pm. This is apparently resulting in only 6 vehicles being used over the course of the day as opposed to 8 during the last sign-ups.

At Red Arrow, the only major changes are the seasonal suspension of school trippers on the 108 and 115 and the limited weekday only schedule on the 120 to Cheyney.

MONEY NOT WELL $PENT If you were wondering how SEPTA managed to get into a nearly $41 million hole to start the fiscal year off, a perfect example can be found at the corner of Broad and Pattison, and on telecasts of Phillies home games. Between the really stupid "Race to the Vet" animations during pitching changes (one features a red Neoplan "racing" a blue Neoplan down Broad St; the second one features a red Broad St subway car "racing" a blue BSS car underneath Broad St) and the so-called "Commuter Choice" graphics that appear sporadically during Phillies home telecasts on Comcast SportsNet and UPN 57, that certainly cost SEPTA a lot of money. As in money that could've been used on Saturday to accomodate nearly 50,000 angry Phillies fans and thousands more spectators returning from the Penn's Landing fireworks. There was no additional El service heading westbound to 69 St Terminal, but about 20 minutes after the fireworks ended at the Vet, there was an extra eastbound train to Bridge-Pratt that had apparently been deadheaded to 15 St/City Hall.

Then, after Sunday's game, there was a 3-4 minute gap at Pattison where there were no trains on the platform at all. Nice planning, SEPTA. Those stupid "Race to the Vet" fillers are worthless if you don't run a sufficient amount of service to avoid alienating your remaining riders.

Then again, a lack of adequate subway-elevated service following special events either at the Sports Complex or in Center City has been a major problem for SEPTA over the past several years. Same thing with the subway-surface lines, especially after the "Hurry Up and Go Home, America!" fireworks on the Parkway, where long lines have stretched as far as half a block out of the 19 St and 22 St subway-surface stations onto Market St. But, SEPTA still manages to waste money on frivolous and pointless advertising. Amazing...

NORRISTOWN DELAYS The 9:05pm departures at Norristown Transportation Center were delayed 7 minutes tonight. While no reason was given (this was heard over the radio system on board one of the buses), it appears that there was a delay on the R6 Norristown line earlier this evening. More info if and/or when it becomes available...

PHLASH RESTRUCTURED AGAIN After the City of Philadelphia recieved some private outside funding to continue the Phlash, the route and fare schedules have been restructured yet again. Nearly than a year and a half after the Phlash was extended to the Philadelphia Zoo, the service has been rebranded the "Summer Phlash", and will now remain in Center City. The route will be restructured as follows:

Start at 6 St/Market St - Independence Visitor Center operating via 6 St, Arch St, the Parkway, Philadelphia Art Museum, the Parkway, 20 St, Arch St, 15 St, City Hall, Market St and 6 St before returning to the IVC. Buses will make the following stops: 6 St/Market St; 6 St/Arch St; 12 St/Arch St; Broad St/Arch St; 16 St/Arch St; Parkway between 18 & 19 Sts; 21 St/Parkway; 26 St/Parkway; 20 St/Winter St; 16 St/Arch St; Broad St between City Hall and Chestnut St; 12 St/Market St; 8 St/Market St; and 6 St/Market St

The new fare for the service will be $1.00, and buses will operate daily between today and Labor Day from 10:00am to 8:00pm. Even though SEPTA is still operating the Summer Phlash for the city, SEPTA fare instruments will not be accepted.

PARATRANSIT BUS IN FREAK ACCIDENT NBC 10 reports that a paratransit bus fell off I-76 last night near 26 St in University City. Fortunately, the driver was the only person on board the vehicle at the time and is recovering from relatively minor injuries at HUP. The driver of the van driving on 76 when she was cut off by another car. The van then lost control and fell nearly 40 feet onto a nearby street. A chain link fence along the expressway slowed the fall of the bus.

SUBURBAN/RAILROAD SCHEDULE CHANGES Timetables in the Red Arrow, Frontier, and Railroad divisions will change this weekend. The new Frontier and Railroad timetables go into effect on Sunday, while Red Arrow schedules will change on Monday.

On the Railroad side of things, R5 Paoli-Thorndale and R6 Norristown riders will be displeased to learn that the "temporary" schedule changes that were part of the Rail Power Project schedule fiasco are being made permanent. Meanwhile, the cry babies in the People's Republic of Lower Merion got their way after one too many temper tantrums as it pertains to the R6 Cynwyd line. The full schedule will be restored on Monday, however service will reportedly be cut back to Suburban Station instead of Market East, with single car trains to be utilized (pending Amtrak approval). Maybe I missed something, but wasn't the Paoli line supposed to be the most powerful and influential group of Regional Rail riders?

And now, the official line from SEPTA is that the R5 and R6 trains that were cut for the RPP, courtesy of Friday's Inquirer:

These trains, yanked so the Rail Power project could install new electric overhead wire last winter, do not fit well back in the schedule, Charles Webb, SEPTA's chief service planning officer, told the board.

It sounds like the folks along the Main Line were out politiced by the cry babies in Bala Cynwyd and Gladwynne. Either that, or BLE spokesman Tom Dorricott has identified a more accurate reason:

"This budget is a subterfuge for them not being able to run the system ... I think it stinks."

And yet, some SEPTA Board members - most notably State Sen. Stuart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) are often the first to criticize those who criticize the why the Regional Rail system is being mis-managed.

Adding insult to injury for Paoli and Norristown line riders, the remaining proposed cuts will not take effect until September, except for the closing of Lamokin St/Chester station on the R2 Marcus Hook line.

Then again, the way some people in SEPTA are treating the Cynwyd Line, it makes you wonder if the riders on the other lines are getting screwed over, particularly the Paoli line riders (especially those who board between Thorndale and Malvern). Take this recent line from SEPTA's Minister of Mis-information Richard Maloney in the recent edition of the Main Line Times weekly:

[M]aloney said the two lines will not only spared from elimination, but they also didn't expect to trim down the level of service in the area. He added that people are expressing relief over the decision.

"The R-6, that's the one they're all cheering," Maloney said.

Of course they're cheering the restoration of the Cynwyd line. I'm sure there are people at SEPTA cheering as well, since the full schedule restoration of the Cynwyd line seems to be coming at the expense of the Paoli and Norristown lines.

Meanwhile, in the suburbs, there are few changes that will be in effect with the new pickings. The most notable changes are in Frontier territory, as the 92 will no longer serve New/Market Sts in West Chester in the southbound direction except upon request to the operator, and the 95 will now serve the new IKEA at the Plymouth Shopping Center across from Frontier Depot in Plymouth Twp.

For some odd reason, Red Arrow timetables were issued with an effective date of June 16, even though the schedules take effect on July 7. The official notice indicates that this was due to a "scheduling conflict" (read: "We screwed up, again").

ON THE MONEY ANALYSIS Daily News op-ed columnist Mark Allen Hughes offered an interesting, if not accurate, analysis of SEPTA's latest fiscal crisis in today's editions, splitting the blame between Harrisburg and SEPTA itself.

ANOTHER POL SLAMS SEPTA According to the Delaware County Daily Times, State Rep. Mario Civera (R-Delaware) is not too thrilled with SEPTA and PennDOT. Yesterday, during a meeting which included Upper Darby Twp mayor Raymond Shay and officials from the township, PennDOT and SEPTA, Civera blasted the SEPTA for delaying a crossing renewal project on the Red Arrow trolley trunk line at Lansdowne Avenue, which was to have taken place on the weekend of June 20-22, but was pushed back to the weekend of July 18-21. The heavy rain on June 20 essentially delayed the project for about a month. The construction materials are now being stored at the parking lot of the Lansdowne Av trolley station.

BASS RIVER UPDATE Burlington County freeholders are preparing a plan that would provide shuttle van service to residents of Bass River Township to replace NJ Transit's 559 bus, which has been detoured since the start of this year. According to the Burlington County Times, two county-owned 10 passenger vans would be deployed in order to get Bass River residents to the nearest NJT bus stop in Little Egg Harbor Twp, Ocean County. The county is seeking assistance from NJDOT for help in defraying the $112,400 price tag.