MORE NEW FLYERS ON THE WAY SEPTA has awarded the contract for the next 340 low floors to New Flyer, pending SEPTA Board approval at next month's meeting. This order will essentially replace the remaining Neoplans on the roster by 2006 at the latest.

ROUTE 208 TO END The 208 bus between Strafford Rail Station (R5 Paoli) and Chesterbrook will be eliminated next month, due to the expiration of PennDOT funding. The funding for the line was made available as part of the US 202/Section 400 reconstruction project. Route 204 between Paoli Rail Station and Lionville will remain, however, as funding for that line - plus two new routes - will be part of the US 202/Section 300 Congestion Mitigation Strategies project. Proposed Route 205 would operate between Paoli Rail Station and industrial parks along the PA 401 corridor; Route 306 would operate between Chadds Ford and Great Valley via West Chester and Exton (this might explain why an ElDorado was seen along Swedesford Rd near the Exton Square Mall about two months ago). SEPTA is also looking to add 100 more parking spaces at Exton and pave over the gravel "temporary" lot at Malvern, as well as extending the 6:45pm R5 departure from Suburban Station from Malvern to Thorndale.

DOES GERLACH FINALLY GET IT? Congressman James Gerlach (R-6th) recently addressed the Schuylkill Valley boondoggle at the Phoenixville Area Chamber of Commerce Regional Development Forum. Noting SEPTA's current funding crisis, the freshman legislator gave a frank assessment of Schuylkill Valley's chances of ever being built:

"With the number of transportation projects being proposed, we don't think we'll see a large portion of Federal money - approximately 60 percent. Now is the time to put heads together to bring some of the costs down on this project."

Really? Geez, that's what most people who've seen the nearly $2 billion price tag for the project have been saying since SEPTA came up with this stupid "MetroRail" alternative...

REALLY BIG SHOES... At last week's SEPTA Board meeting, nearly 2 dozen activists tossed shoes towards the SEPTA Board in protest of the proposed service cuts that were discussed at last week's public hearings. While it's certainly nice to see that people are waking up to the incompetence that seems to exist at SEPTA, isn't that just getting a little ridiculous? On a related note, one of the organizations responsible for the protest is an outfit called the "Save Our Transit Coalition" which is a group of numerous organizations opposing the fare hikes. That's fine, but once the dust settles, do these people plan to stay around for the long term, or are they just going to show up whenever there's a fare hike? Incidentially, nearly 1,000 people testified at the recent series of public hearings on the Operating Budget, including nearly 600 people in Center City. The "morning session" did not officially conclude until shortly before 6:00pm; the "evening session" commenced shortly thereafter.

CYNWYD LINE UPDATE Yet another new timetable will be issued for the R6 Cynwyd line as part of weekday service changes on the Regional Rail relating to the Rail Power Project. The new timetable, which will be take effect on May 27, will reflect the limited rail service and shuttle bus operation on the Cynwyd branch, which should be complete by late July. Of course, most of the rail lines will probably be curtailed or dismantled by then, but what difference does it make, right?

THE CONTINUED MIS-ADVENTURES OF PASSENGER DIS-SERVICES AND SEPTA POLICE On Sunday at Suburban Station, the information booth for the Rail Power Project was actually staffed by 4 SEPTA Transit Police officers, rather than Regional Rail division employees. This was rather unhelpful when a passenger requested a Rail Power Project timetable for the R3 Elwyn line and was unable to find one. When the complaintant (who requested anonymity, for obvious reasons) requested a schedule, the officers directed my source to the timetable racks, which did absolutely no good, as they were the regular weekday timetables. It's not as though the police officers staffing the booth have any idea what the passenger was talking about. When a Regional Rail employee arrived, things got a little testy. After trying to explain that there were no R3 Elwyn weekend RPP timetables, the RRD employee reportedly got confrontational. Despite further explaination, the officers ordered my source to leave the area; come to think of it, if that incident is true, the officers at the RPP booth would've made perfect Passenger Dis-Services reps, given the state of customer service on the RRD in recent months. The correspondent reports that there were actually 3 officers staffing the booth; the 4th (the spy ID' the officer as shield #344) was reportedly in the Passenger Dis-Services office placing a personal phone call - on a SEPTA telephone when he passed through the station, though the officer returned to the booth when the call was completed. Of course, it's not as though anyone is going to get mugged on the El or Broad Street lines or shot while on the Subway-Surface lines while 4 officers are deployed as "customer service agents" at Suburban Station. And that's not counting the 2 SEPTA police officers directing traffic at 30 St and JFK Blvd when that should really be the domain of the Philadelphia Police or Amtrak Police (since 30 St is technically Amtrak property). Gee, you think that maybe these officers would be better utilized by actually riding the system and not acting as customer service reps? And you wonder why the public seems to have an unfavorable opinion of SEPTA's police department?

HEARINGS END WITH A BANG Nearly 700 people filtered in and out of Room 201 at the Convention Center yesterday to express opposition and make strong comments about SEPTA's proposed service cuts and fare increases. Not so surprisingly, the strongest comments came from members of Philadelphia City Council, which recently voted to essentially control the purse strings regarding the city's $56 million subsidy to SEPTA. For more blow-by-blow details on the hearings, click on these two links below:

Inquirer article on Philadelphia hearings

Daily News article on Philadelphia hearings

For coverage from the other four hearings:

Courier Times/Doylestown hearings

Inquirer/Media hearings

Delaware County Daily Times/Media hearing

Daily Local News/West Chester hearing

Inquirer/Norristown hearing

TAKE A NUMBER The anger in the editorial pages on SEPTA's plans are not just coming from the Daily News, but it's starting to come from the burbs as well. Take this editorial from this past Sunday's Delaware County Daily Times for example.

SLOW PROGRESS After several articles over the past few days, The Daily News reports that SEPTA has fixed most of the damaged call boxes that were uncovered during a routine investigation. Wow, it only took them about 2-3 years (at some locations) to do something about it. Now if they can scale back some of their draconian service cuts, then we'd be in great shape.

OH, BY THE WAY... Bus service along West Chester Pike between Havertown and Newtown Square was severely impacted yesterday due to the Welcome Home Heroes Parade. The 104, 112, and 123 were especially hard hit, as buses were departing 69 St Terminal anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes behind schedule, as the eastbound lanes of West Chester Pike were closed, forcing two-way traffic into the westbound lanes. The 110 was detoured off of Lansdowne Av and State Rd due to the parade routing, which ended on the campus of Upper Darby High School. Of course, SEPTA didn't bother to post any information about potential delays or detours on any of the Red Arrow buses that were impacted, which is par for the course for this agency.

LAST CALL FOR TESTIMONY The last of 5 public hearings on SEPTA's Operating Budget, fare increases and service cuts will be held today at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The morning session began at 11:00am, with the evening session slated to start at 5:00pm (all speakers must register no later than 5:30pm). The hearings are expected to be as contentious as they were in Doylestown, Media, and Norristown (oddly enough, the hearings in West Chester were fairly quiet due to a large amount of apathy by Chester County officials and local TMAs). If you are unable to attend the hearings today, you can still submit written testimony to: SEPTA, Secretary of the Board, 1234 Market St, 10th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. The record will remain open until Tuesday, May 27 (the original date was Monday, May 26, however that falls on Memorial Day).

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? D'OH! As if you needed more proof that SEPTA has a major communications problem... The Daily News reports that nearly 1 out of every 4 emergency call boxes are not properly functioning, which by SEPTA standards is above average. Eight of the stations cited as having broken boxes have been classified as being in "high crime areas" along the system (Broad Street: Fairmount/northbound; North Philadelphia/southbound; Susquehanna-Dauphin/southbound, Tasker-Morris; El: Erie-Torresdale and Tioga/both directions; Margaret-Orthodox/eastbound; Allegheny/eastbound; Somerset/eastbound). That's right, both the Erie-Torresdale and Tioga El stations do not have properly functioning call boxes in either direction. Four years ago, SEPTA installed new high-tech (ha ha) call boxes along the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines at a cost of $3.9 million. Apparently, there have been problems with the contractor who was responsible for installing the system among other problems. SEPTA says they will be up and running by the end of the summer; by that time, there may not be too many riders left on the system, thanks to the fare hikes...

On a side note, what nobody from SEPTA bothered to mention is that most - if not all - Broad Street and Market-Frankford stations, as well as other key locations such as Darby Loop, 40-Woodland, and Regional Rail Stations within the city and immediate suburbs - have pay phones which have been specially programmed to allow direct contact with SEPTA Police, which are clearly marked as such. Simply dial #88 to reach SEPTA Police, or #89 to reach SEPTA Travel Information. At some of the outer egde stations along the railroad (particularly along the R5 Paoli line), only #89 is listed. It amazes me that SEPTA could actually proceed with this call box fiasco when the pay phone system certainly has worked fairly well...

HEARING UPDATES The first two days of SEPTA hearings have passed, but not before SEPTA officials got an earful from irate riders in Doylestown and Media. During the Doylestown hearings on Monday, many commuters focused on the proposed elimination of the 128 bus - which operates between Neshaminy and Oxford Valley malls via Levittown and Bristol - and the R2 Warminster. Most of the complaints at the Media hearing focused on the 116 - which operates between Chester and Granite Run Mall via Aston and Glen Riddle - while at least three reps from PNC Bank's Eastwick facility argued against eliminating the R1 Airport line. Interestingly enough, there have been few comments made about the fare increases on the railroad and on most non-base fare increases on the transit side. The next round of hearings will take place in West Chester tomorrow and in Norristown on Thursday. The big hearings at the Convention Center in Philadelphia take place this coming Monday.

R6 REPRIEVE After what appears to have been a lot of complaining from Montgomery County officials, SEPTA has decided to operate limited train service after all on the R6 Cynwyd line. The original plan was to have all R6 service provided by shuttle buses. After several passengers complained to Lower Merion township officials - who apparently seem to have way too much pull within SEPTA - SEPTA relented and is now operating a total of 4 trains in each direction - 3 peak direction and one reverse peak direction train. Meanwhile, riders on the R5 Paoli/Thorndale, R6 Norristown, and R8 Fox Chase lines will still face reduced service - which coincidentially happens to be what SEPTA is proposing for weekday service as part of the draconian service reduction plan.

SEPTA POLICE STRIKE? The Daily News reported on Saturday that SEPTA Transit Police officers have authorized their union leadership to call a strike if a settlement isn't reached soon. FOP Lodge 109 has been working without a contract since October 2002. FOP officials are calling for significant salary increases which would - in theory - improve SEPTA Police officer's standing as being among the lowest paid officers in the region. The Daily News also reports that turnover within the department has reached about 25 percent - within the past 2-4 months alone, at least two SEPTA Police officers have since moved on to the greener pasture$ of Upper Darby Township's police department, where top pay is nearly double that of a typical SEPTA police officer's salary. Even though most police departments are prohibited by law from striking, apparently, SEPTA is exempt from that prohibition. Union officials however indicate a willingness to avoid a strike if SEPTA agrees to binding arbitration. Considering SEPTA's stance on arbitration in the past, that may very well not happen.

CITY COUNCIL ON WARPATH Several members of the Philadelphia City Council have raised the possibility of the city withholding their subsidy to SEPTA as a result of the massive inconveniences along Market St in West Philadelphia, and also as a response to SEPTA's proposed budget and service cuts. The Daily News reports that Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr. (D-At Large) introduced a measure that would place disbursement of the city's appropriation to SEPTA under the jurisdiction of City Council for release at its own discretion. Making matters worse for SEPTA is that Fearless Leader didn't bother to show up for the hearings, but instead sent two AGMs to argue SEPTA's case. That did not sit too well with Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell (D-3):

"We take it as an insult to the efforts to try and help businesses on the Market Street corridor, as well as residents," Blackwell said. "If you have a serious agenda and nothing to hide, then you can certainly come and face questions."

Amen! Considering that Fearless Leader makes fewer public appearances than Saddam Hussein (though he appears to have a legitimate reason for not showing up in public), this really isn't surprising. However, this isn't DVARP that she's blowing off; it's the Philadelphia City Council. Considering how much clout Council has over how the city is run (Emperor Street notwithstanding), for Fearless Leader to send to cronies in front of City Council instead of facing the music herself is a very dangerous political move. But wait, there's more...

During the hearing, Councilman Michael Nutter (D-4) took exception to SEPTA's response when inquiring about a broken escalator at the 60 St El Station.

[SEPTA's AGM for Business Services Cecil] Bond said the parts to fix the escalator are no longer available. A replacement is out because SEPTA plans to build a new station with new escalators and elevators in two years, he added.

Nutter: "Do you think I'm going to sit here and accept that ... What about the people, the elderly and handicapped, who use that station?" (Daily News)

And Nutter was just getting warmed up...

"Where there are things that can be done, they should be done. And all we get (from SEPTA) is: 'No. Can't. Forget about it.' That's not helpful. And people aren't going to stand for it. I'm certainly not going to stand for it because I'm not going to listen to this noise for the next 5 or 6 years about things that don't make any sense." (KYW NewsRadio 1060)

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, Councilman, but that's how SEPTA works these days. On a side note, Bond isn't exactly one to be talking about escalators, as he was AGM for Safety and Risk Management when the escalator tragedy occured at Cecil B Moore Station a few years ago. (Then again, I'm surprised that he wasn't fired long ago. But, SEPTA being SEPTA, this is probably a promotion for him...) If only Nutter was running for mayor this year instead of Emperor Street...

Also commenting on the El controversy was Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky, who had some not so nice things to say about SEPTA's management (or lack thereof).

ACCIDENT REPORTS A subway-surface trolley was involved in an accident at 43 St/Woodland Av when a car heading northbound struck an Eastwick bound 36 car at around 9:15am. The force of the collision pushed the car that struck the trolley into a second car. At least 3 people on board the trolley were injured, as were 3 others in the cars. The accident is under investigation.

A second accident occured near Fern Rock Station, when a Mayfair bound 70 bus struck a car on 10 St near Godfrey at around 4:00pm on Monday. At least one person in the car was injured and taken to Einstein Medical Center. No other information was made available as of this posting.

MORE 113 MISADVENTURES Today's 1:00pm departure from 69 St Terminal (5320/4506 block) departed for Marcus Hook 25 minutes late. The bus was at it's berth by 1:00pm; the operator, however, was not. Would it really have been too much for a service manager or somebody to explain to us why the operator was a no show? To make matters worse, a call to Customer Dis-Service (MOTTO: We put the DIS in Dis-Service) was fruitless as usual. After I complained about the bus not departing when it was supposed to, the idiot at Customer Dis-Service claimed that the control center had reported no problems with 4506 block. Umm, there is a problem when the bus is idling in the berth 20 minutes after it's supposed to depart. Then, to make matters worse, construction along Main St in Darby Borough is forcing most traffic to detour, but SEPTA buses are being allowed through, thus adding another 5 minutes in delays. How nice of SEPTA to at least post notices about the street construction ... oh, wait, they didn't even bother. I guess that would be asking too much...

RAIL SCHEDULE CHANGES DELAYED If you haven't noticed, the new Regional Rail schedules dated May 5 are not going into effect until May 12. That means riders on most lines - particularly the R5 Paoli/Thorndale - will still have their full weekday peak service for another week. The schedules on most lines are being adjusted or reduced due to the ongoing Rail Power Project. The date change was found out the hard way, as a search for new timetables at Suburban Station proved unsuccessful. When I inquired about the new schedules at the Passenger Dis-Services office (see above item for motto), I dealt with yet another example of obnoxious employees who seem to have a problem with the conecpt of manners. After I asked why the new schedules had been delayed, I was basically ignored and told to leave - but not before referring to the Regional Rail system as the "laughing stock of all railroads" (which is very much true, given the way that SEPTA has treated it's railroad customers throughout this entire project).

And if anyone was surprised by what seemed like a sudden decision to reduce weekday service on some lines ... join the club. DVARP recently reported that SEPTA had planned to take this action from the very start of this project, yet chose not to notify the public of these changes until a week before they took effect. Yeah, that's a great way to keep the public informed, not to mention a wonderful way to retain that ridership once the fare increase takes effect. This, by the way, is another byproduct of the incompetence of SEPTA management since Fearless Leader took over as SEPTA's General Manager. It certainly didn't help that a very arrogant Howard Eskin-wannabe by the name of Patrick Nowakowski is now the AGM for Operations. At least his predecessor, Bernard Cohen, was willing to listen to the public. Nowakowski, on the other hand, seems to think that the opinion of the riding public is irrelevant, since after all, we're just shelling out what seems to be more money for decreased and degraded service.

200-SERIES BUS SCHEDULES ALSO CHANGING In concert with the RRD schedule changes, new timetables are being issued for the 201, 203, 204, 206, 207/WHIRL, and 208 buses. Many of the adjustments are related to the new railroad schedule changes, with a new AM peak trip operating between Lionville and Paoli on the 204. More details will be posted soon (at least I would hope so).

R3 DETOURS IN THE WORKS It would appear that the R3 Media/Elwyn line will see some bus bridge operations in the near future. According to the Town Talk News weekly paper, the Middletown Township (DelCo) Council approved a $128,040 contract to remove the Indian Lane Bridge, which is located just east of Elwyn Station. The contractor is planning to remove the bridge at the same time a similar bridge project is taking place near Swarthmore, resulting in at least one weekend of bus bridge operations on the Elwyn line. Township Council President Douglas Roger expressed displeasure about the township having to pay the cost of shuttle bus operations, since a court order following the SEPTA takeover of the Regional Rail system shifted ownership of the bridges to the municipalities. "Middletown did not build the bridge; never owned the bridge. It's unfortunate we have to pay for the removal and for busing," he said. Yup, that's kinda the SEPTA way, now isn't it?

PHLASH SAVED ... FOR NOW According to reliable sources within the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, a significant amount of outside funding will keep the Phlash Center City loop in service at least until the end of 2003. As for what happens in 2004, that remains to be seen. Full details were not available, however the Phlash will remain in service as long as funding becomes available.

ABINGTON STRIKES BACK A public hearing will take place on Tuesday, May 13 in the Abington Township Municipal Building regarding SEPTA's plans for the R2 Warminster line. The meeting will take place at 7:30pm in the Board Room of the Abington Township building - located at 1176 Old York Rd. I highly doubt that this is a SEPTA hearing, but is most likely a hearing set up by the township's supervisors (or one of their commitees).

DEJA VU ON THE G For the second time in nearly 6 weeks, a G bus struck an elderly passenger while in service. This time, the incident occured at around noon yesterday, as a southbound G bus struck an 81-year-old female at the intersection of 56 and Vine Sts in West Philadelphia. The victim was treated at a local hospital; no other details were made available as of today. The previous incident occured on March 18 at 57 and Chestnut Sts, also in West Philadelphia, when a 78-year-old female was struck and killed by a northbound G.

JERSEY ADVENTURES NJ Transit restarted service to the Six Flags/Great Adventure park in Jackson Twp earlier this month. In addition to the Saturday/Sunday/holiday service along the 318 line from the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal and Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, NJT also introduced a new Route 310, which connects Great Adventure with the Trenton Rail Station. The 310 will operate Thursday through Sunday only, at least through May 9. Two other routes which were added within the past two years - the 307 from Freehold and 309 from Toms River/Lakewood - are also back in service for the summer season. The 307 operates daily service, while the 309 only operates Thursday through Sunday. Also new on the 307 this year is the addition of two AM from Rova Farms and two PM trips to Rova Farms to provide connections with the 317 to and from Philadelphia.

QUESTIONABLE POLLING If you thought that SEPTA was getting a little ridiculous in some of its surveys, then you should read this article in today's Daily News. Some commuters along the R8 Chestnut Hill West line were less than thrilled about being asked their age, gender, and race, among other personal items. On the surface, according to the article, it gives the impression that SEPTA might (operative word being might) be using race and other factors in deciding which services to cut. (Remember, this is the Daily News we're talking about, and they're not exactly the most moderate newspaper in the country...) Apparently, SEPTA's Minister of Dis-Information and Lies Richard Maloney took exception to that accusation:

"I'm almost appalled that you asked the question. Absolutely not."

Come to think of it, I'm almost appalled that this moron still has a job with SEPTA, since he has the credibility of Michael Moore (the biggest lying fraud to disgrace the movie industry), but that's another story.

In addition to the R8, the other three rail lines on the chopping block (the R1 Airport, R2 Warminster, and R6 Cynwyd) and several bus routes - the C, 19, 31, 37, and 123 - are also targeted as part of the survey. Gee, why doesn't SEPTA focus it's survey on some of the other lines which are in danger of being cut, such as the 35, 77, 92, 128, and 133? Come to think of it, how did the 37 end up on the endangered list? Did I miss something here?

MORE MARKET ST CONROVERSY Ronnie Polaneczky's Daily News column reports that community leaders along Market St in West Philadelphia are planning to show up in force at a Philadelphia City Council meeting next Wednesday to take SEPTA to task over the massive Market St El reconstruction project. At issue is the closing of Market St between 43 and 63 Sts, which some residents claim has been an open invitation to crime. The pastor of Christian Faith Baptist Church at 60 and Market Sts had been burglarized twice since the construction project began - the first burglaries since he became pastor nearly a decade ago. Other community leaders are calling for a boycott of SEPTA until the agency starts becoming more responsive to the community. Great, yet another wonderful accomplishment in the miserable administration of Fearless Leader, who has seemingly made SEPTA even less sensitive to the public than Jack Leary ever did - and that's saying a hell of a lot...

GIRARD AVENUE TROUBLES An early morning water main break along the Girard Avenue Bridge over I-76 and Kelly Drive caused havoc both for motorists and 15 riders. As of late this afternoon, the 15 was still detouring off of Girard between 33 and 34 Sts. The interesting thing is that SEPTA has made no mention of it on its web site (despite the fact that the 15 is a fairly important crosstown line), but the Smartravler site does have detour info posted. On the flip side, Smartravler makes no mention of the 11 bus bridge between Darby Loop and Woodland/Island, but the SEPTA web site mentions it, however you'd have to look pretty closely for it.

CHURCHMANS CROSSING CLOSING DART First State informed its customers that the R2 will not stop at Fairplay/Churchman's Crossing Station between May 12 and June 6 due to Amtrak track tie replacement. DART is operating a shuttle bus between Churchman's Crossing and Wilmington during the station closing. Interesting how DART has no problem accomodating inconvenience passengers while SEPTA can't even provide minimal bus service for R3 passengers between West Trenton and Trevose.

EL SHUTDOWN THIS WEEKEND The Market Frankford El will operate a bus bridge this weekend between Spring Garden and Frankford due to track work on the east end of the El. The usual local/express set-up will be in place, with local service operating between Spring Garden and Bridge-Pratt and express service via I-95 between 15 St/City Hall and Bridge-Pratt with a stop at Bridge and Torresdale. This might explain why there's no Rail Power Project shuttle buses this weekend.

MESSY DAY IN NICETOWN Several bus routes experienced delays through the Nicetown section of Philadelphia due to a police investigation at Hunting Park and Erie. A juvenile male allegedly stole a school bus owned by All City Transportation from a parking lot at 7 St and Roosevelt Blvd. During the chase, the suspect allegedly struck a woman at the intersection of Broad and Hunting Park. The chase ended at around 11:45am, when the suspect crashed the school bus into a wall at Yelland and Hunting Park. The suspect will be charged with auto theft, aggravated assault, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, fleeing police, and numerous violations of the motor vehicle code. Let's hope this punk is tried as an adult and further hope he has his preliminary hearing in front of Judge Seamus McCaffery.

As far as how this impacted SEPTA service: The accident investigation forced police to close off Hunting Park between Erie and 21 Sts. As a result, the 1, H, R, and XH were forced to detour off of Erie onto 23 St and Venango before returning to their normal routings. Service was also delayed on the 33 and 56, as buses were stopped for several minutes at a time; many buses pulling in and out from Midvale en route to Olney and points along Broad Street were also delayed, as they were also caught in the Hunting Park quagmire.

CITY AVENUE PROBLEMS Ongoing construction of the City Av bridge over the Amtrak Keystone Branch/R5 Paoli Thorndale line is making life miserable for operators on the 65. Buses en route to 69 St Terminal have been running as much as 20 minutes late due to the heavy congestion between 59 St and 63 St (as was the case with 5212 block today, which was supposed to arrive at 69 St Terminal at 3:25pm before departing as the 3:40pm to Germantown; 5212 block reached 69 St at 3:45pm, and departed 5 minutes later). The sooner they complete this reconstruction, the happier commuters will be.

NEW RAIL SCHEDULES MAY 5 The new Regional Rail timetables will take effect on Monday, May 5. As expected, shuttle buses will replace train service on the R6 Cynwyd due to the last phase of the RRD Rail Power Project. In addition, some peak hour service has been adjusted on most of the lines, with the R5 Paoli Thorndale losing some limited trains (some Thorndale trains are now express to/from Bryn Mawr instead of Wayne). More details will be posted (hopefully) soon. On the bright side, R3 service has been fully restored between Trevose and West Trenton as of this morning. Service north of Trevose had been suspended for several days due to a CSX derailment.

QUESTIONABLE ACCOUNTING? The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat reports that there may be some discrepancies in how part of the Pennsylvania Public Transit Assistance Fund (generally referred to as Act 26 funding) may be collected. According to the Tribune-Democrat, Pennsylvania motorists must pay two separate fees for every tire purchased in the Commonwealth. One fee is supposed to go towards tire disposal and enviromental cleanup, however that can vary from between $2.00 to $4.00 depending on what part of the state you purchase tires. The second fee - a $1.00 fee in addition to the enviromental fee - is collected as part of Act 26 funding, which also includes motor vehicle leasing taxes and rental fees among other sources - is consolidated into a single payment to the PTAF from the Commonwealth's Treasury. SEPTA recieves 70 percent of statewide Act 26 funding, with the majority of the remainder (approximately 20-25 percent) allocated to the Port Authority of Allegheny County, leaving the smaller systems to split the remainder of the Act 26 funding. Based on the article, it appears possible that some tire fees may or may not be properly collected. Officials at PennDOT, the Commonwealth Treasurer's office, and the Department of Enviromental Protection (which supposedly recieves the $2.00-4.00 fee for enviromental cleanup) were unable to explain how exactly the revenues from the tire fees were accounted for. It does make one wonder if the Act 26 related tire fees may be underreported by the Department of Revenue or by PennDOT.

ANOTHER RAIL FIASCO And now, for the monthly fiasco on SEPTA's Regional Rail system. In fact, it's three for the price of one in the fiasco department today, though two of the problems were not SEPTA's fault (as amazing as this sounds).

The first incident occured at around 1:15am, as a CSX freight train derailed near Neshaminy Falls. Reports indicate that vandals placed used tires on the CSX (non-electrified) track, causing at least 6 of the over 100 freight cars to derail into the SEPTA track area. The derailment knocked catenary down, forcing SEPTA to suspend service on the West Trenton line for most of today. Service as far north as Trevose is expected to be restored in time for tomorrow's commute, however there will be no shuttle service between West Trenton and Trevose. Instead, SEPTA is telling commuters to take the R7 Trenton line, which had it's own share of problems this afternoon (more detail shortly).

The second incident occured during the morning rush hour, as downed wires between Fern Rock and Jenkintown forced passengers on the R2 Warminster and R5 Lansdale-Doylestown line onto shuttle buses at Jenkintown to connect with the Broad Street Subway at Fern Rock. Service was restored at around 4:00pm this afternoon, however residual delays were still expected. In addition to the stranded trains north of Fern Rock, service on the R1 Airport and R5 Paoli-Thorndale lines were also impacted, as trains could not be cross-routed via the Center City tunnel. There were reports that R1 Airport Line service was also suspended for most of the day due to stranded trains on the Reading Trunk, however, that has not been confirmed.

Okay, let me see if I understand this. SEPTA has enough buses to take passengers from Jenkintown to Fern Rock, but can't even provide basic shuttle service along the even busier West Trenton line? And isn't the Warminster line supposed to be shut down if Fearless Leader has her way? And is it any coincidence that this latest RRD meltdown occured the day before the monthly SEPTA Board Meeting - just as the last RRD meltdown did last month?

Meanwhile, the R7 Trenton Line, which was already experiencing heavier loads due to the non-service on the R3 West Trenton line, had it's own problems during the evening rush hour. Philadelphia and Amtrak police report that an New York bound Amtrak train (#186) struck and killed a tresspasser near Bridesburg at around 3:15pm. All R7 service was suspended during the police investigation, with the exception of two peak hour trains to Trenton.

All in all, it was not a good day to be a Regional Rail commuter in Bucks County.

10 INTERRUPTED Service on the 10 was disrupted yesterday following a fatal shooting on Lansdowne Avenue between 59 and 60 Sts in West Philadelphia. Unfortunately, there was no way to divert the 10 around that area, hence shuttle buses were deployed. The 31 bus was also affected by the incident.

FROM THE JERSEY DESK... It appears that the controversy over the 559 bus between NJ Transit, NJDOT, and Bass River Township, Ocean County, may be reaching a conclusion. The Press of Atlantic City reports that NJDOT officials may be close to reaching some sort of agreement with Bass River officials that would allow bus service to operate through the township while the Bass River bridge is being rebuilt. NJDOT officials are considering putting a 30-foot Nova RTS bus into service along that section of US 9 while construction continues or paying Burlington County to operate its shuttle buses more frequently. A final agreement should be reached in a matter of days.

PATCO EXPANSION POSSIBLE? On another transit related note in South Jersey, The Inquirer reported that officals from the Delaware River Port Authority are seeking long term solutions to the parking lots that are the NJ 42 and NJ 55 freeways through Camden and Gloucester Counties. One possible solution mentioned was a PATCO extension along the NJ 42/NJ 55 corridor which could potentially stretch into Millville, Cumberland County. NJ Transit had originally proposed a rail system connecting Camden and/or Philadelphia along existing rail lines to Glassboro, however fierce opposition from Gloucester County residents and freeholders eventually cut back the original South Jersey LRT system - which would've operated from Mount Holly, Burlington County to Glassboro, via Camden. Republican bigwigs in Burlington County eventually convinced NJ Transit to use the Trenton to Camden riverfront corridor instead, and the rest is boondoggle history.

RENDELL STRIKES BACK Gov. Ed Rendell apparently isn't taking Fearless Leader's threats to dismantle the SEPTA system piece by piece if the agency doesn't get additional funding from Harrisburg. According to The Inquirer, Rendell told reporters following a forum in Upper Darby yesterday:

"I want SEPTA to make the same type of cuts that I made in the state government ... I've got management and productivity experts - not in the government, but outsiders - who are willing to come in for free and take a look at their operations and see if we can save money."

Apparently, Rendell's comments have scared off Fearless Leader, as SEPTA sent Minister of Dis-Information and Lies Richard Maloney out to respond:

"We welcome the governor, the budget secretary, or the legislature to take a look at our books in any way ... Since the mid-1990s, when government support for transit has been flat, we didn't sit on our hands and wait."

Okay, Richie, now that you've put your foot in your mouth (again), I think I'll take you up on that offer. I'll let my people get in touch with your people and we can work something out. (Okay, that was a little scarcastic, but you get the picture.) It would, however, be nice if SEPTA released a more detailed line item-by-line item budget so the public can understand where their fare and tax dollars are going.

VANDALS STRIKE AGAIN For the second time in less than a month, vandals again struck the Swarthmore Rail Station on the R3 Elwyn line. In the previous incident on March 20, Swarthmore College public safety investigated reports of graffiti on the outbound platform area and along the tunnel to Magill Walk. This time, campus safety officials report that three suspects were in the area of the outbound platform at around 3:15am last Saturday (April 12) where anti-Bush graffiti was scrawled on station buildings and advertisements. When SEPTA Transit Police requested assistance from college officials, Swarthmore College Public Safety Director Owen Redgrave said, “We have no legal reason to be there or enforce anything.” Except for the fact that two vandalism incidents occured in the same general area within a three week period, and the fact that the station abuts the college campus, I'd say Redgrave and his SEPTA Police-wannabes (they certainly have the incompetence part down; see next item) do have a reason to provide some patrol services. Then again, considering the rather leftist thinking of the student body at Swarthmore College (see Dukakis, Michael among other famous alumni), it's no surprise that campus officials would virtually turn a blind eye to vandalism if it mocks the Bush Administration. On a related train of thought, where is the Swarthmore Borough police department?

SEPTA SLAMMED IN COURT ... AGAIN Either someone on the SEPTA Transit Police department is losing control of his department (take a bow, Chief Richard Evans), or SEPTA's police officers are just plain stupid. That seems to be the gist of the message from a recent settlement of a lawsuit involving a street musician and SEPTA. The Inquirer reports that SEPTA settled with Byard Lancaster, 60, for $18,000 on Tuesday following a SECOND civil lawsuit claiming infringment of civil rights. This comes on the heels of a $15,000 settlement last year on similar charges. (Ed. - That's $33,000 of your fare dollars in less than four months for annoying passengers; not bad work if you can get it, huh?) In addition, SEPTA agreed to train its officers on dealing with musicians on public property. The settlement reads in part that:

"Under no circumstances shall a street musician be arrested or told to leave a location merely because that individual is playing a musical instrument or singing."

Gee, you'd think SEPTA would've learned that lesson the first time...

In any case, today's Inquirer reports that Evans has issued a memo to all officers laying out the rules when dealing with street musicians and other annyoing people who loiter around SEPTA stations:

"(U)nless there is probable cause to show that the musician is in violation of another ordinance or statute, police shall not arrest or remove from the property individuals who are playing musical instruments or singing."

Great. All some lowlife homeless person has to do after inciting trouble at Suburban Station would be to claim to a SEPTA cop that he was practicing music and they leave him alone.

NEWTOWN UPDATE The Newtown Advance weekly newspaper reports that the Newtown Township (Bucks) Board of Supervisors recieved a resolution from the Bucks County Transportation Management Association calling upon SEPTA and PennDOT to advance studies relating to the restoration of R8 service between Fox Chase and Newtown. Bill Rickett of the Bucks County TMA presented a resolution in support of restoring the rail line that was "suspended" in 1981 when SEPTA discontinued dieselized rail service.

CLARIFYING THE COUNCIL HEARING PLAN Friday's Daily News reported that Philadelphia City Councilman Wilson Goode, Jr. was planning to hold public hearings within City Council's Transportation and Public Utilities Committee regarding what the Daily News said was "SEPTA's plans to make deep service cuts in the city transit division." This afternoon, an aide to Councilman Goode clarified to me what the hearings were about. The hearings would not focus on the deep and draconian service cuts that SEPTA is planning, but rather on the "Philadelphia Transit System Lease" between SEPTA and the City of Philadelphia. (A story on the KYW NewsRadio web site clears up some of the confusion.) As part of the resolution, Councilman Goode is seeking subpoena power (as permitted under the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter) to force SEPTA to cooperate. While the service cuts may be a factor behind the scheduling of the hearings, Councilman Goode appears to be putting a lot of pressure on SEPTA by using the lease agreement as some sort of leverage to pressure SEPTA into scaling back some of it's cuts. Resolution 030230, which was introduced last week, has yet to be scheduled for hearings as yet.

STUPID TRANSIT PLANNING TRICKS From the people who brought you the South Jersey LRT fiasco comes word that the Atlantic City Bus Terminal will be torn down and replaced with a new facility - 6 YEARS AFTER IT WAS BUILT! The Press of Atlantic City reports that New Jersey Transit has reached a deal with the Casino Redevelopment Authority to vacate the current bus terminal at Atlantic and Michigan Avenues, which opened in 1997, with a new facility to be located a block away at Atlantic and Ohio. The site of the current facility will now become a $60 million retail and entertainment complex. The CRDA will fund the $7.8 million costs for construction of the new terminal, which will be built starting this summer with an anticipated opening date of January 2004. Far be it for me to question the logic of the State of New Jersey, but didn't anybody think about something like this in 1996 when the old terminal was slated to be replaced?

ARTICS BEING OVERHAULED While the overhaul process for the NABI fleet is at least 2/3 complete, Berridge shop employees are now in the process of overahuling the Neoplan artic fleet. 7102 is the first of the 155 bus fleet now at Berridge for it's 5 year overhaul. In addition to the rehab of major components, 7102 will be one of the first artics to be retrofit with a traction control system, which will help the performance of these buses, particularly in the winter on trouble spots such as Ridge Avenue and along the 22 line to Willow Grove and Warminster Twp.

GOV'S NEW SEPTA POINT PERSON Gov. Rendell recently appointed Denise J. Smyler, a labor attorney and member of the Barrister's Association. Smyler has ties to the governor from his days as mayor of the City of Philadelphia, having worked on labor issues relating to city employees. Smyler replaces Robert Wooten, who was initially appointed by former Gov. Tom Ridge. It wouldn't surprise me if Ms. Smyler gets a rather chilly reception from her fellow SEPTA Board members.

CHESTNUT HILL UPROAR It appears that people in Northwest Philadelphia are not to thrilled with the plan by SEPTA to eliminate the R8 Chestnut Hill West line - and who can blame them? The Chestnut Hill Local newspaper (link to article was posted in the phl.transportation newsgroup) reports that business owners and civic association leaders in Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, and Germantown, along with other advocates in the Manayunk/Roxborough area, are complaining in droves to elected officials, including State Sen. Allyson Schwartz (D-Philadelphia) and City Councilmembers Donna Reed Miller (D-8th) and Frank Rizzo (R-At Large). Rizzo also sent a letter to SEPTA officials that accuse the agency of targeting Gov. Rendell's political allies in Chestnut Hill. At the same time, Rizzo offered a more rational suggestion to SEPTA, as quoted in the CH Local:

"Eliminating four of our regional rail lines and cutting or merging dozens of bus routes suggests more of a political ploy to influence
our state government in Harrisburg, than sound budget practice," Rizzo writes.

Rendell has many friends in the Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy neighborhoods. Rizzo's chief of staff Stewart Graham said he thought cutting the R8 was aimed at those friends.

"SEPTA has talked about discontinuing the R7 [Chestnut Hill East line] for years," he said. "Now they want to cut the R8. You have to wonder about what strategy was there."

Rizzo also suggested some reductions in service rather than wholesale cuts. "At least this would allow communities to continue to be served," Rizzo writes.

Well said, councilman. It's a damn shame that he doesn't run against Emperor Street this fall (though if Sam Katz were elected, it would still mark a major upgrade at Broad & Market).

FRANKFORD TERMINAL UPDATE The Northeast News Gleaner followed-up on the recent public meeting regarding the "Frankford Swing" portion of the Frankford Terminal reconstruction. El service between Erie-Torresdale and Bridge-Pratt will be suspended for a 9 day period starting July 18 while construction crews demolish the old El structure connecting the old Bridge-Pratt headhouse to the new Frankford Terminal building. The News Gleaner reports that another meeting is scheduled to take place in June; more details about the meeting will be released in the future.

MORE GORY DETAILS An updated listing of all service cuts and fare hikes that SEPTA is proposing is now available on a separate page (Updated on April 16).

OPERATING BUDGET POSTED For the first time in recent memory, the entire SEPTA Operating Budget is being posted online at the SEPTA web site. This marks a dramatic change from past policy, in which only an executive summary was posted. Viewing the file requires Adobe Acrobat reader.

NEXT STOP ... QUAKERTOWN? Montgomery Newspapers/Pennridge News-Herald reports that U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and several political leaders from Bucks, Lehigh, and Montgomery Counties staged a media event at the former Quakertown rail station in support of restoring rail service to Quakertown and northern Bucks. Unlike the Schuylkill Valley boondoggle, the Quakertown project would cost only $200 million and utilize diesel equipment. The project was spearheaded by the Bucks County Planning Commission, however is not expected to become a reality for another decade. Officials noted the heavy congestion along the PA 309 corridor between Montgomeryville and Quakertown as the catalyst for restoring service to Quakertown and possibly the Lehigh Valley, which ended in 1981.