Asking Philosophically: Why do people hate SEPTA so much? (Philadelphia: inspections, buses)

[Sammy215267]

The "EL" is "SCHEDULED" (lol) with 3 min headway's during PEAK....Anything will hold up that trip time sadly. All 220 cars are out on the rails...like someone mentioned look into 69th St or Frankford/Bridge St Yard and nothing is there.

I don't SEPTA doing anything to expand the platforms in the near future. Esp, the subway platforms.....the cost for that would possibly through the roof. The West Philly portion of the EL could have been possibly been designed better...but Market St is but only so big and there is too much up and down in the height levels along that way.

I think if SEPTA was to order new cars in future the seating arrangements should be like the current PATH CARS, and MTA cars with seats against the windows facing the aisle. That would at least make room for more people to fit then the current cars.

[BK_PHL_DEL]

Want to share a positive experience with SEPTA during this New Years'. We had an early (430-800) party to go to on NYE in one of those staircase-looking towers behind Moshulu on Columbus Blvd. It was raining and we thought about driving there since it would take only 15 minutes and we would be pretty dry. But we knew parking would be a major pain in the a** so we decided to take the 25 bus instead. Took 2 minutes longer than driving but the bus stop is right down the block from our house and we got off in front of the building. The bus was clean and had the hard plastic seats, not the fabric/cloth ones that get stained and dirty easily. Are these buses with the plastic seats newer? Seemed so. We also were able to take the bus back home after the party; the timing worked out well. I used Google Maps and the arrival time shown for the bus was quite accurate. Overall we were so glad we took the bus and not had to worry about parking. It was easy and pleasant.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by BK_PHL_DEL

Want to share a positive experience with SEPTA during this New Years'. We had an early (430-800) party to go to on NYE in one of those staircase-looking towers behind Moshulu on Columbus Blvd. It was raining and we thought about driving there since it would take only 15 minutes and we would be pretty dry. But we knew parking would be a major pain in the a** so we decided to take the 25 bus instead. Took 2 minutes longer than driving but the bus stop is right down the block from our house and we got off in front of the building. The bus was clean and had the hard plastic seats, not the fabric/cloth ones that get stained and dirty easily. Are these buses with the plastic seats newer? Seemed so. We also were able to take the bus back home after the party; the timing worked out well. I used Google Maps and the arrival time shown for the bus was quite accurate. Overall we were so glad we took the bus and not had to worry about parking. It was easy and pleasant.

Yes, about the plastic seats.

[Pilot1]

I used Septa Regional Rail a lot over the past several days to Center City, the Airport, and back home to/from Chester County. Had an excellent experience the entire time. The conductors went out of their way to determine the best fare for where we were going, and were often friendly, or at least not rude. We have a good rail system here.

[AJNEOA]

Originally Posted by Pilot1

I used Septa Regional Rail a lot over the past several days to Center City, the Airport, and back home to/from Chester County. Had an excellent experience the entire time. The conductors went out of their way to determine the best fare for where we were going, and were often friendly, or at least not rude. We have a good rail system here.

By US standards, SEPTA is one of the best for sure. Regional Rail is a good experience for the most part. Although I've heard some complain that trains are late a lot more in the middle of the day. Regardless, I am greatly benefited by living one block from a rail station, relieving me from driving 90% of the time.

[chris123678]

Originally Posted by kyb01

There is a reason for it but you since you don't have any physical disabilities( right?)and you're not old perhaps you can't see the point.

Yeah but how do other cities with light rail address this problem?
Additionally, the current light rail system cannot even accommodate those with disabilities. Atleast in the new system they will have the option to ride it.

Considering that a city block in Philadelphia is roughly 500 feet, I would think that Trolley stops should be roughly 1000 feet apart, or 2 blocks.

If you consider the Market Frankford Line, which is a heavy rail rapid transit line, it stops anywhere between 3-6 blocks apart. The longest distance being 15 blocks between stations.

Same for the Broad Street Line, about 5 blocks part with the longest distance being 9 blocks between stations.

If you consider this, then an efficient light rail system would best serve if stops were about 2 blocks apart for Philadelphia.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by chris123678

Yeah but how do other cities with light rail address this problem?
Additionally, the current light rail system cannot even accommodate those with disabilities. Atleast in the new system they will have the option to ride it.

Considering that a city block in Philadelphia is roughly 500 feet, I would think that Trolley stops should be roughly 1000 feet apart, or 2 blocks.

If you consider the Market Frankford Line, which is a heavy rail rapid transit line, it stops anywhere between 3-6 blocks apart. The longest distance being 15 blocks between stations.

Same for the Broad Street Line, about 5 blocks part with the longest distance being 9 blocks between stations.

If you consider this, then an efficient light rail system would best serve if stops were about 2 blocks apart for Philadelphia.

SEPTA attempted on several occasions to get the city to change things so buses would stop at every other block, but Council refused every time, largely on the strength of the testimony of advocates for the elderly and disabled.

The agency did manage to conduct an experiment in stop reduction on Route 47, one of the busiest north-south bus routes. For a few months about four years or so ago, it cut out every other stop on the line. The result? The run time savings were much smaller than the agency thought they would be; it took almost as long for the buses to complete their runs stopping at every other block as it did for them to do so stopping at every block.

I think that the only places where you'd find real time savings is on the wider streets without stop signs at every intersection. On the narrower streets like the ones the 47 uses in South Philly, where every intersection is controlled by an all-way stop sign, the buses have to make stops every block anyway, so there's no real savings by not picking up or dropping off riders at every corner.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Yeah but how do other cities with light rail address this problem?

Whereas the Philadelphia trolleys waste time by stopping at every block (which they don't do in the tunnel, obviously, and life goes on), the actual time waster of the Philadelphia trolleys is that they don't have their own right of way (which pretty much every modern light rail system has). Until they have their own right of way, changing how often they stop isn't going to do much.



The suburban trolleys (101, 102, and the NHSL if you want to include that) do have their own right of way for most of their routes, and will often go much longer without making stops.


It doesn't affect me, so I didn't study it too closely, but I believe the modernization plan for the trolley system does call for something approaching a dedicated ROW - although how that could actually play out on some of those streets I'm not sure about. At that point, having the trolleys stop less often would make a lot more sense.

[fatsquirrel]

The main problem I have with SEPTA is that the system is less extensive than the trains in NYC. I don't think I've ever bought an Unlimited Metrocard inside Philly either, only those super expensive per-ride cards. I also used a token once for some weird reason.

[chessimprov]

cause SEPTA is short for "SEPtic TAnk."