January 27-February 2, 2005

cover story

Let's Go.

33 ways to reinvent, rethink and recharge our beleaguered transit agency. Other cities around the world have cool public transportation systems. Why can't we?

Idea #1: Skip a corner or three.

Hear the one about how Philly is the second fattest city in the country? Maybe it's about time we realize it's not all that bad to walk an extra block to catch a bus. So many routes unnecessarily stop at every single intersection to pick up more riders. Why can't the buses just stop every second or third block? Not only will it have a slimming effect, but the rides will be quicker, traffic won't be as bad and Mother Earth will be much happier for it. --Brian Hickey.


Idea #2: Set artists loose on the subway stations.

It's only natural that metro stops and signage in cities like London and Paris would be more stylish than our own. The Paris Metro's gorgeous ornate above-ground station entrances; the Tube's modern "Underground" iconization; and even the simple elegance of New York's color-encircled letters all make SEPTA and its "S" (which looks like a rejected National Basketball Association logo circa 1972) look pedestrian.

But even the formerly Iron Curtain-ed city of Prague, with its three puny little lines, kicks our stylistic butt. The walls of the Namesti Miru stop in the heart of Prague, for instance, are covered with basketball-sized, concave, metallic-blue dimples. The Mustek station offers a gilded version. And shades of green at Vltavska. Regardless of your feelings about the aesthetics, Prague's stops are consistent, visually striking and well-kept. The only consistent thing about SEPTA subway stops is the thin film of pigeon excreta over dingy tile.

The solution? Philly's got a proud tradition of artists think big, from Isaiah Zagar to an army of anonymous muralists. Ask for submissions from the neighborhoods surrounding each stop, and put the best of the bunch to work making each station a point of community pride. --Brian Howard


Idea #3: And then invite the food vendors back.

Once upon a time, when I was a small boy, the only thing that kept me alive, gave me hope when dragged on marathon shopping trips with my mother, was the Leonardo's Pizza stand. It was — get this — inside the Margaret-Orthodox El station. Located conveniently on the mezzanine level, it was a beacon of hot, steamy hope.This was not just put-food-in-the-hole pizza. It was deeply soulful pizza, thin-crusted and tart and perfectly blackened on the bottom. What's more, the oddly elevated corner location made sure that anyone within a 1.5-block radius could pick up its siren of scent. In the 1980s, when that shopping district effectively bit the big one and became a weird melange of dollar stores and desperation, Leonardo's Pizza went the way of the dodo.

And I can't help but think that on the day it closed, that Frankford Avenue plunged with it. The pizza-stand-on-the-El thing was a last vestige of the old-world modern Philadelphia that we so stupidly lost and most of us will spend the rest our lives here trying to get back. Readers, you know where I'm going with this. Bring back those food stands. Make it easy for minorities and, likewise, the culinarily ambitious to get them. Don't sell them to chains. Let each one stand as a reference point for its neighborhood. Let the people eat. --Joey Sweeney


Idea #4: Take plastic.

All ticket and token machines should accept credit and debit cards. SEPTA, you're embarrassing yourself counting our dimes. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #5: Drivers, obey the law.

Please stop running red lights, ignoring stop signs, straddling lanes and blocking the box. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #6: Give us a real green line.

San Francisco has more than just a few of SEPTA's old trolley cars, revamped and air-conditioned for those Rice-a-Roni commutes around the city. They, like in other towns in those tree-hugging states out west, foster a sense of civic pride when it comes to transportation, whether it means carpooling, biking or bussing to work. (Have you ever seen a carpool lane on the Schuylkill Expressway?) Such a proactive campaign in support of public transportation might help the much-maligned SEPTA.

While organizations like the Clean Air Council work with the agency to promote the use of public transportation, it is SEPTA itself that should robustly take on such a public affairs chore. Nearly a million rides are taken on SEPTA every day, including riders in Philadelphia and its four surrounding counties. That leaves a whole lot of SUVs still on the loose. What if SEPTA turned commuting by train, bus or trolley into an environmental-consciousness raising civic duty that would put a dent in the fossil fuel dangers, improve the air we breathe, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil? SEPTA could incentivize riders in creative ways, like offering a free weekly pass to the 1,000th rider of any of the large arterial routes or sponsoring a pro-public transit essay contest among school students who ride SEPTA. Or how about a science fair where students tackle the issues of alternative sources of energy with SEPTA sponsorship? It's not a miracle cure, but it would serve three purposes: increase the number of riders by turning a subway ride to the Eagles game into an act of citizenship, help the environment, and spruce up SEPTA's image. After all, folks, we are the bluest city in a blue state. --Adrienne Saunders


Idea #7: Offer premium services on suburban rails.

Riders from the more far-flung regional rail provinces know that the train into town can be a little piece of forever without the right entertainment. On lines like the R5, that seem to cater to the well-to-do but civic-minded anyway, run one car that costs $3 more to get on, trick it out with wireless service, and sell a coffee concession to Bucks County Coffee or La Colombe. This will take one person in your operation about an entire afternoon on the phone and a trip to Staples. Why not? --Joey Sweeney


Idea #8: Replace the brake pads on buses.

The horrid SQUEEEEEALLLL a SEPTA bus makes when it comes to a halt is enough to make us want to take a tire iron to a windshield. What's the deal? We asked our friend Char Vandermeer, who knows a lot about cars (she's from Michigan). "Could be that the brakes are just worn and need to be replaced," she says. "More likely, though, the brake shoes don't fit well against the brake drum — this is pretty common with after-market replacement parts — which causes vibration … which causes, yup, squeal." So what's the solution? Some of Char's ideas include buying "shims and clips," resurfacing the drum or just buying better pads and shoes. Which would be worth the expense; noise pollution is a scourge that wounds us one eardrum at a time. --Brian Howard


Idea #9: Make the Web site useful.

According to www.septa.com, we have to know the route number before we can look up the route. If we already know the route number, we must already be SEPTA employees. In which case we just get our paratransit buddy to pick us up. But let's say we caught the number of the bus we'd like to take as it runs a red light. The bus schedules on the site are only available in PDF format. Which we remember was all the rage in 1999. And, for some reason, our printer uses letter-size paper, not pamphlet stock. So to print your schedule, we're either taping several pages together or reducing it to a tiny unreadable rectangle.

What's that you say? The "Plan My Trip" function? Hah. Check this out. Type in 1900 Green St. Look what comes up: Abington, Bristol, Bethel, Lower Chichester for crying out loud. But no Philly. There's a bus stop right there on the corner. We've heard and even seen the bus go by. Don't you guys know about this bus?

Here's what you do: Hire some hotshot programmer to design a Web page where you can plug in: 1. Where you are, and 2. Where you'd like to go. It then spits out easy-to-follow directions on how to make that happen. And hop on over to London (http://tube.tfl.gov.uk) or Paris (www.ratp.fr) to see how a real trip planner should work. --Brian Howard and Patrick Rapa


Idea #10: Keep the regional rails running later and more frequently.

While it is arguable that these lines are among the most efficiently run and organized routes SEPTA has, it's still unacceptable that people who live just outside the city limits (or even just within) don't have a safe, cheap, late-night ride home after a day or night patronizing the city's restaurants, theaters, concert venues and stores. On weekends, riders could spend up to $7 one way, wait up to one hour for the next train, and have to catch the last trip out around midnight. And what about shows at the Khyber or the North Star that wind down at 2 a.m.? --Lori Hill




Idea #11: Rename the damned thing. Or at least, give it a cool nickname.

In Boston they ride the T. In London, they've got the Tube. In San Francisco, you hop on BART. In Philly, we've got SEPTA which is a dumb thing to have to say.

SEPTA calls to mind sewage treatment, not transportation. Oh, Philly, the town with a nickname for everything, can't you do better than Duh Orange Line and Duh El? Granted, the best nicknames are for things we feel affection toward, but let's pretend for a second. How about The Chute? As in, "Hey, I'll hop on The Chute and meet you at The Linc in a jiff." Or, more fittingly, The Worm? "I was stuck on The Worm for hours while they cleared rat carcasses off the tracks."

Our extensive network of staff and correspondents was brimming with suggestions. What say we steal a page from the Brits and call our subterranean transit system "the Philly UnderGround — The PUG?" The Zipper was suggested independently by two respondents. "The Love Train," "SUPERtrain," "The Thunderbolt," "Philadelphia Intercounty Transit (The PIT!)," "Philadelphia Urban and Regional Rail (PURR)," and "PhastRail" were also intriguing. Calling it the Philadelphia Transportation Authority (the PTA) "would make it easier to hold bake sales to cover shortfalls," offered movies editor Sam Adams. --Brian Howard




Idea # 12: Create a "Museum District Loop."

Most big cities have subway stops for their largest cultural and tourist attractions. New York — well, you have your choice of routes to get to the Metropolitan Museum or Lincoln Center; six different lines in Chicago put you within a block of the Art Institute; and Boston's T has stops with lovely — and explicit — names like "Symphony," "Aquarium" and "Museum of Fine Arts." Simply put, there need to more efficient routes up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to its many points of interest, especially with its spiffy new lighting and the fact that there are two new museums planned. The Parkway was supposed to be our Champs-Elysées, our grand boulevard of dreams. It should be a place people feel comfortable strolling, or being transported to, at any time of day. The 38 and the 48 just aren't gonna cut it. How about a new underground train route that spurs from City Hall, goes up The Parkway, makes stops at Logan Square (for the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences), then at the Rodin Museum (and by the time such a plan would get off the ground, the new Calder and Barnes museums), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and just for the heck of it, winds up at Boathouse Row (for a nice post-sightseeing twilight stroll). Would it be pushing it to suggest another spur to 30th Street Station? Tourists could step off Amtrak from New York or D.C. and in minutes be on The Parkway. --Lori Hill


Idea #13: Take us new places.

There is a little steam-engine choo-choo in Bucks County called the Ivyland-New Hope line. You won't find it on the SEPTA map because it's one of those quaint tourist trains that serves no practical purpose other than to provide a sleepy ride through the bucolic scenery of Bucks County. New Hope, along with its neighbor across the river, Lambertville, N.J., is not at all accessible by SEPTA. Urbanites without cars, or even those who dread the slog up I-95, could take advantage of New Hope's artsy offerings with limited weekend service to the bohemian enclave. Furthermore, think of all those weekenders from New York (ka-ching!) who might indulge in a quick trip to Philly for an exhibit or dinner if there was a rail link from New Hope to Philly. There is an old set of tracks running through Bucks County that pass through the ghostly Churchville and Newtown stations. Plans to revive the route after a 20-year slumber are on hold yet remain part of SEPTA's capital plan. (A recent proposal to turn the Newtown line into a hiking trail was knocked down in favor of keeping the tracks for some future purpose.) How about opening them up, providing a connection to New Hope using some creative marketing to grab some new riders, tourists and commuters alike? --Angelina Sciolla


Idea #14: Extend the subway to the rest of the city.

Look at SEPTA's current subway map and one thing is clear: The transit agency has a persecution complex. How else do you explain that big blue-and-orange cross that's perfectly fine for getting from Fern Rock to Pattison, from 69th to Second (and yes, then to the Northeast). But God forbid you'd like to travel in one of those more obscure directions, like Northwest, or Southeast. People say Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods; they're even proud of it. The simple truth: It's such a damned pain to get out of your neighborhood, nobody bothers. On London's Tube, for instance, there are something like 15 ways to get from Cockfosters to Clapham, via Shepherd's Bush or St. John's Wood. Here, just to get from, say, Point Breeze to Manayunk, you've got to take a bus. Then the subway. Then a train. By the time you've located the proper maps and synchronized your watch, the video place down the street is looking real inviting. --Brian Howard


Idea #15: Think regional.

For all its financial woes, SEPTA seems unable to articulate just where that $62 million went. One place it did not go: improved service for out-of-state commuters. Despite Philadelphia's proximity to the two states across the river, its public transit system seems to want to keep out the thousands of New Jersey and Delaware commuters who cross the river every day. Trenton and Wilmington have the only out-of-state stops: six, to be exact. As a former D.C. Metro rider, I was shocked to learn that with this isolationist setup, I'd have to drive to PATCO, take two trains on two different systems, spend $4.15 and nearly 45 minutes just to get to 30th Street station, which is barely a 20-minute drive from my New Jersey house.

PATCO's Speedline is fast, reliable and, compared to SEPTA, relatively clean and affordable. It's also financially solvent. But how about some feeder bus lines for Camden and Gloucester counties, or stations that are accessible to more than just an east-west corridor of nine townships? If local officials are serious about revamping the Camden waterfront, its public transportation system ought to mirror the web of subway lines that run into Brooklyn out of lower Manhattan — and be as safe. PATCO has been running a line across the river for nearly 70 years. Perhaps it's time to expand and get together with Harrisburg to apply PATCO's good example — customer service, cleanliness and all — to a mass transit system that integrates its entire metropolitan area. --Adrienne Saunders


Idea #16: Have fun with route names.

As appealing as Route 33 and 59 sound (not), SEPTA could use something a little catchier that makes people smile just by saying it. It's easy to say "Route 5" with a grimace, but try saying "Clarendon-Courthouse Lunchloop" (the name of a stop in Arlington, Va.) without smiling — pretty hard. --Kate Salute


Idea #17: Adjust services to fit the ridership.

By way of unscientific example:

Fifty people use the Route 48 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Just ten use the Route 7.

Six buses drive each route during that time span.

Should you:
A. Take some of the Route 7 buses and put them on route 48, or
B. Leave everything as is?

Please realize the answer is A.--Brian Hickey


Idea # 18: Give us something to hold on to.

Those stainless steel bars are OK and all, but how about more of those loops with a little grip for jerky stops and starts? (It might be a little more sanitary, too.)--Lori Hill


Idea #19: Form a "Volume Patrol."

There's a special circle of hell reserved for folks who, rather than conducting conversations at normal decibel levels, decide the bus is a place to hoot, scream and holler. As such, SEPTA could reinvent itself as a savior of sorts. Rather than letting these obnoxious, selfish ratscallions seal their hellacious yet well-deserved fate, our new officers of the peace would not only have the right to tell these folks to shut the hell up but also could ticket and fine the thugs for noise pollution. (Psst: Money will follow.) --Brian Hickey


Idea #20: Make tellers give us change.


Idea #21: Place token machines at every subway stop.


Idea #22: Make sure the token and ticket machines work.

No matter how good the token and ticket machines are, mechanical failures are bound to happen. But there should be a simple protocol for dealing with this. Currently, we the potential riders have to wait in line at a bulletproof booth to plead our case. (Often the teller just stares blankly back. Yeah, dude, I'm lying to you. Your precious machine would never do anything like that.) Then we get a form to fill out and give back. Meanwhile, a line accumulates behind and the disgruntlement increases exponentially. And still we don't get to ride the train, but, hey, somebody might mail us a refund in six to eight weeks. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #23: Tell us when something goes wrong.

Over the summer, some jackass left a "suspicious package" at a subway, forcing the El to halt operation for a few hours. It happens. Still, the guy on KYW — you know, the morning guy who tells us traffic and transit on the twos? — he had to say "no reported delays." Why? Because, aw, SEPTA was too shy to give a heads-up. Every 10 minutes our preciously dry News Radio station sets aside a moment for you to come clean about your daily pratfalls. Please take advantage of this. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #24 Listen to your riders.

On D.C.'s Metrorail, trains run until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, on all lines, and they're open 5 a.m. to midnight on weekdays. When the board tried to cut costs by running only one pair of cars (rather than the standard two or three pairs) for late-night revelers, passengers complained about cramped conditions; the board listened and returned to a four-car setup, WMATA spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.

SEPTA can't even hear us saying we don't want higher fares. Meanwhile, D.C. chose to look at alternative sources of funding like ATMs in stations and new advertising programs to cover operating shortfalls, Taubenkibel said. SEPTA should take WMATA's cue and start listening to riders: Philadelphians want reliable, comfortable, convenient service at a reasonable price. Providing more service, not less, is how you win new customers — and win back the old ones. --Adrienne Saunders


Idea #25: Hire someone to do voiceovers.

Dozing on the El on your way to work, you might notice someone who sounds even more catatonic: The faceless voice announcing your next stop. How are we supposed to get excited about our subway system when even our loudspeaker robot sounds bored? Either let's find a really memorable Philly voice — Sylvester Stallone and Jill Scott spring to mind — or let's not limit ourselves to just one. We're a proudly diverse city, and our subway PA system could include a different voice for every stop. (On the subject of voiceover costs: Sure, paying 30 people to record a line each costs more than one person doing all 30, but think long-term. Imagine the return in city revenue when passengers take SEPTA to Broad and Cecil B. Moore just so they can hear John Chaney say, "Welcom to Temple.") --Juliet Fletcher




Idea #26: Give us a sign.

We need more information at bus stops: Schedules, hours of operation, description of the route. Other cities do this. Like, all of them.. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #27: Tell us when the next train is coming.

Riding SEPTA has led me to develop an ability to read subway platform crowds like tea leaves. If there appear to be two people waiting for a train, what does the future hold? A good 15-minute wait before the next one arrives. The annoyance of the wait is compounded by the irritation of the not knowing. No wonder I'm likely to duck out of the station and bike wherever I'm going instead. Ergo, SEPTA loses business.

But should we all be tea-leaf readers? Taking a leaf from overground stations, our subway stops should install LCD arrival boards or tickers. "Eastbound Market-Frankford: 10 min." would save us the guesswork and let us decide whether SEPTA is the fastest way to travel. This feature would also bring a prominent place to advertise delays, and would help adapt stations to aid hearing-impaired folks, too.

Even better: How about letting us sign up for wireless text alerts? --Juliet Fletcher


Idea #28: Show your customers some appreciation.

Enough of the depressing messages about how SEPTA is downsizing despite rider demand. Recently a transit agency in Virginia showered one lucky traveler with a gift basket complete with ride tokens, passes and a transit T-shirt in appreciation of their one-millionth traveler. And at the New Year's Eve celebration in Salt Lake City, Utah, the UTA let passengers wearing a "First Night" button ride free, as well as up to four children for every one adult appropriately adorned. We're not the enemy; we're your customers. --Kate Salute


Idea #29: Give us schedules.

On every bus, up by the driver, there's a little plastic bin for that route's schedule, and it is always empty. SEPTA should regularly fill this bin. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #30: Spread the Day Passes around.

On your heaviest commuting days, the Day Pass makes a lot of sense. Just $5.50 for all-day use of every bus and subway you can track down. Too bad you already need to take a subway or a bus just to buy one. There are precious few places you can buy the Day Pass. In New York you can buy one at every subway stop, plus just about every florist and drug store. We could do with that kinda service. --Patrick Rapa


Idea #31: Give bikers a place to lock up.

In Ottawa, bike-and-transit riders don't have to chain their bikes to a metal post and hope for the best. There, the local transit agency rents out bike lockers in parking lots. These large lockers look like small garages or huge dog houses (we're talking luxuriously Beethoven-sized) and cost $25 for a three-month lease (about $8.25 per month). --Kate Salute


Idea #32. Lower the fares.

SEPTA's base fare for subway and buses is $2, while D.C.'s Metrorail starts at $1.35 and Metrobus runs $1.25. SEPTA's regional rails cost anywhere from $3 to $7 depending on how far you travel from Center City, while the maximum fare on Metrorail is $3.90 — and that takes you end-to-end more than 30 miles, connecting to rail systems extending to Baltimore and Central Virginia. Riders in D.C. receive discounted fares for transfers between rail and bus, while SEPTA charges 60 cents per route transfer within the same system. WMATA, the Metro's supervisory board, provided 30 million more rides than SEPTA last year, but at a significantly lower fare, which translated to almost $90 million more revenue.

How did WMATA do it? They have a commitment from the District, Prince George's and Montgomery counties in Maryland, and Alexandria City and Fairfax and Arlington counties in Virginia, to pay for the system's operating costs not covered by passenger revenue, says Peter Benjamin, the board's CFO. These jurisdictions ponied up more than $436 million last year without any help from the feds. SEPTA's state and local contribution tallied about $394 million, and they got more than $30 million in federal operating subsidies. SEPTA should be knocking on other doors (like local jurisdictions) to ante up. --Adrienne Saunders


Idea #33: Stop charging riders.

SEPTA is giving the bill to the wrong people. It charges the people who ride trains and buses; instead, it should charge the people who own the places they ride to.

This is the theory proposed by Paolo Pezzotta, president of Integrated Transport Planning and a former part-time lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Design. Pezzotta argues that employers, retailers and real estate developers benefit tremendously from SEPTA's services, but no one ever asks them to pay for it. SEPTA could support itself, he says, if it started defining the word "customer" a little more broadly.

Take an example. Louie rode SEPTA to Lincoln Financial Field for every Eagles' home game this past winter. SEPTA made, at most, $4 off of Louie each time. The Eagles made the price of Louie's ticket plus the money he spent on concessions, not to mention all the television and advertising revenue they wouldn't get without the live audience SEPTA helped make possible. But SEPTA didn't see a dime.

We can begin to rectify this situation with some creative taxation and revenue-distribution measures — and we'll have to, Pezzotta says, because as long as SEPTA persists in only charging riders, it will continue to have budget problems. Riders can't support SEPTA, Pezzotta says. "They simply do not have the money." --Doron Taussig

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