Philadelphia Transportation Thread

[jrdizzy]

I am happy to be finally getting rail transportation in Gloucester County. I am still disappointed we will not be getting grade separated Patco style heavy rail. I believe in personal responsibility when it comes to safety, but doesn't this kind of train have a much bigger environmental impact because its at grade? Pitman has 3 downtown grade crossings all within 1/4 mile of each other. If the station is located in the middle of these, the signal bells and the train whistles will be seemingly nonstop if the train runs every 7 minutes. This could be eliminated if the line was elevated or depressed through the towns.

At the last public outreach meeting a CSV representative said the towns could apply to become "quiet zones". I believe this would overrule safety regulations to ensure minimal environmental impact. I live 3/4 of a mile from the nearest crossing so it wont effect me. I'm just thinking about the people that live so close to the crossings.

Here was the original 3 stage Patco plan from the 60s. Complete with estimated travel times. Sorry if its a little blurry. This is what we should have gotten yeas ago.

I never heard of Yorkship. I guess it was a section of Camden.

[Beta_Magellan]

There’s also visual impact issues if elevated, which tend to lead to more intense opposition than grade crossing. That said, I’m quite sure the main driver for at-grade and unelectrified light rail is cost and, to a lesser degree, scoping (while electrified rapid transit to Woodbury seems sensible, if the line has to go all the way out to Glassboro rapid transit might be a bit extravagant—as a disclaimer, I’m not familiar with the region at all).

[Jonboy1983]

I posted a blog update the other day, and it included a link showing the proposed high-speed rail link under Center City. What are your thoughts regarding this? As I recall from previous discussion there were mainly mixed opinions. For my detailed opinion on this, check out my blog update at http://urbandesigneggshell.blogspot....-rail-and.html.

[summersm343]

SEPTA will reveal plans for long-awaited rail service to King of Prussia Mall and Valley Forge at a four-hour public meeting tomorrow.


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/lo...ley_Forge.html

[summersm343]

Image showing the one of 12 routes the King of Prussia rail line could take



http://planphilly.com/articles/2013/...-12-directions

[EastSideHBG]

Region's transportation forecast for 2040 is dim

Paul Nussbaum, Inquirer Staff Writer LAST UPDATED: Friday, July 26, 2013, 1:08 AM POSTED: Thursday, July 25, 2013, 2:41 PM

By 2040, the Philadelphia region can expect about 600,000 more residents and 300,000 more jobs, but the Schuylkill Expressway won't be any wider and there won't be a rail line to King of Prussia. I-95 will still be under construction. The long-sought connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-95 will be a reality in Bucks County, and the obstacle course of I-295, I-76, and Route 42 in Camden County will finally be replaced with a smooth interchange. The dingy City Hall subway concourse will be rehabbed, but the Glassboro-Camden light rail line won't be ready for riders, and SEPTA's Media-Elwyn extension to Wawa will still languish on the drawing boards.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...S51KtGVpvX0.99

[josef]

Short of funding, SEPTA presents doomsday plan

SEPTA has drafted a doomsday plan to eliminate 9 of its 13 rail lines and shorten two others, close a subway line, and convert trolley routes to bus lines, if the state doesn't come up with more money for public transit this year.

SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey sent the plan to state transportation secretary Barry Schoch on Tuesday and laid it out for the state Senate Transportation Committee today.

The "service realignment plan" would begin next year and continue slashing service until 2023, when the SEPTA system would be a shadow of its current self.its 13 rail lines and shorten two others, close a subway line, and convert trolley routes to bus lines, if the state doesn't come up with more money for public transit this year.

SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey sent the plan to state transportation secretary Barry Schoch on Tuesday and laid it out for the state Senate Transportation Committee today.

The "service realignment plan" would begin next year and continue slashing service until 2023, when the SEPTA system would be a shadow of its current self.

SEPTA estimates it would lose at least 40 million passengers a year, about 12 percent of its ridership.

The plan was made public as the state legislature prepares to return to Harrisburg after its summer recess, with transportation funding high on the agenda.

Faced with Gov. Corbett's proposal for $1.8 billion in additional funding, a $2.5 billion bill approved by the state Senate, or a $2 billion plan offered by House Republican leaders, state lawmakers recessed on July 1 without approving any of them.

Amid wrangling over how much to provide for public transit, how much to increase gas taxes and motorist fees, and linking transportation to efforts to privatize the state liquor business, lawmakers couldn't come to agreement.

Now, "it's time to pay the piper," Casey said today before testifying to the Senate committee.

"I'm just laying out reality," Casey said. "We can't maintain the infrastructure we have out there forever . . . this is the consequence of years of underfunding transit."

Casey said the bill approved in June by the Senate, which would provide $510 million for transit by the end of five years, would provide enough money for SEPTA to maintain its current system.

In his letter to Schoch, Casey asked for $6.5 billion from the state over the next 10 years to restore much of the system to a state of good repair. Rail bridges are a particular problem; several major spans are a century old and will be closed to trains if not replaced soon, Casey said.

"I'm not going to operate over a bridge if there's a possibility it could collapse," Casey said.

The draconian plan for cutbacks calls for suspending service on the lightly traveled Cynwyd rail line next year, the heavily traveled Media-Elwyn line in 2015, the Chestnut Hill West line in 2018, and the West Trenton, Airport, Warminster, Marcus Hook-Wilmington, Fox Chase, and Chestnut Hill East lines in 2023.

In addition, SEPTA says it would truncate its busiest rail line, the Paoli-Thorndale line, at Malvern in 2023, and end service to Doylestown on the Lansdale-Doylestown line in 2018.

Also, the plan calls for retiring - but not replacing - 284 rail cars, leaving the agency with just the 120 new Silverliner V cars by 2023.

The doomsday plan also calls for converting trolley routes 10 and 15, which serve West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia, to bus lines next year and doing the same in 2018 with trolley routes 11, 13, 34 and 36.

The plan would close the lightly traveled Broad-Ridge Spur subway line in 2018 and end all express service on the Broad Street subway by 2023.

Casey said the doomsday scenario was not an empty threat.

"We're not saying the sky is falling. This is real stuff," he said. "This is a rational assessment of where we are."

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...sday_plan.html

Depressed now.

Just in case anyone wants to contact their state legislators, here's how you can get their contact info: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/...TOKEN=66664817 Or even the DOT: http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/...m%26AutoFramed

[LMich]

I wouldn't just yet say I'm depressed. This is the worst case scenario being painted as leverage for funding, which is not an unusual tactic.

[josef]

Originally Posted by LMich

I wouldn't just yet say I'm depressed. This is the worst case scenario being painted as leverage for funding, which is not an unusual tactic.

That's true. I'm just depressed that 254 people (the PA legislature plus the governor) can't figure this out. Actually, not even just the current 254 people, but hundreds of them in the past. Growing up you're told to revere adults, but so far after becoming one, I'm pretty unimpressed.

[volguus zildrohar]

The usual anti-urban nonsense is flowing from Harrisburg in response to this. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, Emperor of his Butler County backwater, speaks of how SEPTA is used by a minority of people and should therefore be privately operated. Lovely sentiments that mesh well with the current School District funding crisis showing just how much Harrisburg recognizes not only the needs of the state's largest city and economic engine but those of the numerous other such institutions facing the same situation across Pennsylvania.

Do you think that Harrisburg would make a big stink if Philadelphia just seceded?

[Busy Bee]

Here's an idea, maybe Pennsylvania should stop giving away an annual 3 Billion in mining and energy rights to for profit energy companies and spend that on transit and infrastructure.

[Jelly Roll]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

Do you think that Harrisburg would make a big stink if Philadelphia just seceded?

Not unless Montgomery County left as well.

[josef]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, Emperor of his Butler County backwater, speaks of how SEPTA is used by a minority of people and should therefore be privately operated.

What exactly is SEPTA's ownership structure, anyway? Are they public, semi-public, public-private partnership?

[volguus zildrohar]

Originally Posted by josef

What exactly is SEPTA's ownership structure, anyway? Are they public, semi-public, public-private partnership?

SEPTA's board is administered by Harrisburg. The Board itself is comprised of 15 members, 2 from each of the five PA counties in which SEPTA operates, one from the House and State majority and minority leaders and one by The Governor.

Publicly appointed but not elected and funded by both farebox and state/federal subsidy.

[volguus zildrohar]

In my mind the issue is having entirely too many cooks in that kitchen. Board members straight from Harrisburg comprise 1/3 of it - making decisions for a state-administered operation that the state refuses to fund adequately. Additionally, it seems to me that this is a case where apportioned representation just doesn't make sense. The lion's share of SEPTA farebox income, ridership and operation is inside the city limits but the City has a diluted voice in relation to the size of SEPTA's governing board. I don't see any way to reconcile the city's needs, the suburban counties' input on public transit within their borders and Harrisburg's feckless intransigence within the current governing framework.

[josef]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

SEPTA's board is administered by Harrisburg. The Board itself is comprised of 15 members, 2 from each of the five PA counties in which SEPTA operates, one from the House and State majority and minority leaders and one by The Governor.

Publicly appointed but not elected and funded by both farebox and state/federal subsidy.

Wow. And do any of those people actually know anything about transportation, or are they all just political pawns?

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

In my mind the issue is having entirely too many cooks in that kitchen. Board members straight from Harrisburg comprise 1/3 of it - making decisions for a state-administered operation that the state refuses to fund adequately. Additionally, it seems to me that this is a case where apportioned representation just doesn't make sense. The lion's share of SEPTA farebox income, ridership and operation is inside the city limits but the City has a diluted voice in relation to the size of SEPTA's governing board. I don't see any way to reconcile the city's needs, the suburban counties' input on public transit within their borders and Harrisburg's feckless intransigence within the current governing framework.

Seriously. I can't believe anything even gets done with that mix.

[Nexis4Jersey]

They just upgraded all the Trolley routes , why shut them down? Its Typical SEPTA stupidity tied with ignorance from Harrisburg.

[hammersklavier]

That's why it's a "doomsday" plan...

[summersm343]

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey appeared with the head of SEPTA Monday under the arch of 30th Street Station, promising to push for more federal funding for mass transit.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/l...medium=twitter

[LMich]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

SEPTA's board is administered by Harrisburg. The Board itself is comprised of 15 members, 2 from each of the five PA counties in which SEPTA operates, one from the House and State majority and minority leaders and one by The Governor.

Publicly appointed but not elected and funded by both farebox and state/federal subsidy.

I don't know if I read wrong about SEPTA or what, but it's governing and administrative structure don't seem that different than many other transit agencies. From what I can tell - and maybe you were just exaggerating - SEPTA has a board, and is managed by a general manager chosen by the board. It's not administered directly out of Harrisburg.

Now, I guess you could certainly argue that the central city should have a bit more representation on the board. Though, it does seems to me that Philly's representatives have quite a bit more power than central city members on other regional authority boards across the country. The two Philly members, for instance, can veto any bill passed by the full board. I wish Detroit's members on its new regional transit authority board had this kind power. But, Philly's set-up doesn't strike me as particularly unusual for a regional transit authority, and Harrisburg does not literally run the authority, just so people don't get the wrong idea.