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i was in Philly last week for the first time in a few months. As someone who has worked off and on in the city going on 20 years, all i can say overall, is; Wow! Philadelphia has really turned a corner. Still lots of challenges ahead, but it's great to see this kind of urban renaissance in another city not called New York. .... Reading Terminal Market looking better than ever, filled to the rafters with people.... South Street, Chestnut, Walnut Streets really filling in with nice shops, high end retail and street activation all the way to the Schuylkill. the transformation of the neighborhood near 30th street is remarkable. All the cities with no big train station, (deduct 50 points).... crap history (deduct 200 points), etc, etc, etc... Didn't get a chance to see University City, hopefully next time.
Glad you enjoyed! Philadelphia is definitely in a renaissance and it's pretty cool to see.
I'm pretty familiar with Philly and its transit system, SEPTA. I lived in the area for about 6 years, and still visit frequently to visit family and friends there. Philly is a great city. It's very dense, walkable and historic and has a lot of potential, but SEPTA is kind of disfunctional and Philly deserves much better IMO.
SEPTA is very, very behind the times. They JUST phased out tokens and made it possible to make payments using a card only a few months ago. There are only two subway lines plus a few light rail streetcar things similar to what you guys have in Toronto, but most of the city must rely on buses instead, many of which never seem to run on schedule. They also seem to go on strike every few years, which screws everyone in the city that relies on transit over pretty hard. Their most recent strike was actually during the recent US election. And AFAIK they have no plans on expanding. I think their main project they're working on now is getting new card-friendly kiosks and turnstiles in all the stations.
One good thing though is that they do run their subways 24 hours on weekends. Overall it's better than most systems in America, that's not saying much since overall we are embarassingly far behind the rest of the developed world on this. The only city we have that can compete with the rest of the developed world is NYC.
Uhhh, I think you're a little hard on SEPTA.
The operating budget for SEPTA was $300 million up until a few years ago. Now it's only $600 million. As a comparison, MBTA in Boston has an operating budget over $1 billion and they're similarly sized systems, with SEPTA actually being a little larger.
SEPTA is still very underfunded. With that said, the transit system hits most of the major population and employment nodes. There are only 2 SEPTA subway lines, but one runs from Northeast Philly, North Philly, Center City, University City, West Philly and into the suburbs. The other, runs from North Philly, down through Center City and through South Philly to the Sports Complex. There is a third subway line under PATCO which runs through the NJ suburbs through Camden and into Center City.
The trolley's are very effective if you live in West Philadelphia and are trying to get to University City or Center City.
The regional rail is also very effective. Most large suburbs have rail service except a few like King of Prussia, West Chester, Newtown, etc. They are planning an expansion to KOP, and there are already rail lines running to West Chester and Newtown, they just need to reactivate the lines. There are regional rail lines that run through Northwest and Northeast Philly, etc. There is a regional rail line that runs to Wilmington, DE. The NJ transit line hits Cherry Hill, etc.
I would say the overall system in Philadelphia is very good. Could they open more stations here and there and extend lines? Absolutely, but they need a larger operating budget, which I don't see happening with the Trump administration cutting Federal funding for transit.
I love me some Boston. Fell in love with it the first time that I was there. However, emotions aside, I would go with Toronto. It has had a building growth like nothing outside of NYC that I've ever seen. It's also the premier Canadian city. I've only been to Toronto once and it was the closest thing to NYC that I've seen. And I've been to Chicago several times.
The operating budget for SEPTA was $300 million up until a few years ago. Now it's only $600 million. As a comparison, MBTA in Boston has an operating budget over $1 billion and they're similarly sized systems, with SEPTA actually being a little larger.
SEPTA is still very underfunded. With that said, the transit system hits most of the major population and employment nodes. There are only 2 SEPTA subway lines, but one runs from Northeast Philly, North Philly, Center City, University City, West Philly and into the suburbs. The other, runs from North Philly, down through Center City and through South Philly to the Sports Complex. There is a third subway line under PATCO which runs through the NJ suburbs through Camden and into Center City.
The trolley's are very effective if you live in West Philadelphia and are trying to get to University City or Center City.
The regional rail is also very effective. Most large suburbs have rail service except a few like King of Prussia, West Chester, Newtown, etc. They are planning an expansion to KOP, and there are already rail lines running to West Chester and Newtown, they just need to reactivate the lines. There are regional rail lines that run through Northwest and Northeast Philly, etc. There is a regional rail line that runs to Wilmington, DE. The NJ transit line hits Cherry Hill, etc.
I would say the overall system in Philadelphia is very good. Could they open more stations here and there and extend lines? Absolutely, but they need a larger operating budget, which I don't see happening with the Trump administration cutting Federal funding for transit.
I'm aware of the regional rail and PATCO and everything. I used to live in the area without a car so I relied on all of that to get around.
Maybe I am being too hard on SEPTA, but I still stand by what I said about Philly deserving better. And I mean that as a compliment to the city. I knew they were underfunded, but I didn't realize how badly underfunded they are. So the fault is probably more with the politicians than SEPTA itself, but I do think that it was a bit ridiculous that they still had it that you either had to pay with exact change or tokens (and no cards) until late 2016, when other cities phased that out back in the 1990s or so.
FWIW, Toronto's subway system is actually not much larger. Toronto also deserves a much larger subway system too IMO. But Toronto is working really hard on expanding their subway though. Hopefully Philly will be able to in the future as well. I agree that under President Trump (it still feels weird to say that, yuck ) it is unlikely. I guess Philly's best bet would be to get PA state politician support/funding? Idk anything about PA state politics, but I'm assuming that's not likely since PA overall seems kind of conservative?
FWIW, Toronto's subway system is actually not much larger. Toronto also deserves a much larger subway system too IMO. But Toronto is working really hard on expanding their subway though. Hopefully Philly will be able to in the future as well. I agree that under President Trump (it still feels weird to say that, yuck ) it is unlikely. I guess Philly's best bet would be to get PA state politician support/funding? Idk anything about PA state politics, but I'm assuming that's not likely since PA overall seems kind of conservative?
Pennsylvania's legislature is much more conservative than the overall population--the more conservative central parts of the state have outsized influence due to gerrymandering. That's the crux of the issue.
However, I do give a lot of credit to the fact that Act 89, which was passed in PA several years ago and increased the gas tax to the highest in the US to fund transportation infrastructure (including a decent chunk for public transit), was done with a Republican legislature and governor. Not to delve too much in to politics, but it's indeed rare to find any Republican-led state pushing for any sort of expanded financial support for public transit, but Pennsylvania is an example.
At any rate, transportation infrastructure is bound to be one of the most pressing issues that faces our country for the foreseeable future. Our roads and rail have largely seen better days, and without a drastic change in mindset about funding needs at the federal level, frankly no major city in the US has a fighting chance of keeping up.
If you are trying to imitate Torontonian accent, just fyi - nobody in Toronto or Ontario speaks like that.
On that note, I would also like to remind everyone to stay on the topic, stay civil, and refrain from throwing casual stereotypes.
No not a Canadian accent LOL well I did add aboot at the end but it was in response to a rediculas post on half of Canada mostly glaciers. But most Americans will see it is a kinda a hillbilly drawl one like the 60s old "Beverly Hillbilly's" sit-com.
Guess I can't deny adding aboot though? The original post got delete and mine in response. But you preserved it in quote. I would think a southern American might get offended? Not a Canadian. But I can clearly tell a Albertan accent. Just not a Ontarian.
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) it is unlikely. I guess Philly's best bet would be to get PA state politician support/funding? Idk anything about PA state politics, but I'm assuming that's not likely since PA overall seems kind of conservative?
