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Again, depends on where you set your boundaries. How about that guy who combined Los Angeles with parts of Mexico to conclude that his CSA rivaled Tokyo as the most populated urban area in the world.
And GDP, lol another dick measuring metric, where centralized cities like Toronto get screwed over in your mahoosive urban comparisons. "The suburbs and small towns 50 miles from my city are more productive than the suburbs and small towns 50 miles from your city".
Talk about something else.
Nice try but "50 miles" is not any metric used to described a cites widest area.
Truth is in most cases those subirbs that have industry are usually less than 20-30 miles from the core of most citis.
American cities are this way because of historical events that caused people to move to the suburbs. These events never happened in Canada.
Due to popularity of cities now in the US,this trend is reversing somewhat.
Theses suburban economies would not have existed without their core cities..
So while Canadian cities are not as interconnected to their suburbs,does not mean American cities that are should be penalized simply for the cultural forces that created such an arrangement.
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.
The blame may be mostly on the city of Philly too? Not having a VALID PLAN of SEPTA infastructure improvements. While Obama was in office and formally seeking it?
Chicago rushed to gain matching money for L lines major improvements in the 1.1 billion Grant. The city and U.S. Department of Transportation DOT Federal Transit Agency officials commited to the Modernization Project. To begin in 2018 and take 4-5 years and 6000 jobs.
But the Grant is not merely a gift from the Obama Administration. The city had to PROVE needs and reasons why the improvements are nessesary formally. As the Red and Brown lines had a 40% increase in passengers since just 2008 and few options to handle more passengers and trains without it. 32 New train cars will be purchased too.
ALSO----> Earlier this month, the Obama administration said it would allocate a separate even larger, $1.6 billion core capacity agreement to extend one of its train lines west through the Wilshire Avenue corridor to the UCLA campus.
For the expansion in west LOS ANGELES.
New York City officials, are even under Trump as President seeking funding for the next phase of the extension of the newly opened Second Avenue subway line while President Trump is in office.
A LEAKED Trump infastructure improvements memo show Chicago is also to get Transit funds in improvements.
*** So seems like PHILADELPHIA did NOT do the seeking of aid it possibly could have gotten when President was in office? But maybe President Trump has some plans for Philly Transit infastructure projects to come?
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?
No cards? Did you never use septa transpasses in the 6 years you were in Philly? You are implying that Septa fares were/are only cash and tokens. Granted transpasses(they can still be purchased) are not refillable but they have served frequent riders quite well for many years.
The Trump administration , along with the Republican Congress, will likely gut funding for mass transit.
No cards? Did you never use septa transpasses in the 6 years you were in Philly? You are implying that Septa fares were/are only cash and tokens. Granted transpasses(they can still be purchased) are not refillable but they have served frequent riders quite well for many years.
The Trump administration , along with the Republican Congress, will likely gut funding for mass transit.
Wrong type of "card". I was talking about credit/debit cards to make a payment. If you didn't have a monthly pass you DID have to use cash or tokens to ride the bus or subway, and it had to be EXACT change! And to make it worse, it was $2.25, so you had to always have quarters on you or use a change machine. It was very inconvienent when all I had was $10s and/or $20s and had no choice but to convert them into all those coins... I see no reason why the people in the booths collecting dollar bills and coins all day cannot give you change for a $5 or even for just $3!
But you bring up another good point. They should also have a refillable card-swipe payment method as well. Aren't they working on that though? I thought I heard that they were.
At this point , it's cost prohibitive to build new highways in most large cities . Much more feasible to build new rail lines and extend current rail . I think Trump's premise of decentralizing government will lead to more efficient government therefore block granting to states will be the most likely funding method . I do think the building of the new rail tubes under the Hudson will be a go . Our backs are in the corner in most N.E. cities new rail between east coast cities is are only option .
That's were Philadelphia has a huge advantage ,being centrally located in the Boston -Washington Megalopolis . Amtrak is working on getting the travel time from Philly to N.Y.C. to 45 minutes that's downtown to downtown .
University City has gone through a phenomenal growth in the pass 5 years . Not just new buildings but whole new neighborhoods are rising .In the next 15-20 years 22 million ft^2 are planned just in University City .
At this point , it's cost prohibitive to build new highways in most large cities . Much more feasible to build new rail lines and extend current rail . I think Trump's premise of decentralizing government will lead to more efficient government therefore block granting to states will be the most likely funding method . I do think the building of the new rail tubes under the Hudson will be a go . Our backs are in the corner in most N.E. cities new rail between east coast cities is are only option .
That's were Philadelphia has a huge advantage ,being centrally located in the Boston -Washington Megalopolis . Amtrak is working on getting the travel time from Philly to N.Y.C. to 45 minutes that's downtown to downtown .
University City has gone through a phenomenal growth in the pass 5 years . Not just new buildings but whole new neighborhoods are rising .In the next 15-20 years 22 million ft^2 are planned just in University City .
Yes it's great American Big city cores and mid-sized cities, are being re-invigorated and it spills over into older neighborhoods gentrified with restoration and new infill and not just most in one major city.
Wrong type of "card". I was talking about credit/debit cards to make a payment. If you didn't have a monthly pass you DID have to use cash or tokens to ride the bus or subway, and it had to be EXACT change! And to make it worse, it was $2.25, so you had to always have quarters on you or use a change machine. It was very inconvienent when all I had was $10s and/or $20s and had no choice but to convert them into all those coins... I see no reason why the people in the booths collecting dollar bills and coins all day cannot give you change for a $5 or even for just $3!
But you bring up another good point. They should also have a refillable card-swipe payment method as well. Aren't they working on that though? I thought I heard that they were.
All of the Septa fare "problems" are history or are getting to be history.
With the new septa key system you can buy a specific card that is either refillable online or at new station fare machines. You can also buy single trip cards at these machines. It's not swipe-able, afaik. You "tap" the card on a small screen that's connected to the turnstiles. Old transpasses work too at the new turnstiles because septa is still in a transitional period with the new system.
I'm a senior so I ride free on septa. Senior riders have been issued new picture id fare cards that work on the new fare system turnstiles.
Do you need a ticket after boarding a commuter train?
MBTA you can just purchase a ticket with the app, and activate it the moment the conductor comes by.
the e-ticket becomes void a short time later.
They're grouped into Fare Zones. I used Zone 3 for regional rail. Tickets are nearly phased out as of now, everything is done through a "key card" you can reload through the septa website. Tickets are available but you'll have to pay the fare on the ride and the employee will hand you a ticket with your zone on it. I don't regularly use Septa now since I have a car, but that was policy back in 2018 when I took it to Suburban Station. I don't think much has changed since then but I could be wrong.,, ;g
-.
I’d say 90% of the passengers in Center City going to the airport are paper tickets. I ride the commuter rail a lot between Suburban Station and 30th Street Station where they let you board with an Amtrak ticket for free. Nobody has paper tickets since they’re all commuters.
I think Philly has improved the most over the last 20 years but I don’t see it overtaking Toronto or Boston. It doesn’t have the same level of intellectual property creation and that’s what drives 21st century economies.
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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?
