[hammersklavier]

There are a lot of things SEPTA needs to do. I will now organize them into priorities:

1. Build the Boulevard extension already! Of all the proposed Philadelphia subway projects, the Roosevelt Boulevard extension is the oldest, most dearly needed, and most important. Currently, there are only two rail spines in the Great Northeast: the R7 to Trenton and the R8 only to Fox Chase. The Boulevard subway (which could run down Bustleton instead, at least to the Boulevard) would provide a key heavy rail spine throughout the Northeast the bus routes could easily feed into; as rapid transit, it would be much faster than buses running down this key spine. In addition, the projected ridership of the Boulevard Subway would be higher than most currently developed projects elsewhere in the nation!
2. Replace the bus routes with trolleybus routes. Currently, Philadelphia has three (3) trolleybus routes, all radiating out from Frankford Transportation Center. In order to be energy-efficient, we must expand this trolleybus system by expanding the amount of trolleybus routes are available. My plan is to do this in three (3) phases: I. Convert all bus routes emanating from Frankford into trolleybus routes; II. Convert all bus routes running from Fern Rock and 69th Street into the city into trolleybus routes; and III. Convert the remaining bus routes in the city into trolleybus routes. Exceptions would include the route running predominately down Broad (C) for traditional aesthetic reasons and the routes following Interstates--like the Schuylkill and I-95--for utilitarian reasons. Also note predominately suburban routes (e.g., the 94 or 96) would remain bus routes.
3. Expand the Regional Rail System to make it more modern: Three (3) key expansions are called for here. The R3 to Wawa, already in development, will allow commuters to commute to the Wawa campus via rail; an extension of the R6 Cynwyd to the Schuylkill would provide a park-and-ride right off that expressway, increasing its ridership and decreasing congestion around the Belmont Curve; and lastly, an extension off the R2 Warminster to Newtown. This route would restore rail service to a town that needs rail service, and would follow the Trenton Cutoff from the R2 to the currently disused Newtown Branch ROW; the reasons this route needs to be done in this fashion are two (2): I: The good folks of Bryn Athyn consistently disapprove of installing overhead electrification in their borough, which has killed Newtown rail restoration several times in years past, and II: the original Newtown Branch ROW crossed the New York Branch (R3) at grade in bottomland; installing a flyover would be prohibitively expensive. Restoring this route following the ex-PRR cutoff would be the cheapest way to do so (as the Trenton Cutoff, being an active freight main, eliminates the need to grade an entirely new route).

Less important rail and transit expansions number into litany, but some include: extending the 10 to Overbrook (and St. Joe's?), trolley restoration of the 23 along Germantown Ave, trolley restoration along 23 ROW in CC (north to Temple?), trolley restoration along the 56, possible conversion of R7 CHW or R8 CHE to 3rd rail feeding into the BSL, West Philadelphia Streetcar Loop, Light Rail along Delaware Ave, Rail Restoration to Reading, Rail Restoration to Quakertown and thence Bethlehem, PATCO/NJ Transit rail expansion in South Jersey, either (a) feeding into the PATCO tunnel or (b) feeding into Walter Rand with River Line-type DMUs, rail service to the Art Museum and Zoo via the City Subway, a Center City loop subway, a MSE/RBE connection (where Bustleton meets the Boulevard), 100 extension to KoP, etc. etc.