ODD TIMING...

Less than one month before the current extension of the CBA between SEPTA and TWU 234 comes this story from Dan Geringer at the Philadelphia Daily News (a fully-paid subsidiary of Moveon.org) regarding two bus v. passenger fatalities blamed by blind spots on the New Flyer buses:

Was it bus-driver error or a blind spot behind the huge side-view bus mirror that killed two pedestrians, months apart, in eerily similar SEPTA accidents last year?

The transit agency blames the operators for the fatal accidents, in which pedestrians were struck by the driver’s side of the 40-foot New Flyer Low Floor buses as they turned left through major intersections in daylight.

But Transport Workers Union Local 234 blames the operators’ extra-large side-view mirrors — the target of driver complaints to SEPTA management for months before the fatal accidents because they create a blind spot that hides pedestrians during a left turn.

The union argues that because drivers can’t see a pedestrian who has “disappeared” behind the largest side-view mirror in SEPTA’s fleet, the transit agency should take responsibility for the accidents instead of scapegoating operators.

A picture by Alejandro Alvarez in the Daily News on Monday (posted along with this article) appears to prove the union's point...

On the morning of May 15, 2004, one of SEPTA’s 518 New Flyer Low Floor buses, which have been in service here since 2001, was turning left off 9th Street when it struck and killed a pedestrian in the middle of Erie Avenue.

“As I was turning onto Erie Avenue off of 9th Street, I saw a man at my left driver’s side mirror,” the bus driver told SEPTA. “I hit the brakes, screamed and called for help via control center.”

The victim, Pedro DeJesus, 62, of Kensington, who was not in the crosswalk, was hit by the driver’s side of the bus and died of head wounds at Temple University Hospital.

Seven months later, on the morning of Dec. 6, 2004, another New Flyer Low Floor bus struck and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk as it turned left onto Washington Lane from Ogontz Avenue.

The victim, Ernestine Clemmons, 67, of West Oak Lane, was also hit by the driver’s side of the bus.

SEPTA safety inspectors restaged the second fatal accident “in response to complaints received that the New Flyer Low Floor Bus has blind spots that may create a hazard to pedestrians and other motorist\[s\]” according to a SEPTA memo.

Um, any particular reason why they didn't do so after the first incident?

After re-enacting the accident, SEPTA inspectors reported that “if a pedestrian is exactly aligned with the left side front windshield support structure divide, there may be a moment where visual obstruction is experienced.”

But the transit agency’s report concluded that “the allegation of an engineering flaw creating a visual obstruction for bus operators operating the New Flyer Bus is unfounded.”

“The safety investigation concluded that the cause of the accident was operator error,” said James B. Jordan, SEPTA’s assistant general manager for public and operational safety.

“I did not see how anything other than operator carelessness could have caused these deaths,” he said.

Somehow, it's doubtful Jordan was present for the actual re-enactment, so how could he see anything in the first place?

SEPTA has one of the largest fleets of New Flyer buses in America. It’s unclear whether other transit authorities have had problems.

Jordan said SEPTA checked with other transit agencies, “looking for accidents under similar circumstances with the same type of bus. We found none.”

The driver in the West Oak Lane accident is out on leave for an unrelated injury and has not had a hearing. SEPTA fired the bus operator in the Erie Avenue accident for what it called “reckless and inexcusable” driving.

“We make safety suggestions, SEPTA doesn't act on them and then there’s an accident and SEPTA says it’s all our fault,” said a visibly angry Jeff Brooks, president of TWU Local 234, hoping to win upcoming arbitration, and get the fired bus driver rehired and placed in a nondriving job.

“They didn’t take her good driving record since 1994 into consideration,” Brooks said. “They didn’t consider the fact that bus operators had complained for more than a year about that mirror creating a blind spot, and SEPTA didn’t do anything about it. They just made her the fall guy.”

So, in addition to being president of TWU 234, Mr. Brooks apparently has the ability to magically change an operator's gender? (Sorry, but one has to admit that was a rather odd phrasing that last sentence...)

SEPTA Assistant GM Jordan says he did not know that drivers had complained before the fatalities about the blind spot created by the mirror.

But the TWU gave the Daily News documents showing that SEPTA’s mid-level safety managers knew.

On March 5, 2003, Tony Bednarz, a union official at the Comly depot, sent a safety hazard report to SEPTA manager R. Martinez stating that “many operators are complaining about a sizable blind spot in all New Flyer buses.

“The size of the driver side mirror combined with the current location of the AMDT \[electronic messaging\] screen greatly obstructs \[the\] view of the left side of the bus. This obstruction increases the risk of accident.”

On Oct. 22, 2003, Comly depot’s joint union/management safety committee minutes note: “The issue concerning outside mirrors on New Flyers has been sent to Jim Fox/Director of System Safety.”

Midvale depot’s safety committee has a paper trail stretching from September 2003 (“Mirrors on buses are blocking view of the drivers”) to September 2004 — after the first fatal accident but three months before the second one — when the union/management joint safety committee was notified: “New Flyers — driver side mirror blocks driver’s line of sight.”

How Jordan - or for that matter, Fearless Leader and/or any of the Rotating Resumes at 1234 Market responsible for risk management - couldn't have been made aware of this fact is completely mind boggling... until you consider the way that SEPTA Transit Police have practically become a joke in recent years thanks in large part to what many consider to be incompetent management (read: Jordan)...

Asked why SEPTA doesn’t replace the big mirrors with smaller ones, SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said, “When ordering new buses, we do not specify any design features for rear-view mirrors. We accept mirrors provided and designed by the manufacturer, which meet federal safety standards.”

Add this line to the latest series of canned replies from our beloved Minister of Mis-Information...

At the fired bus driver’s state unemployment-compensation hearing in March, the referee noted that there had been “numerous complaints from drivers regarding the side-view mirror on the type of vehicle that the claimant was driving,” that she “checked her mirrors and proceeded slowly, but struck a pedestrian from the left front side of the vehicle” and that she “did not drive recklessly.”

In awarding the bus driver unemployment benefits, the referee wrote that she “credibly testified that there appears to be a blind spot in the mirror on the vehicle which she was driving, and that the employer was aware of complaints regarding this mirror.”

The referee concluded that “the employer has failed to prove that the claimant willfully or deliberately caused the accident, or that the claimant was reckless in her driving.”

Take away the rhetoric from both SEPTA and TWU, and it certainly sounds an impartial evaluation of the facts to me...

After reviewing SEPTA's “line of vision checks” on the controversial mirror, the Daily News ran its own tests at a depot.

[Geringer] and [Alvarez] took turns sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked bus while union officials acted as pedestrians crossing in front of the bus from right to left.

Both reporter and photographer saw pedestrians on the driver’s side “disappear” behind the mirror, which is installed very close to the thick driver’s window frame, creating even more of a visual obstruction.

For the record, it appears that the pictures were actually taken at Ogontz Loop, though I sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken. That said, in tribute to Yogi Berra's 80th birthday (celebrated last week), it's living proof that "You can learn a lot by just observing."

“I’ve driven all kinds of SEPTA buses,” said union vice president Allison Cooper, who is representing the fired bus driver in upcoming arbitration. “The New Flyer blind spot is not like anything else on any other SEPTA bus.

“SEPTA says the driver was trained to deal with that blind spot. Not true. I took the training. They only teach you to deal with blind spots on the right side, where people board the bus,” Cooper said.

“There’s no training to deal with that huge blind spot caused by that left side mirror. I’m almost six feet tall, and I had to raise up out of my seat to see over it during a left turn. That’s not what we are trained to do.”

Which, sadly and tragically, seems to be SEPTA's SOP as it pertains to training, at least in some cases...

Willie Brown, Local 234’s executive vice president, said, “All those complaints about that driver’s-side mirror before the fatal accidents came from near-misses that scare a bus operator to death.”

“SEPTA ignored those complaints,” Brown said. “Then there’s two fatal accidents, and SEPTA blames the driver, not the mirror that drivers have been complaining about for months.”

“That,” Cooper said, “is crap.”

That, is an accurate assessment.

With all of that out of the way, it certainly seems odd that this story would come out not too long after SEPTA filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the union, accusing TWU leadership of not negotiating in good faith.

Meanwhile, it may not be such a bad idea for SEPTA to get a refresher on one of the most embarassing legal fiascos (and there've been a lot of those in the past several years) since I've lived in the area...

Escalators ... Cecil B. Moore station ... Sharif Hall ... SEPTA's mis-handling of the case ... lawsuit ... heads rolling (but not the right ones)...

Ring any bells, Jordan?

ACTIVE OVERNIGHT...

This was not the best of nights for riders of both the 36 or the Market-Frankford Night Owl...

At around 02:45, a tractor-trailer broke down on the tracks at 49 St near Paschall, blocking the 36 in both directions for nearly an hour, affecting the 8250 and 8251 blocks (car numbers unknown). The 8250 block was backed-out by a white-shirt onto Woodland Av, where it presumably went back in the tunnel and operated between Center City and 49-Woodland. The 8251 block was pretty much stuck on 49 St.

After nearly 35 minutes of trying to reach 3 different 52 buses - all of which were unavailable - the Control Center pulled 5811 off of Market-Frankford Owl/9904 block at City Hall and 5447 off of 42/9101 block at Penns Landing. Both buses were sent to 49-Woodland to run a shuttle from there to Elmwood Carhouse.

At 4:04, Control Center declared the 36 line reopened for trolley service, allowing 5447 and 5811 to return to their normal assignments. The impromtu bus-bridge wasn't the only problem encountered on the Market-Frankford Owl this morning...

Frankford 2781 block endured two separate bus swaps, delaying service. The operator was originally given 5338 at the start of his shift, but non-operating interior lights forced him to swap out with 5339, which didn't have a working horn, before finally giving him 5286, which presumably had no major defects.

But, other than that, it was a quite night in SEPTA-land...

THE LATEST NEWTOWN SCHEME

The Bucks County Planning Commission is seeking proposals for a study to consider Bus Rapid Transit and a pedestrial trail (file in MS Word format) along the all-but-abandoned Newtown branch right-of-way between Fox Chase and Newtown Boro. SEPTA rail service was discontinued in the early 1980s north of Fox Chase; repeated attempts - mainly pushed by Bucks County officials - to restore rail service on this branch have been met with strong opposition from certain factions in Montgomery County (read: the Pitcairn's of Bryn Athyn). The study is expected to be complete by June 2006.

BUS BRIDGE ON FOX CHASE

As of 17:45, there is a bus-bridge in effect on the R8 Fox Chase line, reasons unknown at this time. Thus far, 5194, 5736, and 7214 have been dispatched from Midvale to Wayne Junction; the control center is in the process of trying to get a bus sent to Fox Chase, most likely from Comly.

18:00 - Control center has confirmed that wires are down on the R8 just north of Wayne Jct. In addition to the three buses sent to Wayne Jct, three buses are being sent to Fox Chase, numbers have not been confirmed. It appears that the train involved was either the #852 (17:08 Suburban to Fox Chase) or the #849 (17:15 Fox Chase to Chestnut Hill West).

18:34 - Control center has relayed orders from RRD that service between Wayne Jct and Glenside is single-track operation and the bus bridge has ended. 5559 was the bus sent from Comly to Fox Chase loop. Additionally, 5746 was dispatched to Fern Rock for reasons unknown. Based on the new information, it appears that the wires were on the RDG Main as opposed to the Fox Chase branch.

35 GETTING A REPRIEVE?

According to reliable sources at 1234 Market (one of the few reliable ones, anyway), the 35 appears to have been spared from elimination. The plan appears to be to re-route the 9 back to Andorra, cut the 35 back to a circulator service, and proceed with changes to the 61 and 61 Express (which would be rebranded the 62). A public hearing is scheduled to take place within the next month or two on the revised changes, which came about after discussions between SEPTA and city officials.

THE MAY "RUBBER-STAMP" REPORT: NOTHING MUCH TO REPORT

There was nothing of particular interest coming out of today's "rubber-stamp" session of the SEPTA Board, except for the following:

1. The meeting actually started at 15:00, which is a major accomplishment considering that "rubber-stamp" sessions are notorious for starting anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes late.
2. State Sen. Stuart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) was absent; Montgomery County board member Michael O'Donoghue and House GOP appointee Frank McCartney participated via phone.
3. For the first time in recent memory, Fearless Leader actually had something to report, as three SEPTA employees - two Broad Street Line managers and a Southern bus operator - were honored for apprehending a fleeing suspect and rescuing two children from a burning car that crashed into a Philadelphia Police cruiser.
4. The meeting ended at 15:06, a typical "let's get in and out as quickly as we can" session.

TROUBLE ON SUBWAY-SURFACE?

There appears to be a diversion in progress on the subway-surface line. Shortly before 16:00, an Elmwood supervisor made a request for buses to be dispatched to 36-Lancaster for unknown problems in the tunnel. At least three buses have been dispatched to that location; it appears that the problems are at this point limited to the 10. There is a disabled fire truck blocking the rails along Lancaster near 36 St. To make matters worse, there's report of equipment blocking the diversion route, hence the bus-bridge.

5038 has been the only bus dispatched thus far; the control center is trying to scrounge up two more buses to cover a bus-bridge. A second bus appears to be en route to the staging area at Lancaster from 69 St Terminal.

16:14 - buses are now operating the entire length of the 10 route from 63-Malvern to 36-Lancaster. Cars currently at Malvern Loop are being told to wait at that location for now.

FINALLY TAKING ADVANTAGE...

An innovation from SEPTA? It has to be a joke, right?

Wrong...

Thanks in part to the CARD radio system installed two years ago, SEPTA is now adding real-time detour information for all city and suburban bus routes. The information,
which is updated twice daily, comes directly from the Control Center at 1234 Market. It not only includes ongoing detours, but also "pop-up" detours for incidents such as emergency road-work or fire scenes. It's certainly long overdue...

WHO'S REALLY RUNNING SEPTA?

As a follow-up to the contract negotiations, SEPTA posted this message regarding the TWU's actions (or, in their view, lack thereof). The strange part about this press release was that it was not signed by Fearless Leader, but rather by Minister of Mis-Information Richard Maloney:

It appears the Transport Workers Union does not want to negotiate a new contract.

For the most part, TWU president, Jeff Brooks has been MIA from the bargaining table. He’s been too busy trying to make his case to everyone but the SEPTA negotiators.

Yesterday, Mr. Brooks complained in the media that, so far, SEPTA has not made any wage offers.

He’s absolutely right. There will not be any wage offer until Mr. Brooks is finally willing to sit down and negotiate health insurance premiums.

The health insurance issue is the elephant sitting at the bargaining table, and Mr. Brooks hasn’t seen it.

Last February, when Governor Rendell announced emergency funding for SEPTA, he addressed the health insurance premium issue by saying, "Today in America, there isn’t anyone who does not contribute to the cost of their health care." The Governor repeated precisely the same statement yesterday.

The SEPTA Board, state and local elected leaders, the regional business community and the editorial boards of the regional media are unanimous on this one issue – the next contract between SEPTA and the Transport Workers Union must include employee contributions to health insurance.

Unfortunately, the TWU seems to feel if they refuse to negotiate the issue, it will be taken off the table. They are dead wrong.

Mr. Brooks told the media yesterday that he’s charging each of his members five-dollars a week to help pay for the negotiations. That adds up to 92-thousand dollars a month – over a million dollars a year.

So, what does Mr. Brooks have to lose by avoiding negotiations, by refusing to sit down at the bargaining table, and by eventually asking for another contract extension? Nothing. What does Mr. Brooks have to gain by another delay – you ask him the question. And then ask SEPTA riders what they have to gain by having the threat of a strike hanging over their heads for months to come.

Time is short – but there is still enough time to do a deal.

This is SEPTA’s message to Mr. Brooks -- we can do a deal today - or we can do a deal a year from today. But, in the end – the deal will include employee contributions to health insurance.

It’s time for Mr. Brooks to look the elephant in the eye.

Recall that not too long ago, Fearless Leader angrily referred to Brooks as "Mr. New Guy" during the early part of negotiations. Speaking of which, where exactly has Fearless Leader been during these negotiations? Is she really content to allow a political hack like Maloney do all the dirty work so she can take the credit (or assign blame) once a new deal is done?

If that doesn't sound like a General Manager who appears detached and uninterested, I don't really know what does...

MORE DELAYING TACTICS...

For the second time in as many months, SEPTA and TWU 234 have agreed to a contract extension. The current CBA, which was originally scheduled to expire on March 15, had been extended to Friday. However, according to KYW 1060, SEPTA management "reluctantly" agreed to the 60 day extension. I have a sick feeling that the union is holding off on a strike until June, just as they did in 1998, when they walked off the job on June 1 for a 40-day strike right at the start of tourist season. For the next two months, at least, SEPTA will still be running.

JUST PASSING THROUGH...

For the past few days, a hybrid Orion VII from New York City Transit had been operating on various routes out of Southern. Yesterday, NYCT 6365 - which was renumbered 3999 by SEPTA - was operated on the 37 (7357 block) between South Philadelphia and Chester. Apparently, SEPTA was testing out the Orion VII for a possible future bus order, however the next bus order upon arrival of the last 100 New Flyers isn't scheduled until 2008 at the earliest.

SUBURBAN SCHEDULES CHANGE THIS WEEKEND

Bus schedules on Frontier routes will change on Sunday, while bus and rail schedules on Red Arrow routes will change on Monday. There are some minor timetable changes to many routes, which I'll try to post this weekend, work schedule permitting...

Among the highlights of the changes, peak hour service will be adjusted on the P&W, out-bound AM express service on the 101 and 102 will be eliminated, two reverse-peak PM express trips will be operated on the 104 (finally!), and two trips will be eliminated on the 122. There are few major changes on the Frontier routes...

PASSENGER STRUCK BY TRAIN AT NORTH WALES

According to the Lansdale Reporter, a North Wales woman was struck by an outbound R5 train (the #1526) as it was departing North Wales station yesterday morning. The victim was taken to North Wales Elementary School then airlifted to UPenn Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition with non life-threatening injuries.

An officer with North Wales Borough police said the woman‚ whose name was not released‚ was hit and then thrown back about 10 feet while attempting to run across the tracks at the corner of the sidewalk on the southern side of East Walnut Street. ...

He said the North Wales police chief can release information on accidents‚ but nothing would be immediately released because the chief is away for a week.

Goltz said her name would not be released until relatives are notified.

“We had a real quick response to the scene‚ about three minutes‚” he said.

The northbound SEPTA R-5 to Doylestown sat idle in the middle of the intersection at 10:30 a.m. A small pool of blood lay in the middle of the road‚ about five feet from the tracks.

Douglas Freeman‚ of North Philadelphia‚ was riding the R-5 to his job in Colmar. He witnessed the aftermath of the impact.

“They were cutting her clothes off and her face was really bloody‚” Freeman said. “We were coming in to stop and (the engineer) slowed up. Next thing‚ the lady got hit.” Freeman said the woman was running across the tracks to beat the train.

“The police said she was deaf‚” Freeman said. “The train didn’t do anything wrong. In my opinion‚ the engineer was abiding by the safety rules.”

North Wales Mayor Doug Ross said the track crossing gates are relatively new.

“They were replaced about nine years ago after a 9-year-old resident‚ Frances McReynolds‚ was hit‚” he said. “We lobbied to get that crossing replaced.”

Lansdale Reporter

THIS JUST IN...

In a very dramatic scene at last month's Rubber-stamp Meeting of the SEPTA Board (if you consider reading from a script dramatic), SEPTA Board Chairman/Radio Impresario/Turnpike Commissioner/Land Developer Extraordinaire/Former Convention Center Board Member and all around weasel Pasquale T. Deon, Sr. was (ahem) elected to a seventh term as Chairman and CMO (Chief Micro-Managing Officer) of SEPTA Board. Deon served as Vice Chairman under former Delaware County Council President Tom Hayward in 1998, replacing Richard Voith (and a lot of people who follow SEPTA from the outside still miss Mr. Voith's voice of reason on the board) who had left the board for non-political reasons, before being elected Chairman the following year (and it's no coincidence that the western suburbs have been relegated to second class status compared to Bucks and Montgomery County since Deon has been Chairman).

In an even bigger shock with much drama (yes, that is sarcasm), James C. Schwartzman was re-elected Vice Chairman of the SEPTA Board, also for a seventh term. Schwartzman - a Republican from Radnor who was appointed by the Minority Leader of the Pennsylvania Senate (who is a Democrat) - has served on the SEPTA Board since 1991.

(And, if you haven't noticed, I just cut and pasted the same post that I wrote last year, and the year before that.)

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN...

A public meeting will be held on Friday, March 18 in the Board Room at 1234 Market to discuss the preliminary FY 2006 Annual Service Plan. The meeting will begin at 10:00am. Among the proposed changes that will be discussed:

• Route 1 would be extended to Philadelphia Park in Bensalem Township, Bucks County; in addition, a route revision along Decatur and Red Lion Roads near Northeast Philadelphia Airport, which would eliminate the routing via Grant and Academy in favor of operating via Roosevelt Blvd, Comly Rd, Decatur, Red Lion, and Drummond Rd.
  
• Route 3 would be re-routed to offer direct service to the Temple University Regional Rail station, operating via Berks between 9 and 10 St (pending the city's approval to allow two-way traffic along Berks as far west at 10 St).
• Route 14 would operate direct service into the Horizon Corporate Center in Bensalem Township.
• Route 20 would be split into two routes: the 20 would remain unchanged, with some modifications to the express routing, which would operate via Roosevelt Blvd; new Route 50 would would operate over most of the same route, however it would bypass Keswick (which would still be served by the 20). The apparent goal is to make the 50 the primary route between Bridge-Pratt and Philadelphia Park. Some 20 and 50 trips would be extended from Franklin Mills to Philadelphia Park.
• Route 47 southbound service would be re-routed off of N 8 St onto N 6 St between Susquehanna and Cecil B Moore to offer direct service to the Gateway Plaza retail complex.
• The long discussed split of Route 96 would also take place: the 96 would still operate between Norristown and Lansdale, while new Route 132 would operate between Montgomery Mall and Telford, with new service to Central Montgomery Medical Center via Broad St, Horsham Rd, and N Wales Rd.
• Route 97 would be split into two routes: the 97 would still operate between Norristown and Spring Mill Regional Rail Station, however, service would be extended to the Barren Hill district of Whitemarsh Twp, via Hector St, Cedar Grove Ln, Joshua Rd, Germantown Pk, Church Rd, and Ridge Pk; new Route 90 would operate between Norristown and E Norriton Crossing (nee Penn Square) with a revised routing through Norristown State Hospital.
• Route 98 service through the Blue Bell district of Whitpain Twp would be adjusted; evening westbound service would bypass Blue Bell and operate via Germantown Pike, as would all weekend service in both directions.
• Route 129 would be modified in two locations, which have not been disclosed as of yet (the 129 map was not included in the packet that I recieved).

MAYBE THEY'RE ON TO SOMETHING...

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran an editorial in today's editions regarding Monday's bailout of SEPTA and other transit agencies by Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D-Pa./Comcast SportsNet):

The governor will divert $68 million from federal highway funds to get the Port Authority of Allegheny County and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority through the end of this fiscal year. If the state Legislature doesn't devise a more dedicated funding stream after that, Mr. Rendell says he'll divert millions more in highway dollars to keep both agencies afloat next year.

Oh, the irony: Poorly managed mass transit is saved by its aficionados' bane -- the car.

The operative words as it lreates to SEPTA are "poorly managed" though I don't know enough about Pittsburgh's transit agency to say the same thing about them...

Part of Rendell's deal, though, is the creation of a nine-member state Transportation Funding and Reform Commission. One of its missions is to find ways to cut costs, enhance efficiencies and improve service. There will be an external audit of operations and review by an outside management consultant.

Bravo! As long as the appointees (five by the governor and four by the Legislature) are honest brokers, that is. Too many such boards are rubber stamps for an ever-deeper dive into taxpayer pockets. If this board does not recommend a considerable shake-up of the Port Authority and SEPTA, we'll know it's a sham.

Mass transit is broken in this commonwealth. The opportunity is golden to fix it -- not through more government folly but through the competitive market model. Let's get on with it. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

It should be pointed out that unlike the two far-left-of-center leaning rags in Philadelphia - The Inquirer and Daily News - the Tribune-Review leans further to the right-of-center, hence the "competitive market" suggestion. Which, to be fair, can't be any worse than what exists now...

BUS ACCIDENT IN SOUTHWEST...

A G bus was involved in an accident in Southwest Philadelphia last night. According to overhead footage from CBS 3, 5613 was heading north towards Overbrook when a car struck the vehicle from the street side. Three people were injured - the driver of the car and two passengers on the bus.

FAST EDDIE TO THE RESCUE ... FINALLY

After what seemed like weeks of delaying, Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D-Pa./Comcast SportsNet) announced that he would make $68 million in federal flexible funding available to bail SEPTA out, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal:

Rendell proposed that $68 million immediately be made available to SEPTA, which provides service in the Philadelphia area, and the Port Authority of Allegheny County, which serves the Pittsburgh area. Transit agencies will have access to additional funds through Jan. 1, 2007.

"It is welcome news that we are going to keep the system running," SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said.

Not to mention the fact that the Minister of Mis-Information gets to keep his job...

The funding averts SEPTA's planned service cuts and a 25 percent across-the-board fare hike that was to go into effect March 6, Rendell said. But it is only a temporary fix to a long-term problem, said Rendell and SEPTA officials, who held a press conference at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station.

"Although this is a good day in the sense we removed the immediate crisis...It isn't an entirely good day because in my judgment highway funds should be used for highways," Rendell said. "Some of this money will never go back to roads, bridges and highways."

How much of the funding is actually used will depend on how soon legislators act to provide permanent funding through a different source, Rendell said. Additionally, $530 million in new funding will be made available to repair roads and bridges, he said.

Transit agencies will receive the funding from federally provided transportation funds, a large portion of which can be used for either roads or transit. The new funding for roads will come from federal and state sources. Higher than expected revenues from federal and state gasoline taxes will boost funding to $942 million, $276 million of which is a result of the Oil Company Franchise Tax.

At Monday's press conference, Rendell also signed an executive order, creating a nine-member "Transportation Funding and Reform Commission" to study transit and highway funding needs and recommend ways to cut costs, improve efficiency and service, and raise needed funding. The recommendations will result in part from the findings of an external audit and outside management consultant review.

That is, if and when the governor can stop mourning the Iggles colossal choke job in the Super Bowl and actually release the damned report...

"We are always welcome to examinations of our costs and management by
government," said Maloney, who said SEPTA had conducted a number of studies. Philadelphia Business Journal

Sure, SEPTA is open to the idea. If that's the case, why hasn't SEPTA implemented most of the proposals recently recommended in it's recently concluded, in-house audit?

YET ANOTHER VETO...

Philadelphia's two representatives to the SEPTA Board - Chris DiCicco and Jettie Newkirk - once again exercised the city's veto power to delay a fare increase for at least 30 days. This occured at today's "special" board meeting which followed the regularly scheduled "rubber-stamp" session.

This move had been hinted at in Dan Geringer's article in today's Philadelphia Daily News (a fully-paid subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee):

"What we need is a solution, not a destruction of the transit system," said a City Hall source who declined to be identified.

A second City Hall source said that this afternoon's board meeting would be packed with the transit system's most vulnerable captive riders, who need SEPTA to get them to jobs, schools and doctors but who can't afford sky-high fares.

This of course was before the Philadelphia press corps went into "Operation Over-hype" mode in advance of today's snowfall. For the record, only a handful of people were able to make it to today's meeting...

A veto today by city appointees Jettie Newkirk and Christian DiCicco will prevent the 15-member, suburbs-dominated board from passing a 38 percent fare increase for at least a month.

But the veto will not prevent the 25 percent fare hikes and the 20 percent service cuts that were approved in December when the SEPTA board overrode an earlier veto by the same two city appointees.

Those "doomsday" hikes and cuts will go into effect on March 6 unless: (1) The Legislature pays off SEPTA's $49 million deficit, or (2) Gov. Rendell "flexes" (transfers) highway funds to mass transit as a temporary bailout, or (3) The city wins its lawsuit against SEPTA, due to be heard Monday in Common Pleas Court, that argues against fare hikes and service cuts as unnecessary and legally questionable.

Had the veto not been exercised, the SEPTA base fare would've increased from the current $2.00 to $3.00 on March 6. The original plan was to increase the fare from $2.00 to $2.50 last month, then increase from $2.50 to $3.00 on March 6, but the city's pending lawsuit against SEPTA regarding the fare hikes put a crimp in those plans. As it stands now, barring a court order, the base fare will increase to $2.50 on March 6, with the $3.00 base fare on hold pending the expected override of the city's veto next month.

Even so, SEPTA's plan to hike the fares from $2.00 to $3.00 certainly would've ranked as one of the dumbest decisions to come out of 1234 Market in recent memory. And there sure as hell have been a lot of stupid decisions from that place...

TOLD YOU SO...

Less than two months after we recieved a tip from an insider regarding the SEPTA Transit Police department's decision to do away with plainclothes details comes word of an attack at a Broad Street Subway station this past week.

According to WCAU-TV:

A teenager who volunteers his time to help troubled teens was a victim of a gang of teens Monday.

The teen, whose name was not released, was attacked at the Fern Rock SEPTA station.

Police said about a dozen teens attacked the 15-year-old as he was walking to a nearby church where he volunteers.

He was rushed to a hospital for treatment for several cuts and bruises.

The victim's mother believes the attack could have been stopped if police were patrolling the area.

"I'm so upset that this was a pattern we could have prevented from happening had there been plainclothed police officers in the area," said Tanya Haynes.

SEPTA officials said there used to be several plainclothed police officers patrolling the area, but last year those officers were put back into uniform and back on the street.

Police said a 50-year-old man was attacked in the same area [the week of 7 February - ed], apparently by the same group of teens. WCAU-TV

Surprise, surprise, surprise...

Last December, we posted this comment from SEPTA Minister of Mis-Information Richard Maloney, who said this to WCAU-TV after that station aired a report on an increase in pickpocketing incidents on SEPTA vehicles:

"We have a pickpocket patrol at the SEPTA Police Department, and they're undercover police, and they make arrests," SEPTA spokesman Rich Maloney said. WCAU-TV

Along with that lie from Maloney (one of these days, it would be interesting to see a list of lies that Maloney has told in his capacity as SEPTA's Minister of Mis-Information, but that's another posting), we also posted an insider's account that not only reported the lie about the plainclothes details, but also reported that staffing levels during morning peak periods are far less than what they should be.

This raises the question - Was SEPTA lying then, or are they lying now?

For that matter, can you really tell the difference?

FUNDING HELP ON WAY ... WE HOPE

Lost amid the flurry of threats by SEPTA to hike fares and slash service, the Pennsylvania Senate approved a bill (SB 199) sponsored by State Sen. Robert Thompson (R-19th/Chester) that would temporarily suspend the current $75 million cap on the amount of state sales tax that can be dedicated for mass transit statewide retroactive to July 1, 2004 and effective for the current fiscal year. The bill passed the Senate 46-0 and was referred to the House Finance Committee on February 14. The Evening Bulletin reported that SEPTA's take from this would be approximately $14 million.

The problem is that the legislature is in recess until March 14, a week after the first phase of planned fare hikes and 20 percent across-the-board service cuts are supposed to take effect. Kudos are due to Sen. Thompson - a former SEPTA Board Chairman during his stint as a Chester County Commissioner - for getting this bill passed, yet at the same time, it may take at least a month for the House to consider this proposal. By that time, the damage may be done...

YET ANOTHER IDEA FROM HARRISBURG

In yesterday's Philadelphia Daily News (a fully-paid subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee), State Rep. Keith McCall (D-Carbon) laid out his proposal that would benefit both transit and highways, a condition to any possible funding solution for SEPTA:

My proposal will:

• Increase the realty-transfer tax by a half percent [like Fumo's Senate bill], which will give mass transit $200 million in dedicated funding annually, probably more.
• Adjust the formula so that the [smaller]... mass-transit systems get a larger share of state funding. I'm confident that both SEPTA and the Port Authority in Allegheny County will agree to that.
• Make the "floor" of the oil company franchise tax, which increased automatically as of Jan. 1 permanent, which means that an additional $280 million would continue to flow into roads and bridges without the need to raise the gas tax.
• Increase some driver and vehicle fees: passenger-car registrations would rise from $36 to $43, SUVs to $50. Restoring a suspended license would cost $30 instead of $25. That would raise $100 million that would go solely to local governments to repair local bridges and roads. Daily News

According to McCall, his plan "is getting some legs. There's a lot of bipartisan support out there. This is a fluid process. By the time every member gets a chance to look at it, it will have some changes. It's not etched in stone. The important thing is to get this done."

SURE, NOW HE RIDES

In what appears to have been a first, Emperor Street actually rode the Broad Street Subway...

According to the Inquirer, the Emperor joined labor leaders in taking a trip on the subway during Monday's peak hour:

Street, who vowed in a year-end news conference that he and members of his cabinet would ride the cash-strapped transit system weekly in 2005, hopped a Broad Street train from City Hall to Pattison Avenue shortly after 5:30 p.m.

Onboard, he grabbed a seat next to Angie Grant of South Philadelphia, who was in the midst of a 90-minute trip home from her job at a Newtown Square nursing home. Responding to the mayor's questions, Grant said her three-hour daily round-trip aboard the system's buses and trains was crucial to keeping her job.

"It's about work," Street said. "You hike the fares enough and she's going to say, 'Hey, why should I go out there?' "

Street said SEPTA's riders were primarily working people such as Grant, whom he described as "the most deserving people there are to get a subsidy." He called on state legislators to fully fund the transit agency, which has threatened a massive fare hike if Harrisburg cannot solve its financial troubles.

On their journey from City Hall to South Philadelphia's stadium complex, Street and a party that included Lance Haver, Philadelphia director of consumer affairs; Pat Eiding, Philadelphia AFL-CIO president; and Thomas Paine Cronin, leader of the city's white-collar union, witnessed symptoms of SEPTA woes, including graffiti and trash on trains and platforms.

But some aspects of the ride were unique to a mayoral visit, such as a brief delay after a camera crew following Street's party blocked train doors from closing. Later, a subway passenger on a platform loudly banged the car window behind Street's seat.

Perhaps the person banging on the window was not exactly a member of the Emperor's fan club...

Street noted that it was his second public-transit ride of the week. On Friday, he took a bus to work from his North Philadelphia home.

But after reaching the line's Pattison Avenue terminus last night, he rode away in an official vehicle.

Haver said he expected 4,500 Philadelphia advocates to appear at a Feb. 14 transit rally in Harrisburg. Inquirer

It'll be interesting to see if Haver's predictions hold true...

That said, it's really interesting that the Emperor has finally decided to make SEPTA a major issue after years of virtually ignoring transportation issues during his first term...

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Remember last year's Bonny and Clyde couple who had the brilliant idea of taking a SEPTA bus to flee from a robbery scene in Royersford? Apparently, they weren't the first rocket scientists who thought SEPTA would've made a good escape route...

Lou Sessinger, a columnist with the Lansdale-Doylestown Intelligencer related a story about a similar robbery a few years ago in Doylestown Township, Bucks County:

Doylestown Township Police Chief Stephen White remembers an especially dumb crook his department encountered a few years back.

The man held up the M&T Bank in the shopping center at Route 611 and Almshouse Road, which incidentally is a mere stone's throw from the Bucks County Prison.

Maybe that's fitting because the guy apparently was no stranger to the corrections system.

He had written a demand note and gave it to a bank teller, leaving it behind when he fled.

"The note was written on the back of an envelope," White recalled. "On the front of the envelope was the man's name and address. It had been sent to him by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections."

As it turned out, the holdup man had taken a SEPTA bus to Doylestown Township up Route 611 from his home in Elkins Park (the 55 - ed.). He was planning to take another SEPTA bus home after the robbery - I guess you call that a getaway bus - but he had to kill some time before the bus arrived.

For once, the lengthy headways north of Willow Grove Park Mall paid off...

His intention was apparently to get something to eat at a restaurant in the shopping center near the bank until the bus came. However, the restaurant wasn't open, and he couldn't get in.

Police arrested him within minutes. Intelligencer

SOME IDEAS FROM THE "FRINGE"

The Philadelphia City Paper (which makes the Daily News look like National Review, and that may be a little generous) ran a cover story last week in which staffers offered 33 suggestions on how to improve SEPTA. I haven't had a chance to review the full article, but at some point this month, I'll try to offer a commentary related to this article...