THANKS FOR NOTHING, LOSERS!!!

For the third consecutive year, the Philadelphia Eagles went to the NFC Championship game...

For the third consecutive year, the Philadelphia Eagles LOST the NFC Championship game...

For the second consecutive year, the Philadelphia Eagles LOST THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT HOME...

Anybody see a pattern here?

Anybody see a correlation to the fact that Andy Reid suddenly becomes a lowsy coach when the really big game comes around the corner?

Anybody see a correlation to the fact that since 1983 no Philadelphia-based major league sports franchise has been able to allow a parade down Broad Street that doesn't involve a bunch of drunken morons from South Philly and South Jersey dressing like idiots on New Year's Day?

And is there any coincidence that this ongoing ineptitude among the Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, and Sixers may be a contributing factor to why Philadelphia and it's surrounding region is mired in an ongoing cycle of mediocrity?

Look back at the last 21 years - the last time any of the four "major league" sports franchises won a championship (the 76ers) - and you can understand the frustration, anger, and all out hosility that Philadelphia sports fans have to endure year after miserable year. Hell, just look at the past 10 years, and you'll get the picture:

• Joe Carter in Game 6 going yard on Mitch Williams
  
  
• Terry Murray declaring that the Flyers were in a "choking situation" during the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals
  
  
• The John Lucas/Johnny Davis "error" before a punk from Virginia named Allen Iverson became one of this city's most beloved sports figures (not as much for his off-the-court behavior, but because even if he's shooting 8-for-24 from the field, you know he's at least giving some effort)
  
  
• The Terry Francona "error", one of the darkest moments in the past 20 years of the Phillies franchise
  
  
• Rich Kotite's 1994 embarassment, when the Eagles started off like gangbusters and suddenly - during the course of the season - forgot how to win and quickly missed the playoffs
  
  
• Ray Rhodes complete inability to sustain any kind of success after a dramatic 1995 playoff run, which ended in Dallas on the day one of the worst blizzards hit Philadelphia
  
  
• Destiny's Child performing during Game 3 of the 2001 NBA Finals while wearing Laker colors AT THE FIRST F***ING UNION CENTER no less (and rightfully getting booed out of South Philly after their performance)
  
  
• The inability of the Phillies to beat the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds in September of last season
  
  
• And last, but by no means the least, the inability of the Philadelphia F***ING Eagles to win the NFC Championship game for the THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Meanwhile, lesser "four-sport" cities such as Boston, Phoenix, Miami, and Arizona have been able to hold championship parades. But, nope, not Philadelphia. That would be asking to much from Jeffrey Lurie (at least when he's not extorting the taxpayers to the tune of $300+ million).

And let's not just focus on the fact that our sports teams constantly choke when an entire city and region is counting on them...

Let's remember that the mayor of the city of Philadelphia - "Emperor John F-U Street" - was re-elected despite the fact that his administration is currently being investigated by the federal government over allegations of corruption - and the fact that the people of Philadelphia were stupid enough to re-elect him.

Let's also remember that while the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was without a budget for Fiscal Year 2004 until December, the dis-honorable Governor of this state, Edward G. Rendell, was more concerned about expressing his opinions about the Eagles latest choke job on Comcast SportsNet than he was about getting anything accomplished in Harrisburg.

What does this have to do with SEPTA, you ask?

Well...

• SEPTA operates a commuter rail system that is not only one of the most unreliable systems in the nation, it is also the laughing stock of the entire industry
  
• SEPTA management seems to think that it's okay not to install restrooms on Regional Rail cars for it's longer distance lines (such as the Paoli, West Trenton, Doylestown, and Trenton lines) - despite the fact that it's common practice on EVERY OTHER COMMUTER RAILROAD SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES
  
• SEPTA management seems to think that it's a brilliant idea to dead-head buses from South Philadelphia to Overbrook, Mill Creek, Parkside, Tioga, and Strawberry Mansion instead of trying to assign bus routes to depots closer to origin and terminal points
  
• SEPTA management seems to think that it's a great idea to reduce the presence of "cleaners" at Bridge-Pratt and 69 St Terminals so that people can become unconsious and not be noticed for nearly 6 hours (as was reportedly the case last month)
  
• SEPTA management seems to think that the best way to restore rail service from Philadelphia to Phoenixville, Pottstown, and Reading is to operate glorified trolleys on separated tracks instead of conventional commuter rail trains along the Norfolk Southern right-of-way
  
• SEPTA management seems to think that Route 104 express bus service to West Chester can operate at the same running times as - or even faster than - locals to Newtown Square
  
• SEPTA management seems to think that the opinions of the public are irrelevant, and that they are going to damn sure do whatever the hell they want, despite the consequences
  
  And last but by no means least...
  
  
• SEPTA seems to think that the only solution to it's ongoing budget crisis is to act like a low-life panhandler at Suburban Station (and there were quite a few out in full force today, no thanks to the lack of police presence) and beg Harrisburg for more money.

And you wonder why I am slowly starting to get sick and tired of this city?

And you wonder why I am getting sick of the nation's 5th largest transit system not having their s**t together? Would it be too much for the SEPTA Board of Directors to stop acting like a rubber stamp to Fearless Leader and the Rotating Resumes at 1234 Market and issue an ultimatum?

If I were in Pasquale T. Deon, Sr.'s shoes (not that I would want to be, since he is probably the biggest a**hole of any elected or appointed offical in this area), I would issue this simple ultimatum to Faye L.M. Moore and the rest of her underlings at 1234 Market:

SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT!

It has become glaringly obvious not only to myself but to others who keep close tabs on SEPTA that it was a big mistake to hire an accountant with no transit management experience to run this system. Perhaps the political hacks who mis-manage this system will wake up to the reality that hiring Moore to run this system was a huge mistake.

Of course, by the time that happens, the Eagles might actually win a Super Bowl. Yeah, right, like that'll ever happen...

Tomorrow, we'll get back to the business of posting transit-related news ... assuming that I'm in a good enough mood to do so...

LOTS OF RIVER LINE NEWS

A few items relating to the opening of the South Jersey LRT system known as the River Line (all from the Burlington County Times):

• Burlington County Freeholders are sponsoring a program that would feature "animal" sculptures to be located at the 9 stations within the county. Freeholders anticipate that the sculptures would be funded by outside sources (corporate sponsorships) to build these works of art and ultimately be auctioned off to raise funds for the Burlington County arts community. Excuse me if I think this is just a wee bit silly...
  
  
• The Burlington County sponsored Bur-Link shuttle service saw three new routes introduced last week. The three new routes are:
  
  
  • B6: Burlington Towne Center station to shopping centers along CR 541 in Burlington Township
    
  • B7: Burlington Center Mall to Willingboro Town Center via CR 541, with a connection to Edgewater Park/Beverly station via the B4 shuttle bus
    
  • B8: Riverside station to shopping centers in Delran via US 130


The BurLink system will expand further later in the year with three proposed new services:


• B5: Florence Park/Ride to Haines Industrial Park, scheduled to start when the River Line begins service next month
  
• Proposed service between Palmyra station to Eastgate and Moorestown Mall, to be started later this year
  
• Proposed service between Cinnaminson station to US 130 and Taylor Lane Industrial Park, also to start later this year


The new services are in addition to existing services between Pemberton and Mount Holly (B1), Willingboro and Mount Holly (B2), and the BC Xpress serving Burlington County College (B3).


• NJ Transit is planning a promotional blitz to introduce passengers to the new River Line when is starts service on February 15.

NEWARK STATION UPDATE

The Wilmington News Journal reports that the City of Newark and WILMAPCO are in the discussion stages with plans to move the Newark Rail Station from its current location near the Chrysler plant to a more convenient downtown location. The site would also serve as a potential turn point for future rail service between Wilmington and Dover. WILMAPCO also took comments on a plan by DART First State to move its operations center to a newer location within Wilmington.

PARENT OF THE YEAR?

A Upper Darby Township woman had her day in court yesterday to face charges that she allegedly abandoned her two children at 69 St Terminal last month. According to the Delaware County Daily Times, Kelly Severino, 42, had been held at Delaware County Prison after failing to post $5,000 bail since her arrest on a felony count of reckless endangerment.

On December 7, Severino allegedly abandoned her two children, a 13 year old girl and 11 year old boy, at 69 St Terminal while she allegedly took a bus, claiming to her children that she "would be right back."

(Upper Darby Twp Police) Officer Thomas Hald wrote in the affidavit: "The weather outside was below freezing with some wind and the ground was snow covered."

This was a couple days after the first significant snowfall of the winter took place.

Severino agreed to a deal in which she would enter a drug/alcohol rehab program in exchange for a reduced sentence. If completed, Severino would have her charges reduced from a felony to a summary offense of disorderly conduct.

"You are being given a break today," (District Court Justice Harry) Karapalides said. "Do what you’re supposed to do."

A break? Considering that she stranded her two children at 69 St Terminal during a time which isn't exactly safe for adults, much less pre-teenage children, saying that it's a "break" is an understatement.

Well, that's Upper Darby for you...

DON'T SCREW THIS UP...

The headline offers four simple words for Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, and the rest of the Iggles for Sunday's game against Green Bay (Wis.). Kinda says it all, don't ya think...

That's also some pretty good advice for SEPTA, as they plan to operate extra Broad Street and El service on Sunday, with express trains leaving Fern Rock every 10 minutes en route to Pattison, in addition to "frequent" local service.

Apparently, SEPTA was able to take some time out of it's busy schedule of begging Harrisburg for more money and screwing up the Regional Rail system to get Iggles President Joe Banner to encourage fans to take SEPTA:

"This feedback we're getting from fans is that the energy, the excitement building up to the game on Sunday is tremendous ... Now we want to make sure that we can harness that enthusiasm by having everybody who is coming to the game in their seats prior to kickoff. We're advising fans to leave plenty of time to get here and to take public transportation. If fans insist on driving they should carpool. But the real message is that we strongly advise fans to use SEPTA. Everything we have heard this year with regard to fans who have taken the expanded SEPTA service on the Broad Street Line to Eagles games has been that the experience was a very positive one."

Well, maybe service has improved, but if my personal experiences from last season are any indication, expect headaches, crowded lines at the turnstiles after the game (assuming they don't fail as they did for a Phillies game in April), and bizarro dispatching of trains after the game in which locals were often sent out 1-2 minutes before expresses.

Oh, and here's more proof that the folks at SEPTA's Ministry of Mis-Information have too much time on their hands. In the press release, SEPTA noted that the Iggles are 15-5 over the past four seasons when more than 7,000 fans take the Broad Street Subway.

Gee, I wonder if that'll make SportsCenter...

MAIN LINE WHINE

One thing that hasn't changed in the People's Republic of Lower Merion - or at least in the weekly papers that serve it - is the complaining about how they've been treated with no respect by SEPTA (which is a laughably ridiculous through, but that's another story).

An editorial in the current edition of Main Line Times offers a little word of advice for Pennsylvania's senior senator:

We'd love it if some heavy-hitting national poltical figure, say U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, would make SEPTA and Amtrak resolve their years-long bureaucratic dispute regarding repairs to the Wynnewood R-5 bridge before the walkway collapses and somebody gets hurt. Our incumbent politicians, Specter not the least of them, like to advertise their clout when it's re-election time. Meanwhile, we can't get a crummy railway bridge repaired. Maybe if we named the bridge after Sen. Robert Byrd ... but somehow the Robert "Sheets" Byrd Bridge in Wynnewood doesn't seem to fit our community.

Considering that SEPTA has often blamed Amtrak for the on-going poor reliability on the Paoli Line, you'd have an easier chance of seeing Brittney Spears walk down the aisle before any progress is made on the Wynnewood Bridge. (Oh, wait, you mean she already did get married? Never mind...)

And maybe as soon as Specter is done kissing up to prospective voters in Wynnewood, maybe he can do something about improving service on the outer end of the line...

MORE ON-TIME ISSUES

This time, the problems are not SEPTA's fault. At least not directly...

The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reports that NJ Transit's recent schedule change is having a ripple effect on SEPTA's already dreadful on-time performance. On the Northeast Corridor line between Trenton and Penn Station/New York, connection times at Trenton have been decreased, thanks in large part to the introduction of weekday service to Secaucus Junction. SEPTA has agreed to hold R7 trains for up to 5 minutes to accomodate delayed NJ Transit trains arriving from New York. Unfortunately, that's bound to cause a ripple effect along not only the Trenton side of the R7 but also the Chestnut Hill East side as well.

And there's one group of commuters in Philadelphia who SEPTA can ill afford to infuriate ... those who use either Chestnut Hill branch on the railroad.

To it's credit, though, SEPTA has reportedly posted the updated times at the website (I'll have to verify this). It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact this will have on SEPTA.

ACCIDENT IN SOUTH PHILLY

A 76-year-old man was struck by a SEPTA bus on Broad St near Oregon early this morning. Details are minimal, but the 68 bus had just arrived from Eastwick shortly after 6:00am when the accident occured.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! NOW ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN...

The Inquirer reports some good news and bad news on the budget front...

First, the good news: SEPTA's budget for the current fiscal year can now be considered "balanced" thanks to the restoration of state aid cuts, totalling $15 million, plus a plan by SEPTA to approve the sale of $11 million in leases.

Now, the bad news: Citing inflation and possible labor cost increases resulting from negotiations with SEPTA's main union, SEPTA is staring at a nearly $70 million defecit next year.

SEPTA is planning to seek monthly co-payments from union employees for their health-care package, an idea that was immediately panned by interim TWU 234 President Dave Szczepanski:

"We have been giving concessions to SEPTA since 1998 ... Once again, SEPTA wants the people who sweat for them to pay for their shortfall."

SEPTA is still seeking a long-term funding solution from Harrisburg in order to avoid annual defecits. In recent years, SEPTA has been forced to divert $37 million in capital funding to the operating budget, resulting in delays in replacing the AM General trackless trolley fleet and rehabs of the Spring Garden and Girard subway stations.

Given how long it took those geniuses in Harrisburg to adopt this year's budget, I have a feeling that the next 12 months are going to get pretty ugly in Philadelphia and in Pittsburgh, where the Port Authority of Allegheny County is projecting a $30 million budget gap, resulting in a reduced number of overhauled LRVs and delays in replacing aging buses.

HOW IRONIC

After chronicling the numerous problems with the 104 all year - and seemingly for the past couple of years - it's odd that the last bus I took this year was the 104 (5302/4241 block), and it arrived at 69 St Terminal 10 minutes early...

For the record, the first bus I rode in 2004 was 7203 (65/5214 block) from 69 St to Overbrook. And yes, the sign was not properly working - it was frozen on "R3 SWARTHMORE" when it pulled into 69 St. And, the CARD console wasn't properly working.

Happy new year, SEPTA...

CART DISCONTINUED

The City Avenue Regional Transit shuttle bus (CART), managed by the City Avenue Special Services District and the Greater Valley Forge TMA, and operated by Krapf's, was recently discontinued. The last day of service for the CART bus was December 13. CART was funded in part by a CMAQ grant which recently expired. One of the reasons cited by the CASSD for the ending of CART was a lack of funding support from Manayunk. Somehow, you just knew the service would be a failure, considering the duplicating service along City Av (1, 44, 65) and along Ridge Av in Manayunk (35, 61).

SAFETY FIRST? HA!

Just when you thought SETPA couldn't reach any new lows, today's incident at 13 St station proves to be another embarassment for an agency that has a history of ignoring safety issues.

Shortly before 1:00pm, a westbound El train was held at 13 St station because of a medical emergency. A young woman was reportedly found unconsious and seated in car #1073. SEPTA Police and Philadelphia Fire medics responded. The victim was revived and taken to a local hospital. Yet...

A witness at the scene reported that she saw the victim in the same seat when she boarded at Bridge-Pratt at 6:30am. At least one or two other passengers verified her account. The amazing thing is that if the witness' story is correct - and quite frankly, as adamant as she was about what she saw, I found it to be credible - how was it that nobody discovered her for nearly 6 1/2 hours?

Making things more complicated, the witness claimed that she tried to tell SEPTA Police at the scene about what she saw and was reportedly ignored. From my personal observation at the scene, the officer rude towards witnesses who were trying to provide information. I can sort of understand his reaction (after all, a woman was probably near death), but still, this was beyond unprofessional, and in most cases could be considered a fireable offense. Yet, given the way unions are in Philadelphia, you have a better chance of dating Paris Hilton than you do of removing an unprofessional front line employee from his/her position.

Getting back to the issue of cleaners who are supposed to check trains at Bridge-Pratt and 69 St Terminals. I've heard through the grapevine that some of those positions may have fallen victim to the budget ax. In recent observations, I've noted fewer cleaners checking trains after runs. A couple of train operators I've spoken to recently confirm this. Still, shouldn't somebody be checking these trains after they arrive at terminals to make sure everybody is off? Or would that make too much sense for SEPTA to comprehend.

And while I'm mentioning this, could you imagine the outcry from the public if the press picked up on this story? And could you imagine what would've happened if the victim died? Did somebody say "major lawsuit?"

UNION MELTDOWN?

The current collective bargaining agreement between SEPTA and TWU Local 234's City Transit Division employees is set to expire on March 15, 2004. As can be expected, negotiations are expected to be rough. So, to say that the suits at 1234 Market would love to see dissention within the union is an understatement. Well, they may be getting their wish...

According to a flyer posted in plain sight at one of the El cashier booths, TWU Local 234 President Jean Alexander has reportedly been suspended from her position of the second time this year. Below is the text of the message (emphasis from the flyer):

Five months before our contract, the E-Board suspended the president for a second time.

The personal infighting between Jean Alexander and Tom Casey on the E-Board has once again made our local the laughing stock of the City.

We the members of the Local should have the right to know the reasoning for such disruptive action this close to our contract.

These along with many other questions should be asked at a Mass membership meeting.

Our members have the right to know what's going on instead of being spoon-fed information.

This infighting makes us weak and SEPTA management loves these theatric (sic). They are waiting at 1234 Market scratching their empty heads in anticipation of taking everything from us during contract talks in March 2004.

We as union members can not let this happen.

Let's send a clear message to our Union leaders that the priority is our membership not personal infighting between Jean and Casey.

CALL THE HALL AND DEMAND A MASS MEETING!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, things are going to get ugly over the next three months. Whether the ugliness is between the TWU and SEPTA or from within the TWU remains to be seen at this point. In the meantime, now may be a good time to invest in some decent pairs of walking shoes or other sneakers.

THANKS, LOSERS

If case you missed it, the Iggles gave away home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs, thanks to an anemic 31-28 overtime loss to San Francisco in South Philly yesterday. It certainly didn't help that David Akers missed 2 field goals (blame the wind for the first miss, blame Akers for the second), nor that Freddie Mitchell did a fine impression of a statue in overtime on that interception which all but ended the game, nor that the defense couldn't stop the 49ers running game, nor that Donovan McNabb had a lowsy game (no thanks to the porous blocking by the "offensive" line), nor that ... well you get the picture.

Oh, and in between the mourning period for the Iggles Super Bowl chances, the 76ers blew a 12 point 4th quarter lead in a loss to the hated Boston Celtics.

And the Flyers didn't bother showing up in Atlanta last night, losing to the Thrashers 4-1.

Thank god for St. Joseph's win over Cal-Berkley on Saturday night...

Let's just say that this was not a great day to be a Philadelphia sports fan, and leave it at that. Let's just say that I'm not in a particularly good mood...

And now, in transit related news...

NJT BUS THREATENED

Washington Twp MCI 8000, working an Atlantic City to Philadelphia 551 trip was the subject of an alleged bomb threat last night.

According to the Cherry Hill Courier Post:

Pennsylvania State Police received a call at about 4 p.m. from someone who claimed a man aboard the bus had 60 sticks of dynamite strapped to him. The call came in while the bus was on the Atlantic City Expressway, police said.

I certainly realize that transit agencies are going to take threats of this nature seriously, and that's good. Yet, shouldn't a couple of red flags have gone up when PENNSYLVANIA State Police are notified about a potential incident in New Jersey? Unless there was some misdirection from the cell phone (which is possible, depending on how close the caller was to Pennsylvania - I've called 911 on a cell phone near county boundaries and would occasionally be misdirected), how does a threat in New Jersey end up getting called in to Pennsylvania? Anyway...

The New Jersey State Police, NJ Transit police, Camden police, Camden County Sheriff's officers, and FBI agents escorted the bus to the Campbell's Field ballpark. By 7:00pm, a second bus was dispatched to take the remaining passengers back to Philadelphia. State Police are investigating.

Side-bar: It's a well known fact that the Cherry Hill Courier Post has long been a critic of the proposed River Line, but it appears this reporter didn't even bother to determine that this was a 551 bus. From the article:

It was unclear where the bus originated or where it was headed.

Based on a picture in today's Philadelphia Daily News, and the fact that the bus was on the Atlantic City Expressway, it's would be safe to assume that it was in fact a 551 en route to Philadelphia.

CROYDON ANNOUNCEMENT BRINGS OUT BIG WIGS

Amid much fanfare, SEPTA announced a plan to renovate the Croydon train station. The Inquirer reported that several big shots, including U.S. Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Bucks) and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R in name only-Pa.) were among the dignitaries who presented SEPTA $3.5 million for renovations to the station. Both Fearless Leader and SEPTA Board Chairman "Don Pasquale" were also among the big shots who attended the ceremony, which seemed to be designed as much for the awarding of this funding as it was for Specter's re-election campaign.

Improvements to the station would include rehabbing the station shelters, increasing parking, and add trailblazer signs. The Croydon rehab will most likely be timed in conjunction with the rehab project at Levittown.

Interesting how elected officials are scarce when SEPTA plans projects in certain suburban areas, isn't it? Of course, Bucks County is Don Pasquale's home turf, so it's somewhat understandable that he wants to improve his standing among the hacks at Doylestown Courthouse.

And, yes, Minister of Mis-Information Richard Maloney was quoted in this article (you can tell that I don't trust him, can't you?):

Improvements would also allow buses to enter the station. The improved train-to-bus connection is important, SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said, because intermodal transportation is a big attraction for riders who depend on buses to take them to trains, trolleys and subways. SEPTA, he said, is the largest intermodal transportation operation in North America, and attempts are being made to provide the complete package in the expanding suburbs - including Bucks County, where 600,000 people live.

The largest intermodal transportation operation in North America? You mean to tell me that SEPTA is even bigger than NJ Transit or the Toronto Transportation Commission? Do you mind if I laugh?

Incidentially, some local pols weren't to thrilled at being left out of the limelight:

Yesterday's event took place without any Bristol Township officials in attendance. Council President Karen Lipsack said she found out about the federal financing after the announcement.

"It's a wonderful project," she said. "But political etiquette requires that you tell someone in the township. I find that in very poor taste."

Hmmm, let's review, shall we? Here are the three big names attending the ceremony that we could confirm from the article.

SEPTA Board Chairman "Don" Pasquale T. Deon, Sr.: Republican
Congressman James Greenwood: Republican
U.S. Senator Arlen Specter: Republican

As best as I can tell, here is a listing of Bristol Township elected officials and their party affiliations:

Mayor Samuel J. Fenton: Democrat
Council President Karen Lipsack: Democrat
Council Vice President: Ken Balcom: Democrat
Councilman Donald Lorady: Democrat
Councilman John Monahan: Democrat
Councilman Ken Worthington: Democrat

Do the math. At the very least, SEPTA owed the township a courtesy phone call to let them know about this event. Bad taste? That's an understatement, but unfortunately, for SEPTA, it's par for the course.

ANOTHER OFFICIAL HEARD FROM

Former SEPTA Board Vice Chairman Richard Voith wrote a very interesting op-ed piece in today's Daily News, taking SEPTA to task for doing a poor job providing schedule information at bus stops. And Voith is in a position to know about the inner workings of SEPTA, having been City Council's appointee to the SEPTA Board before being replaced by Christian (son of Councilman Frank) DiCicco. Voith, by the way, was highly regarded as being responsive to his constituents, and to this day, is still missed on the board. I don't think it's a coincidence that the professionalism of the board has disintigrated since he left and was replaced by "Don" Pasquale.

REGIONAL RAIL ON-TIME PERFORMACE SLAMMED

In today's Inquirer, Jere Downs reports on an issue that has become a hot topic at SEPTA Board meetings over the past three months: the abysmal on-time performance of SEPTA's Regional Rail system.

"There is a belief we don't care," said Richard J. Hanratty, SEPTA's Regional Rail chief. "The truth is, we have always cared, but we were reacting to trains on a day-to-day basis. We didn't know how bad it was."

Right. Color me sceptical, but when on-time performance is below 90 percent for nearly 19 months, that tends to tell me that SEPTA is just now getting around to fixing the problem.

There is also a searchable chart to let people know how good or bad a particular train's on-time performance rates.

On a related note, sparks flew at last Thursday's board meeting between BLE rep Tom Dorricott and SEPTA's AGM for Operations Pat Nowakowski. It was probably one of the harshest exchanges observed at SEPTA meetings in a long time. To make a long story short, Dorricott essentially accused Nowakowski of lying about the recent on-time performance of a couple of R3 trains. Despite Dorricott's detailed explaination as to why his particular run was constantly late, Nowakowski insisted that the trains were on-time at Suburban Station, which seems to be the only thing that matters. Remember that Nowakowski spends most of his time in the ivory towers of 1234 Market...

At the same meeting, DVARP President Don Nigro accused SEPTA of misrepresenting its position on the on-time performance of Metro-North, Long Island Railroad, and NJ Transit rail operations. Nigro accused SEPTA of faulty information and went so far as to call an NJT exec in Newark to catch SEPTA in yet another lie. Nigro has attacked SEPTA's poor on-time performance at the past three meetings, and is obviously getting under the collective skin of Fearless Leader and the puppets who pass themselves off as an impartial board.

Speaking of which, Fearless Leader, in no uncertain terms, reiterated her opposition to creating an AGM for the Regional Rail division. Giving no explaination as to why she is opposed to such a position, Fearless Leader essentially said that the consultants had to "convince her" that it would be a good idea. I could try and offer an possible reason: maintaining the status quo.

RELIEF AT PIER 70

Last year, Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky took Wal-Mart to task over the lack of bus shelters at it's Pier 70 store off of Delaware Av. Recently, however, Wal-Mart management beat her to the punch, as a new shelter has been erected, just in time for the winter.

MORE 104 FOLLIES

No matter how hard I try, it's hard to avoid complaining about the 104 on the blog. Once again, service on the 104 today turned into a comedy of errors normally reserved for weekday peak hours...

For starters, 5314, used on the 8:05am departure from West Chester (4215 block) had a damaged window in the rear door. Apparently, nobody bothered to notice initially, since it was sent out for the 9:05am return trip to West Chester (though it appears it was later replaced by 5324).

Then, despite the fact that there have been past bulletin orders prohibiting the use of Neoplans on Red Arrow routes on Sundays, guess what shows up to cover the 12:05pm outbound departure? 3380, which pulled in 8 minutes late off of the 11:05am trip from West Chester. When the operator pulled in, however, instead of pulling up to the berth, he decided to pull in behind a parked 123 bus near the trolley revenue booth. Suffice to say the relief driver - and the frozen passengers - were not thrilled. To make matters worse, 3380 was an absolute dog. The driver had a hell of a time getting the bus to accellerate up the hills along West Chester Pike, espeically at 476 and Edgmont. After leaving 69 St 3 minutes late, the bus lost about 3-4 minutes en route. (Amazingly, I was able to get to my regular bar in time for the opening kickoff of the Iggles beat-down of those Dallas Cow-girls.)

The afternoon blocks weren't much better. 5302, initially covering 4218 block departed from West Chester at 4:05pm, yet lost about 10 minutes en route to 69 St Terminal. You guessed it ... despite the fact that 5302 recently went through VOH, the accelleration sucked. In spite of this, though, 5302 was sent out for the 5:05pm round trip before this genius operator finally decided that it wasn't really a good idea to send out a slow bus for her relief. Sounds like good news, right?

Um, no.

In fact, this is where things get ugly, and fast:

• 7:03pm: "Genius" arrives into 69 St, though this time, only 8 minutes late. Probably knowing that the next trip has to depart from the center island platform instead of the trolley-side platform, "Genius" promptly drops passengers off at the trolley drop-off point
  
• 7:07pm: "Genius" then pulls around and informs the relief driver that the bus is being taken out of service (presumably because it's a slow piece of crap, but the sign wasn't working properly either, as it's frozen on "SEPTA/OFF DUTY") and drives right back to the depot. Apparently, this rocket scientists conveniently forgot to call the control center to request a replacement bus be ready for her relief. Oops...
  
• 7:25pm: The relief driver waits tells awaiting 104 passengers - whose collective anger is slowly starting to simmer - that he has to walk down to the depot and get a replacement bus
  
• 7:45pm: 5595 finally pulls into the terminal - it also has a defective sign (only this one reads "SEPTA/TAKE NEXT BUS")
  
• 7:49pm: The 7:07pm departure to West Chester finally departs 69 St - it's only 42 minutes late. A few people actually think it's the 8:12pm departure leaving way early...
  
• 8:05pm: Scheduled to arrive at 7:17pm, the 104 arrives at Eagle Rd. Somehow, we've managed to lose 6 minutes since departing
  
• 8:06pm: For reasons only he (and probably Bill Parcells) knows, the operator stops the bus to look for something in his bag at Glendale Rd
  
• 8:20pm: Between Eagle Rd and Newtown Square, we have managed to lose 4 more minutes. Did I mention that this is the normal slow-poke driver who covers 4218 block on Sundays?
  
• 8:31pm: Amazingly enough, we make up 3 minutes as we arrive at PA 352 in Westtown.
  
• 8:46pm: Yet another stop to search his bag, this time at High and Union Sts in West Chester. You think it could wait about 2 minutes when he gets to the end of the line?
  
• 8:48pm: 49 minutes after departing 69 St Terminal, the 7:12pm 104 to West Chester finally arrives. This bozo must be getting paid by the minute.
  
• 8:50pm: 5595 finally starts back to 69 St; this was supposed to be the 8:05pm departure. Departing 45 minutes late. Estimated arrival time (which was supposed to be 8:54pm): 9:45pm. Ye gods...
  
• 8:59pm: 5402 (4219 block) arrives 2 minutes early.
  
• 9:05pm: The scheduled return to 69 St departs on-time. That should be a fun trip, eh?

Now, could someone please explain to me why "Genius" didn't bother to call the control center BEFORE arriving at 69 St? At least her relief could've had his bus ready to roll out on-time (but probably arrive in West Chester 10 minutes late). And why did it take 15-20 minutes for the relief operator to finally figure out that he had to pick-up his replacement bus? And is there any reason why a white-shirt was nowhere to be found? (Okay, I know it's Sunday, but it would make sense to have some supervison on the road at Red Arrow, right? Oops, what was I thinking?)

Yup. Just another wonderful series of mis-adventures on the 104. It's living proof that stupidity doesn't take weekends off...

Follow-up: An accident at Market and Bolmar (near Dunkin Donuts) forced the 104 to divert via Chester County Hospital and US 202/322 last night. The accident was reported shortly before 9:00pm, adding to an already stressful commute for riders waiting for the 8:05pm West Chester to 69 St trip. (Posted 8 Dec 03, 9:50pm)

MORE R5 PROBLEMS

This time, it's not SEPTA's fault...

Downed wires near Zoo Interlocking is causing 15-20 minute delays for R5 inbound trains from Paoli and Thorndale. The delays have been ongoing since yesterday.

WELCOME WINTER ... NOW GO AWAY!

Nothing like a little snow to throw a commute into chaos.

This time around, though, SEPTA seems to have finally decided to list specific weather realted detour routings. As of 3:00pm today, the 6, 35, and 55 are on diversion due to the weather. The 6 is operating a minor diversion via Limekiln heading northbound. The 35 has always avoided Manayunk due to the steep hills along the line, and is operating via Ridge Av between Andorra and Wissahickon Loop. The 55 off of Old York Rd onto Broad St between Olney Av and 65 Av.

Well, it's progress, anyway.

On a related note, the West Chester Christmas Parade has been cancelled, and will not be rescheduled. However, there may be minor delays on the 104 on Sunday as the annual Brian's Run charity race is slated to start shortly after 1:00pm. Rosedale Av and High St will be blocked off, meaning the 1:05pm 104 from West Chester to 69 St may be delayed or forced to cut back to New St/Market St in downtown West Chester.

That is, weather permitting, of course...

R8 SHUT-DOWN

A four-alarm fire in the Nicetown section of the city forced the suspension of service along the R8 Chestnut Hill West line for nearly three hours yesterday. At around 1:00pm, a fire broke out at the Pennock Wholesale Florists warehouse at on Stokely St near Roberts Av. Because firefighters had to stretch hoses across the R8 Chestnut Hill West line tracks, SEPTA was forced to run a bus-bridge between Wayne Jct and Chestnut Hill West. R8 Fox Chase service was not directly impacted by the fire. Normal service was restored by 4:00pm.

ANOTHER MONTH, ANOTHER STUPID PARADE (WEATHER PERMITTING)

In a tradition as annoying as an Andy Reid press conference, West Chester Borough will be having it's annual Christmas Parade tomorrow night, unless Mother Nature has other plans...

Assuming the parade will go on - which is doubtful, considering the forecast is for between 3 to 5 inches of snow between now and Saturday night - both Gay and Market Sts will be closed from 5:00pm until 10:00pm. If the Halloween parade is any indication, Frontier management will be posting signs along the affected route directing passengers to alternate boarding locations, while Red Arrow probably won't - despite repeated notifications to SEPTA about the closings. In any case, if the parade goes on, expect major delays on the 104 along West Chester Pike, and to the 133 between Exton and King of Prussia.

Oh, did I mention that we're supposed to get our first significant snowfall of the year this weekend? As such, SEPTA issued a press release whose opening paragraphs seem to have been written by Dave Barry rather than SEPTA's Ministry of Mis-Information. Don't believe me? Just check out this opening paragraph:

Mother Nature and Old Man Winter have never been a twosome interested in keeping their affairs discreet, so once again the pair is planning a very public visit to the Greater Philadelphia region.

But this relationship is far from hot and steamy.

With forecasters predicting the season’s first significant snow accumulation from this frosty duo, SEPTA is taking steps to prepare for the approaching storm.

Great. Any day now, I'd expect some supermarket tabloid will probably offer Richard Maloney a job as a copy writer (and if dishonesty is a qualification, he might just be at the top of the list). Perhaps if SEPTA could do what they did a few years ago - which was issue a map showing alternate routes for several key routes within Philadelphia instead of wasting time writing "poetry" that passes off as a press release, it might be just a bit more useful.

CHANGES TO THE 64

Staring on Sunday, the 64 will be re-routed in two locations:

Along Washington Av, the 64 will no longer turn down S 11 St to reach Federal St, but instead turn down Broad St to Federal, then via Federal to 16 St and Washington.

In the Mill Creek section of West Philadelphia, the 64 will be re-routed along 48 St instead of 46 St between Haverford and Westminster. Sounds like either somebody along 46 St raised a stink about buses running down that street, or somebody along 48 St wasn't too thrilled about having to catch the bus two blocks away. In any case, it'll be interesting to see what the spin is about the Mill Creek re-routing.

JUST ASKING...

Isn't it interesting how SEPTA has yet to post notices re: the 115 hearing later this month in Glenolden at the web site or on any Red Arrow buses? That tends to tell me that either SEPTA is not holding the hearing at all (though that doesn't explain how I still got a packet from Service Planning regarding the December 23 hearing), or someone responsible for the web site forgot to post it. Or, perhaps, they didn't want to draw the attention of people in Ardmore who lost their bus service last year.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

SEPTA Police arrested a 17-year-old West Philadelphia boy following a series of thefts along the El. The Daily News reports that the teenager, who was not identified by due to his age, was captured following a sting operation at 60 St station in West Philadelphia, shortly after 1:30am Monday morning. The suspect will face charges of burglary, possession of an instrument of crime (he was caught with a tire iron and a screwdriver, along with a set of SEPTA-issued keys), criminal mischief, and trespassing. An adult accomplice is still at large, having escaped while the teen was arrested.

Lt. Michael Chitwood of the Philadelphia Police Southwest Detectives bureau reported that the suspects had allegedly stolen $371 from the 63 St station before they were caught at 60 St.

Police are investigating whether or not the two suspects were involved in a series of thefts along the El on November 24, which occured at 11 St, 15 St, Spring Garden, and York-Dauphin.

SEPTA also reported a rash of thefts over the summer, however, SEPTA's Minister of Mis-information Richard Maloney didn't elaborate (as usual). (Just wondering: Why is it that SEPTA is just now getting around to mentioning this item? Was this something that SEPTA wanted to cover up, or are SEPTA Police simply that incompetent? If these suspects were also involved in the summer thefts, why didn't SEPTA act sooner to take them off the streets?)

This also raises the question: How did two thiefs manage to obtain a set of SEPTA-issued keys in order to allegedly commit these crimes? Could the accomplice be a disgruntled former SEPTA employee (or for that matter, a current SEPTA employee)? Could a SEPTA employee - possibly in the revenue collection department - have been lax in securing his/her keys? Or, could they have impersonated a SEPTA employee (which, given how lax security is at certain garages and rail yards, is not that far fetched)?

TROLLEY ACCIDENT FOLLOW-UP

The Daily Pennsylvanian recently reported that excessive speed was to blame for the September 23 accident where K-Car 9001 slammed into the side of a building at 42 St/Spruce St. 9001 was en route to Yeadon on the 13 shortly after 3:00am when the accident occurred.

SEPTA is presently attempting to reach a settlement with the building owners, which should be a very interesting process, knowing SEPTA's past handling of such matters. Of course, when SEPTA trots out Minister of Mis-information Richard Maloney, you can kind of sense that a reasonable settlement may take some time:

"We're continuing to talk with the property owner for a settlement of the damage costs ... I'm not really sure how much longer it'll take. These things have a tendency to take some time."

No kidding, Minister... Just ask some of the displaced residents who were forced to move as a result of the accident.

"We could file a lawsuit, but we're obviously not going to," (Penn undergrad Tara) Einis said. "Basically we're just trying to get compensated for any differences in fees we might get."

That might not be a bad idea. Nothing gets a stumbling bureaucracy moving like a lawsuit...

Einis said that (property owner) Campus Apartments has been serving as a go-between to possibly obtain reimbursement from SEPTA...

"I guess it's over now," she added. "But I'm not a big fan of those trolleys, I must say."

Well, after one runs into your house, that might not be an unreasonable statement to make...

According to Einis, Campus Apartments "has been amazing" in helping the displaced residents.

"SEPTA's just being bad and Campus Apartments is just being really great," she said, explaining that SEPTA has not paid for any of the expenses incurred from moving after the incident.

Although the rent for the new apartment is higher, Einis said that Campus Apartments is covering the difference.

Campus Apartments "moved us here out of their kindness," she said, adding that Campus Apartments also paid for movers to come help the students relocate.

"The difference in rent is pretty big, and SEPTA is hopefully going to take the difference" eventually, she said.

Very funny, Ms. Einis. This is SEPTA we're talking about. You'd have an easier chance of being named to the CAC than you do of being reimbursed by 1234 Market (without suing, that is).

In addition to the increase in rent, Einis said there are other "little things" that cost more as well and it is these extra costs which have been forced upon her since the crash.

"Out of pocket, we're probably paying $80 more a month," she said, noting that she and her roommate have been forced to use landline phones in their apartment, "because our cell phones don't work here."

"SEPTA said they're going to pay for it but we don't know if they're going to," she said. "SEPTA is a really slow-moving institution."

The last statement should be a candidate for "Understatement of the Year." And it's not just the management either...

WHAT'S THE HOLD-UP?

So, Chester County is supposed to start building a new parking garage as part of a planned new courthouse complex on the 200 block of West Market. As part of the garage, there is supposed to be a transportation center to allow SEPTA buses to layover off of Market St, and presumably have facilities for SEPTA employees to take breaks (use the restrooms, etc).

To quote ESPN's Lee Corso: "Not so fast, my friends."

The Inquirer reports that SEPTA lawyers are gumming up the works (adding more credibility to Tara Einis' comments about the slow moving culture at 1234 Market). SEPTA's legal staff sent a copy of the proposed lease to the Chester County General Authority (which will manage the garage/transportation center) on November 6, according to spokesman Jim Whitaker.

Retiring Chester County Commissioner and SEPTA Board Member Karen Martynick says that indemficiation and liability issues are two stumbling blocks that are stalling construction, which was to have started earlier this year, with a completion schedule of 10 months. (By contrast, West Chester University's new parking deck at Church and Sharpless Sts was constructed in nearly half as long, however that structure is only 4 stories tall while the new downtown parking deck is supposed to be 7 stories tall.)

"The transit center is essentially a gift to SEPTA," said Martynick, because there will be no fees charged for its use of the facility. "It meets the county's overall goals in terms of access to the justice center."

It's odd that Martynick - who in the past has been cricital of alleged micro-management of day-to-day operations by Don Pasquale - calls the West Chester Transportation Center "a gift to SEPTA" after the way Chester County keeps getting shafted in terms of crappy service over the past few years. On the other hand, it would be nice if the new transportation center also included a fare sales office similar to what's available at other major terminals (Bridge-Pratt, Olney, 69 St, Chester, Norristown among others) so people who live in West Chester don't have to go into the city or to Paoli to buy fare instruments.

That said, it would be nice if SEPTA could try working with Chester County so their project can more forward - and it's price tag can stay within budget. Of course, it would also be nice if pigs could fly, but that's asking too much.

PROBLEMS IN GARDEN CITY

Residents in the Garden City section of Nether Providence Township have been complaining about speeding operators along the 118 line. The Delaware County Daily Times reports that township officials are considering holding a hearing to air out these issues (note: article not available on-line). That may be easier said than done.

One resident reported recieved a letter from Fearless Leader herself, indicating that "SEPTA would not hold a hearing on the subject." That led to this response from township board member Sara Lynn Petrosky:

"The township can hold a hearing, but SEPTA has to make the decision (regarding the bus drivers and the bus route) ... Utlimately, it's SEPTA we have to convince."

Good luck. Trying to get SEPTA to take action on anything is next to impossible.

During that same hearing, John Calnan (whose name was misspelled "Callahan" in the article), SEPTA's point person on suburban routes described the controversy as "a long and thorny issue," noting that changing the routing as several residents had suggested could jeopardize para-transit service in that neighborhood. Despite requests from the township board to have SEPTA re-consider it's decision not to hold a hearing, the article noted "Calnan said all he could do was pass along the request to his bosses."

It seems the biggest issue for people in Garden City is to see SEPTA to take action against operators who are allegedly violating traffic laws. The Daily Times noted that residents of Ryanard Rd and Willow Rd have observed operators speeding and failing to properly stop at stop signs.

"This is a safety issue. These are streets filled with children every day," said Carol Captis, a Willow Rd resident.

(Captis was referring to the Nether Providence Elementary School, which is located on Moore Rd, where the 118 travels between Brookhaven Rd and Media Pkwy.)

While Garden City residents and Nether Providence officials have the right to expect SEPTA to take action, in fairness, a public hearing may not be an appropriate process to resolve this issue. The last time I checked, Nether Providence has its own police department. Did it ever occur to these people that maybe they have to be the ones enforcing the laws? (Case in point: West Whiteland Township police have been cracking down on motorists riding the shoulder along PA 100 approaching the Exton Rail Station and the US 30 Bypass. One of those stopped was a Krapf's Transit bus, so it's not like transit operators are getting a free pass in Exton.)

At the same time, it might not be a bad idea for agents from the Inspector General's office or plainclothes SEPTA police officers to observe the operators along the 118 to make sure they're following the traffic laws.

Perhaps if the Nether Providence police started cracking down on reckless driving by operators, that might serve as more of a wake-up call to SEPTA operators instead of allowing township officals to take a page out of the Philadelhphia City Council playbook and stage a hearing for the sake of grandstanding.

DETOURS ALL OVER SOUTH JERSEY

The next two weekends will prove to be very interesting for South Jersey commuters, as several bus routes will be on detour due to various parades other other activities:

MERCHANTVILLE: The 405 and 407 will be detoured off of Maple Av between Center St and Poplar Av from 9:00am to 11:00am next Saturday due to a parade.
MOORESTOWN TWP: The 407 and 413 will be detoured off of Main St between 11:30am and 1:30pm next Saturday due to a parade.
OCEAN CITY: The 507 will not serve Ocean City Loop next Friday between 6:30pm and 9:30pm due to a parade.
PENNSAUKEN TWP: The 404 will be detoured off of Westfield Av between 36 St and Cove Rd between 9:30am and 3:30pm this Saturday due to a parade.
PITMAN: The 313, 408, and 412 will be detoured off of Broadway for most of the day this Saturday due to a parade.
VENTOR: The 505 will be detoured off of Ventor Av onto Atlantic Av between 10:00am and 1:00pm next Saturday due to a parade.

In addition, bus routes that connect the Trenton Rail Station with the State St corridor - the 409, 601, 606, 608, and 609 - are now operating straight along State St, with the opening of the Trenton Commons to vehicular traffic. The re-routing is expected to reduce travel time between the State House and Trenton Rail Station.

As far as holiday service goes on NJ Transit's South Jersey bus routes, no information has been posted yet. It is expected that NJT will post any information regarding added service from South Jersey malls to Camden and Philadelphia early next week.

HEARINGS DELAYED

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

ROUTE 115 HEARING SCHEDULED

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

STATION PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD

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

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

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

HOLIDAY PLANS?

SEPTA will add extra holiday service on certain lines starting this week. In some cases, it involved either holding of certain trips and/or adding of extra trips. Unlike last year, there was nothing listed for extra 20 service between Bridge-Pratt and Franklin Mills Mall, however SEPTA has been known for adding trippers on the 20 without any publicity, so it's possible that there may be extra 20 trips running.

DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPARTMENT

Normally, the last columnist in Philadelphia that I'd want to quote is Jill Porter, the uber-liberal feminist columnist from the Daily News, who has been known to write male-bashing columns in the past that could be described as "toxic." Yet, in today's Daily News, Porter actually raises an interesting issue (and, no, there's no male-bashing involved ... thankfully).

City Councilman Frank Rizzo (R-At Large) has initiated public hearings through Council's Public Safety Committe regarding excessive overtime charges by Philadelphia Police officers who work in a program called the Reimbursable Overtime Program, in which off-duty officers are permitted to work for private companies at overtime rates, with the companies paying the City of Philadelphia - in theory, at least.

According to Rizzo, however, many participating companies are neither billed by nor reimburse the city for the officer's services. As a result, the program is costing city taxpayers nearly $2.1 million as of the end of the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Why is this issue being brought up? Well, guess who one of the participating companies was...

None other than SEPTA.

This raises the question: Why is SEPTA hiring off-duty Philadelphia Police officers when they have their own Transit Police Department?

At this point, it is unclear exactly how involved SEPTA was in this program, nor is it clear at this time how much SEPTA paid the city - or whether or not SEPTA owes the city any money. Rizzo's hearing is scheduled to continue tomorrow morning. If and when more details become available, they will be posted here...

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

PennDOT recently awarded a $115,000 grant to West Chester Borough officials to initiate a new shuttle bus service within the borough and nearby West Goshen and East Bradford townships. Considering that a shuttle bus service was to have been one of the higher priorities for the borough over the next few years, this would appear to be a no-brainer, right?

Um, nope.

West Chester Borough Council's Finance Committee recommended to the full council not to accept the grant, because it would cost the borough $38,000 to operate the service for the first year.

Before anybody finds that last item ridiculous, bear in mind that this is the same borough council which recently held a special session a couple of months ago - on a Saturday, no less - to authorize the purchase of a more expensive brick for use in replacing the sidewalks along Market St in downtown West Chester. As I recall, the amount spent fot the newer brick was nearly $150,000. Yet, these same geniuses (two of whom are leaving at the end of the year, thankfully) won't shell out $38,000 to operate a highly needed shuttle bus?

And don't think the borough council isn't the only culprit here. The TMA of Chester County had approached West Chester University about funding part of the service for the weekday daytime service. The university was more interested in weekend evening service as opposed to the weekday service proposed by TMACC. (Incidentially, knowing the TMACC's past policy regarding their refusal to honor SEPTA fare instruments, the shuttle would've probably been a failure, but we probably won't know until next year at the earliest.)

An editorial in Tuesday's Daily Local News seems to have hit the mark. What they apparently are missing is the lack of interest on SEPTA's part. How is it that the authority can support boondoggle routes in Lower Merion and Lower Bucks while ignoring a potential successful shuttle service in West Chester? If SEPTA's involvement is good enough for West Whiteland Township (where the WHIRL has been in place for two years), then it should be good enough for West Chester.

Assuming that the borough council and the university wake up to this fact before High and Gay Sts becomes gridlocked even worse than I-76...

IN GENERAL...

Apparently, some peope have taken exception to recent comments I made regarding a recent item involving State Sen Connie Hess Williams (D-17), particularly linking the first term senator to highway interests by way of links to her family fortune - which incidentially is in the oil industry. As tempting as it is to apologize right off the top, I do have to make what I feel is a valid point...

Why is it okay for liberals to criticize President Bush for his ties to the oil industry but it's not okay for non-liberals to do the same to a Democratic legislator?

That said, the only apology I am making is for linking my analysis of Sen. Williams statements on $chuylkill Valley to her family background and to the opening of the I-76/US 202 interchange. I still believe that the senator should be realistic about who $chuylkill Valley will play out, but I probably shouldn't have allowed my Republican views to cloud my comments and accusing her of being tied in with highway interests.

That doesn't mean I'm going to treat Lower Merion with kid gloves, by the way. I still think the pols in that town are borderline elitest. How else do you explain the school board's plans to essentially tear down its two high schools which were renovated only a few years ago? There had better be a compelling reason for that proposal...

HOLIDAY RAILWAY HALTED

In this past Sunday's Inquirer, Jere Down reports that SEPTA will be cancelling the Magincal Holiday Railway display that has graced the lobby of 1234 Market due to financial constraints. The net savings? A whopping $40,000.

On Thursday, the Inky ran an editorial bemoaning the loss of the railway display, which attracted a significant number of people over the past several years.

Meanwhile, while the Magical Holiday Railway is grounded, SEPTA is somehow able to offer discounts for the Philadelphia Kixx indoor soccer team. I wonder where that money is coming from?

R5 NIGHTMARES

The past three evenings haven't exactly been fun for SEPTA...

On Wednesday evening, apparent signal problems caused delays to the last R5 en route to Thorndale (#591), which ran 15-20 minutes late.

On Thursday evening, the #581 (8:10pm from Market East) reportedly struck a deer east of Downingtown. A rescue train was dispatched nearly an hour later to recover the #581, however that resulted in the apparent anullment of the #596 (9:43pm Thorndale to Lansdale). The #585 (9:10pm from Market East) was stuck in the congestion and arrived in Thorndale nearly 30 minutes late. This was despite repeated attempts by dispatchers to turn the train before Thorndale to cover the #596. The #598, as a result, left Thorndale about 30-40 minutes late and had to cover both the #596 and #598 loads on the Paoli side. There was no word on how or if the Lansdale side of the runs were covered.

Then, last night, an R5 train arrived at Exton at 6:27pm. Was this the #7565 Great Valley Flyer (5:41pm express to Paoli, local to Thorndale)? Nope. It was the #9559 (5:08pm Thorndale Limited to Wayne. It did not appear to be a signal problem on Amtrak's side, as the #649 arrived at Exton only a minute or two late.

Yet, on both Thursday and Friday nights, KYW 1060 - which is usually on top of any major railroad delays - had no reports of major problems. The excuse from KYW was that SEPTA never let them know about it. Given SEPTA's past history, that sounds about right...

"A" BUS GETS FAILING GRADE

Anybody who thought SEPTA was bad has never had the misfortune of dealing with a bus line that makes SEPTA look like DART. The line in question is the Krapf's (ahem) Transit "A" bus between Coatesville and West Chester - the same line that is in direct competition with SEPTA's 92 bus.

This afternoon, several passengers trying to get to Coatesville were waiting for an "A" bus in downtown West Chester shortly after 3:00pm. The only problem was that many of them had been waiting since 2:00pm. Allegedly, neither the 2:00pm nor the 3:00pm departures ever showed up. Calls to Krapf's by these passengers went nowhere, with the dispatchers reportedly blaming the passengers for not getting to the stop on time (a page right out of SEPTA's playbook).

Even for this poor excuse of a transit line, this is an all-time low. When one bus doesn't show up on this line, that tends to cause problems. When neither bus shows up and passengers are stranded with virtually no alternate means to get to Coatesville, that becomes a major problem.

The biggest problem of them all is that Krapf's can get away with it.

A suggestion to complain to Coatesville City Council went on deaf ears, with the common refrain by Council being "Call the dispatcher." Right, like that's going to do any good on a Saturday when nobody knows what the hell is going on...

Because Krapf's relies on no government funding and apparently strong protection from the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, trying to hold anyone accountable is virtually impossible. (In theory, SEPTA is supposed to be held accountable by PennDOT, FTA, the counties, and the City of Philadelphia, but in practice, anyone can tell you that it's all a bunch of crap.) Without the strings of PennDOT or federal funding attached, it's pretty much a license to screw the people of Chester County over. This means that the "A" bus:

Is permitted to operate vehicles that are not accessible to passengers with disabilities;

Does not accept nor honor SEPTA passes, transfers, or other fare instruments, and apparently have no desire to do so;

Is permitted to operate vehicles that most transit agencies wouldn't even think about running, including junk transit buses (the Thomas TL960 buses are in horrible shape; 1 bus is out of service, the other breaks down a lot), older MCI over-the-road coaches, small cutaway buses, and the occasional school bus, while at the same time, purchases brand new MCI J-series coaches for its charter operation and enables the Krapf's family to make a huge profit (so much so that they own an enormous "McMansion" in East Bradford Twp, just west of West Chester);

Has nobody within the government structure - either at the county, state, or federal level - to hold them accountable;

Has minimal supervision on the road to prevent fiascos like today; and

Is permitted to operate two SEPTA bus routes under contract to SEPTA (204 and 207/WHIRL) at the expense of SEPTA's generally hard working bus operators

Were the "A" bus operated under SEPTA's jurisdiction, there would be so many complaints coming from Coatesville and Downingtown (among other places) that Fearless Leader herself would have to personally address these issues. (Which, of course, is highly unlikely, since it's obvious that Fearless Leader can't seem to find West Chester on a map, much less Coatesville).

Any transit agency that allows a bus line to go to hell as the "A" bus has would be in major trouble with the alphabet soup of state and federal agencies responsible for oversight in mass transit (FTA, USDOT, PennDOT, PUC, et al). But, if it's a private company with little oversight, what can be done? Sadly, next to nothing...

If there were ever a time for SEPTA to consider a hostile takeover of the line, this would be it. Don't count on it happening, though...

TRENTON-CAMDEN UPDATE

At today's NJ Transit Board Meeting in Newark, an announcement is expected to be made regarding the new name for the Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit System (aka the boondoggle tribute to Burlington County's GOP), as well as the official launch date for the line. SNJLRTS, which was to have opened last year, has been beset by delays due to construction problems and legal actions. Now, if NJT can stick with this date, all will be well.

HYBRID SIGHTINGS

It appears that based on spotter observations, the 12 hybrid low floor buses will mainly be used on the 12, 17, and 37. The hybrids have bike racks (as do the 5600s assigned to Southern), and the 12 and 37 are bike rack lines. The 17 is, well, the 17 - one of the busiest lines operating out of Southern. Even though the hybrids may make an occasional appearance on other Southern routes, they will mainly stay on the 12, 17, and 37.

NABI OVERHAUL UPDATE

Out of the 398 NABIs, there are now 43 that have yet to go through the overhaul process. Three more have recently returned to service with the past few days: Comly 5107, Midvale 5236, and Red Arrow 5302. In a recent observation, 5102, 5188, 5293, 5373, and 5394 are about to go through the process or have completed VOH since the last report from Wyoming.

Once the NABI overhauls are complete, which should be within the next 6-8 weeks, Wyoming Shop employees will begin identifying problem areas with the Neoplan artic fleet, which has endured problems ranging from slow acceleration, sticky brakes, and a myriad of problems that some operators have started branding them as "junk." And they're less than 4 years old...

Allegheny 7102 is reportedly the pilot bus for the VOH process, and is expected to be out of service for at least the next 2-3 months, and possibly longer.

93 ADJUSTMENTS

Congestion problems along Ridge Pike have forced SEPTA to make adjustments to three AM peak trips on the 93 between Pottstown and Norristown. The 6:40am departure from Pottstown will now depart at 6:25am, while the 7:40am and 8:40am departures from Norristown will depart 5 minutes earlier. New timetables will be issued with a November 24 effective date.

Isn't it interesting how SEPTA can change the 93 schedules mid-way through a schedule cycle, but they can't do the same for the often unreliable 104?

HYBRID UPDATE

The two unaccounted for hybrids have been identified as 5603H and 5608H. All of the reported buses, save for 5606H are now at Southern (at last report, 5606H is still at Germantown). 5612H was reportedly on the 476/Turnpike Extension en route to Philadelphia on Tuesday (this may have been a delivery; it appears they're taking I-80 from the Midwest and picking up 476 to get into Philadelphia, presumably to avoid the Mainline PA Turnpike tolls). The above listed buses join 5605H and 5611H as confirmed hybrid vehicles on SEPTA property.

I'VE HAD IT WITH THE 104

Rather than waste blog space bitching about the 104, I've decided to start posting problems that I encounter on that line in the guestbook. Today's posting involved a delayed bus right before the start of the PM peak. Let's just say it's starting to become a broken record.

REGIONAL RAIL SCHEDULES TO CHANGE

The Regional Rail schedules will change on Sunday, with major changes to the R1 Airport/Glenside line, R2 Warminster, and both R8 branches. More details will be posted by the weekend.

PHLASH REVISITED

The Center City TMA is proposing to manage a privately operated shuttle bus that would partially replace the Phlash. Details, inlcuding the routing and fare structure, are sketchy, however, the CCTMA is asking DVRPC to transfer CMAQ funding from the former Phlash service to fund the new service. SEPTA would not be involved in the project, but I have a gut feeling that TWU 234 is going to have something to say about this...

HYBRID UPDATE

At least 3 of the New Flyer diesel-hybrid low floor are confirmed to be on SEPTA property. 5605H and 5606H were seen yesterday at the Germantown shops, while 5611H was at Wyoming. A SEPTA official told the DVRPC's Regional Transportation Committee that at least 5 hybrids were on the property. Thus far, I've only been able to confirm the two at Germantown and the single bus at Wyoming, but that's not to say that the other two haven't arrived. It's also possible that the two unaccounted hybrids are at Southern as we speak, awaiting their first runs.

As a result of the 5603H-5612H arriving at SEPTA, it appears some 3100s or 3200s could be shifted to Frankford to allow some 3000s to be pulled out of service (or transferred to Midvale). Should make for an interesting couple of weeks...

PAGING DAN GERINGER...

By the time this posting is published, I will have probably burned Dan Geringer's ear off. Or at least his voice mail...

This afternoon, I made the big mistake of walking into the men's room at Market East's Section A (the 10 St side). Let's just say I should've brought a gas mask...

It was one of the worst stenches I have ever encountered. The conditions in the men's room were worse than they ever could've been at 69 St (and that's saying something). Complaints to a maintenance worker and SEPTA Passenger Dis-Services went nowhere. Surprise, surprise...

OH, BY THE WAY...

You can expect my take on Emperor's Street's re-election soon. It won't be pretty...

You can also expect a long rant about the ongoing problems on the 104, where there seems to be a problem on that line every day...

Right now, I need my sleep...

THORNDALE TROUBLES

Last night's commute on the R5 Paoli/Thorndale wasn't a particularly fun one.

The 4:47pm Thorndale Limited (#9555) ran nearly 15-20 minutes late last night, due to a combination of slippery rail and Amtrak problems. At least the 9555 made it to Thorndale...

The #9571 (6:06pm Thorndale Express to Bryn Mawr) made it as far as Downingtown before breaking down between Downingtown and Thorndale. As doors seemingly couldn't make of their mind whether to open or close, one had to wonder if this was a haunted train or just more sloppy SEPTA maintenance (my guess is the latter). Several passengers, including one unfortunate woman from Center City who was visiting friends and missed a dinner reservation as a result of the 9571's breakdown, simply got off the train where it was stalled.

And this mess was before today's bus bridge. Fortunately, that seemed to work out well, as two Red Arrow buses (5593 and 5595) were covering the shuttle. And, as reported yesterday, they both had bike racks. The only problems encountered were construction workers along the 30 Bypass approaching PA 113 in Downingtown, but other than that, there were no major problems.