Every Stop on the 101/102 Trunk
Long story short: I happen to have reviewed all of the 101/102 stations from Fairfield Ave to Drexel Hill Junction. Might as well marathon them!
Fairfield Ave is stupidly close to 69th Street. It is a 0.2 mile, 5-minute walk from Fairfield Ave to 69th Street, which is stupidly close. Given the fact that Fairfield Ave is so stupidly close to 69th Street, it only gets a shelter on the outbound side. Smart!
Station: Fairfield Ave
Ridership: 108 boardings per day, although an interestingly much higher 169 leavings per day. That adds up to a paltry 277 riders per day.
Pros: The stone shelter going outbound is really nice. Inbound only gets a bench and a wastebasket, but that’s all you need.
Cons: It’s just not very useful, since it’s so close to 69th. Because SEPTA charges for transfers, you’re basically only going to use this stop if you’re heading outbound or if you have a pass and don’t want to walk.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I guess it is closer to some 69th Street development than 69th Street is. I’ve heard good things about Five Points Coffee and a visit to H Mart is always a unique one.
Final Verdict: 5/10
Five Word Summary: Decent station for lazy people.
The platforms of Walnut Street are staggered, both on the far side of the intersection. They’re also exactly the same, both with lame bus shelters, a few benches, and a bit of SEPTA information. Getting to this one is a pain, since you have to use the crosswalks at the intersection and only at the intersection, although it seems many people have subverted that requirement…
Station: Walnut Street
Ridership: A total of 354 people per day, between ons and offs.
Pros: Shelter on both sides is nice. Unlike Fairfield Ave, there is at least some reason to go inbound from here (although again, probably only if you have a pass).
Cons: The shelters have no character, and the way the crosswalks work, it’s really hard to get to the station. This leads to dangerous ways of getting out, as seen above.
Nearby and Noteworthy: A library, a dollar store, and a rental car place. I’ll be cultured and pick the library.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Five Word Summary: “Tracks=trains, not playing games.”
This one’s almost the same thing as Walnut Street, except it’s slightly worse in two ways. First of all, it has this nice old station building that’s just not used, which is a darn shame. Secondly, there are again only crosswalks at the intersection, but this time they just show up on one side. Come on! At least the outbound platform has a little path to Bywood Ave, creating a second exit.
Station: Avon Road
Ridership: A not-too-shabby 538 riders per day between boardings and alightings!
Pros: I guess the same as Walnut Street – it’s nice to have shelters on both sides. And this one is even further from 69th, making it that much more useful.
Cons: The building is a shame, but the crosswalks are really annoying. Sure, you can jaywalk (and of course, many people do), but I don’t see why there can’t be more pedestrian provisions for a good, frequent transit line like this.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There’s a block of businesses near here. It’s mostly grocery stores and low-key restaurants.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Five Word Summary: Look both ways before jaywalking.
For much of the 101/102 trunk, it feels like you could take out half the stops and it wouldn’t have a huge impact on riders. On the other hand, they would probably kick up a stink about losing their local stop. But these two? These two are just ridiculous! When I got off at Hilltop Road, I legitimately thought that Beverly Boulevard was just Hilltop’s inbound platform. Who could blame me? They’re less than 200 feet apart!!!!
Stations: Hilltop Road and Beverly Boulevard
Ridership: Hilltop Road gets 391 people per day between its boardings and leavings, while Beverly Boulevard gets…673??? Wow, that’s the second-highest on the trunk besides Landsdowne Ave!
Pros: These stations are both the same design as Walnut. They’re fine.
Cons: The crosswalk issues come back, but the main problem is that these stations are just so close together. It’s ridiculous! Sure, Hilltop Road directly serves a middle school and Beverly Boulevard directly serves a shopping center (hence the high ridership there), but I see very little reason to keep them both open. Close Hilltop Road and make the passengers walk one (one!) extra minute to Beverly Boulevard, I say.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Hilltop Road has a few small offices next to it, but Beverly Boulevard has a big honking suburban shopping center right across the street. It’s just a shame there’s only a crosswalk on one side, inconveniencing outbound riders and making them cross twice.
Final Verdict: 3/10
Five Word Summary for Hilltop Road: Far too close to Beverly.
Five Word Summary for Beverly Boulevard: Far too close to Hilltop.
“Aww, this one is cute!” I exclaimed when I got off here. It reminds me a bit of Brandon Hall back in Boston, since that also has streetcar tracks on the side of a road with a bunch of trees, although Congress Ave isn’t nearly as gorgeous as that stop. On the other hand, Congress Ave’s platform is in far better condition, and it has a fantastic little brick shelter for inbound passengers. The crossing across the tracks could be in better shape, though…
Station: Congress Ave
Ridership: Just 197 riders per day, but we are in a residential neighborhood.
Pros: It’s just adorable! This one has so much character.
Cons: The track crossing is in horrible shape, and it’s also annoying that you have to walk to the end of the station to use it, then walk back a bit to get to the crosswalk. Again, it’s only on one side of the intersection, and it really should be on the side where the the track crossing is.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Houses as far as the eye can see.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Five Word Summary: Who’s a cute station? You!
Okay…this one is simply baffling to me. I’ll explain in a bit. First, as you can see in the photo above, we have a pretty nice station layout here. The outbound side has a little shelter, while the inbound has a pretty nice-looking building. There are a few bike racks and a small drop-off area that appears to double as unofficial parking – at least, people are using it for that purpose on Google Street View.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the building is beautiful on the outside, its inside is a different story: there’s absolutely nothing in there. Sure, it has plenty of strange liquid whose contents should be examined under a microscope to see what kinds of strange organisms have developed, but that’s not something I want to see at a transit station! Still, the building is perfectly nice to admire on the outside. There’s even a weekday-only bus connection to the 115, plus an even more infrequent connection to the 107’s twice-a-day, inbound-only express trips. Everything just has a sign, but I don’t think you need more than that (although the 115 seems to generally pick at least a few people up here on each trip). All in all, Landsdowne Ave rounds out to be a pretty nice station!
Okay, I seriously thought that the two mostly bare platforms across the street from the real station were just unused. Maybe they were temporary infill stations while SEPTA did work on the regular station. I don’t know, anything would make more sense than what happens here! Basically, passengers can wait at either station, and trolleys can and will stop at both. Yes, that’s right: rather than walk ten feet to a crosswalk, people can slow down trolleys by making them stop at the same station twice. I’m…I’m lost for words. This is the most baffling station design I’ve ever seen. Oh boy, the score for this place just went way down…
Station: Landsdowne Ave
Ridership: This is actually the busiest unique stop on the trunk, with an impressive 1,275 daily riders. It seems weird that it gets that many given how close the stops on this line are, but Landsdowne Ave is the closest stop to two schools and a hospital, which definitely helps.
Pros: The platform to the west of Landsdowne is great. It has a charming (at least on the outside) building, plenty of amenities, and shelter for passengers travelling in both directions.
Cons: The layout. The layout all the way. Who the heck thought that this was a good idea? Why has this arrangement persisted to this current day? Has no one looked at how ridiculous it is for trolleys to stop twice and thought “Hmm, maybe we should change that”? Absurd. Absolutely absurd.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Not a ton, actually. There’s a YMCA and a local bar nearby, but none of the other businesses are interesting.
Final Verdict: 3/10
Five-Word Summary: Whoever designed this is squirrely.
Alright, this one blows Congress Ave out of the water. There’s something very endearing about having a trolley line in the middle of a pleasant residential neighborhood, and it’s made even better when the stations are as beautiful as this one. The outbound side is just a bench and a wastebasket (which is really all you need), but the inbound side gets a beautiful building. Not only that, but there’s another bench inside, plus a lovely painting at the entrance! It’s actually a pleasant place to be, unlike at Landsdowne!
Station: Drexel Park
Ridership: Given the residential nature of the neighborhood, just 117 daily riders.
Pros: Oh, it’s all adorable! I absolutely love the building, not only for its looks but also for its functionality. Each platform even has a single bike rack in the middle, which is a nice touch.
Cons: I don’t like how the outbound platform is on a curb. The inbound gets a ramp, but for some reason they didn’t do the same on the other side. I know trolley wheelchair accessibility is a long way off, but still, someone could trip over that.
Nearby and Noteworthy: All houses.
Final Verdict: 8/10
Five-Word Summary: Yes, Trolleys In My BackYard! [#YTIMBY]
Irvington Road is the exact same thing as Drexel Park, but without the building. At least neither of the platforms are on curbs this time.
Station: Irvington Road
Ridership: Still in residential land, so still low: 104 riders per day, the lowest on the trunk.
Pros: At least we still have benches and the bike racks on each platform. And like I said, at least the platforms aren’t on curbs.
Cons: Seriously, no shelter? None? Not even a lame bus shelter? C’mon, that’s no good!
Nearby and Noteworthy: H-O-U-S-E-S.
Final Verdict: 3/10
Five-Word Summary: Better hope it doesn’t rain.
Well, looks like we’re ending off on a fancy one! Check that out on the inbound platform – an actual, bonafide fare machine. And it was working! The inbound side also has a charming building, at least on the outside, but the inside had a funny smell when I was here. There are both indoor and outdoor benches, so you can choose whichever one you dare to use.
Since a good number of people travel outbound from here, it makes sense to put a shelter on that side, too. But what we get is…strange. The singular bench in this green shelter is up on a curb, not at all protected from the elements in the back, but there’s a weird wall blocking entry from the front. I guess some shelter is better than none, but this structure sure is weird.
Station: Drexel Hill Junction
Ridership: The third-highest on the trunk, with 652 daily weekday riders.
Pros: I love how this station gets a ticket machine, but the ungated Subway-Surface underground stations don’t. Oh well, it’s a nice thing to have regardless, and the building on the inbound side adds a bunch of character to the station.
Cons: Mainly the weird outbound shelter. I mean, seriously…what is that thing?
Nearby and Noteworthy: A bowling alley in a stone house? Sign me up!
Final Verdict: 7/10
Five-Word Summary: Fare machines should be commonplace!
LRTA: 8 (Centralville)
Yeah, just gonna say it right off the bat: this one is similar to the 1. Heck, the two routes even combine on Saturdays. Yes, the 8 serves similar neighborhoods, runs in a similar loopy shape, and even shares a large portion of its route with the 1. The main difference between them is that the 8 has more service at rush hour. Exciting stuff.
Alright, let’s get this redundant first bit out of the way quickly: up Thorndike Street, which becomes Dutton Street, through downtown Lowell onto Father Morissette Boulevard past the Lowell High School, and left onto Bridge Street over the Merrimack River. Shared portion with the 1 complete. We went up the main thoroughfare of Bridge Street for a little more before turning onto 6th Street, which quickly became dense houses.
We got to a “downtown” area, which was a mess of five-way intersections and plenty of businesses. This is where the route’s loop section starts. We ran up Lakeview Ave, which quickly became residential, although one of the nearby houses was apparently Jack Kerouac’s birthplace. Entering Dracut, we merged onto the narrow Sladen Street, missing out on a major intersection with suburban businesses by a block.
We turned onto Pleasant Street and then Hildreth Street, passing a Hannaford supermarket. There were some apartment developments after that, but once we got to a cemetery, it turned to normal houses again. Taking a right onto the narrow Ludlam Street, we made our way back to 6th Street, ending the loop.
LRTA Route: 8 (Centralville)
Ridership: The 8 has no slot in the LRTA’s Regional Transit Plan, so I have no concrete ridership info. I do have information on its combined Saturday service with the 1, which gets 119 people throughout the day on average. I also know from a driver that this route can get pretty busy at rush hour, so I would imagine its weekday ridership is higher. Then again, my weekday loop got 7 people. Slow period, maybe?
Pros: This one is a lot more logical than the 1, with a direct route and a sensible loop at the end. The schedule is also better, with hourly service throughout the day, but 30-40 minute headways at rush hour. Apparently it needs that, too!
Cons: I will say that like the 1, the 8 doesn’t have that much to call its own. That being said, I think the 8 is more unique than the 1 is, and it seems to get the ridership to back it up.
Nearby and Noteworthy: It’s not like Mr. Kerouac’s house has been turned into a museum or anything, but if you love his books, you can take the 8 to his house and awkwardly stare at it from outside. If that’s not your style, Vic’s looks like a cool local establishment to grab a bite.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Slightly better than the 1, I would say. It’s definitely a low 7, but this route seems to do pretty well for what it is. It’s simple, it has a fine schedule, and it seems to get good ridership.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
63rd Street (MFL)
I refuse to review the 15 trolley until (if?) the full line gets restored out to Richmond-Westmoreland. However, I still wanted to ride the whole thing as it currently operates just to say I’ve done it, and from the western end of the line, there’s really nowhere to go except a few blocks south to Market Street. Time to check out the station I used upon my arrival, 63rd Street!
I love the way that all the West Philly El stations show the station’s name on either side of the tracks. It looks fantastic, and it’s a simple way of pointing out “Hey, there’s a SEPTA station here.” Well…aside from the fact that…I mean, it’s an elevated station, so…okay, it’s really obvious there’s a SEPTA station there. But that number on the side still looks great!
Three out of the four staircases here are exit-only. Sure, it’s a little annoying, but we are near the end of the line so it’s not something I can be too upset about. Plus, the artwork on the two western exits looks fantastic. There are two bus connections here, the 21 and the 31. Since the 21 originates at 69th Street (a much bigger hub), it doesn’t get a ton of ridership from here, but the westbound 31 towards 76th-City does pick up a decent number of passengers at 63rd, since this is its last connection to the El. We’ve got nothing more than signs for the bus stops, but I get the feeling shelters aren’t super needed here – maybe one for the westbound 31.
Thus, we reach the fourth entrance, which is actually an entrance. It gets a sheltered portion at street level, while some artwork-laden stairs make their way up to the station’s mezzanine. Sadly, while an upward escalator shows up for the second flight, there’s nothing on the first. This station is accessible, though, with a single elevator that takes passengers up to the unpaid mezzanine, as well as from the paid platform to the footbridge. Talk about efficiency!
I often harp on SEPTA mezzanines for being too low-capacity, and this one definitely is – it has only two fare machines and four fare gates. But I’m going to give 63rd Street a pass, since it doesn’t get a ton of ridership, and there doesn’t seem to be space for more gates. Sure, you could take out an emergency exit and fit in two or three more, but…the emergency exit is probably there for a reason. Just a hunch.
So…if there’s only one entrance, how are you supposed to get to the other platform? Well, it’s actually a design that makes a lot of sense. The fare gates take passengers to the inbound side, since that’s the dominant direction at any outlying station. But since we’re so close to the end of the line, very few people are going outbound. Why spend the money to build two mezzanines and pay two cashiers when you can just have people cross a footbridge to go outbound? Yes, it’s inconveniencing a few riders (in this case, me included), but from an efficiency standpoint, I see nothing wrong with it.
Despite the huge disparity in ridership between platforms, they both get similarly good treatments. The entirety of the station is sheltered, and both sides get this little nook set back from the platform where most of the seating space is. Still, the station has plenty of benches and wastebaskets scattered along the rest of the platforms, so you needn’t fear having to sit inside the nook if you don’t want to. I don’t know why you wouldn’t, though – the view down the street from in there is fantastic!
Station: 63rd Street (MFL)
Ridership: Like I mentioned, this station doesn’t get a ton of people: just 2,236 riders per day. This makes it the least-used station in West Philly, and its ridership is less than half of that of the second least-used station (although Millbourne gets less than 25% of this station’s ridership, but that’s Millbourne). Why do so few people use 63rd Street? Check back with me in the cons.
Pros: The West Philadelphia El renovations put a lot of care into the stations, and the good design really shines here. It’s a bizarre but pleasant surprise seeing so much artwork at a SEPTA stop (such stations are out there, but it’s rare), plus the station is simple and super easy to navigate. It seems like going outbound via the footbridge would be confusing, but the signage is clear and helpful.
Cons: Having to cross over to the outbound side is a little annoying (but not for most passengers), and I’ve experienced a stinky elevator and some peeling paint here before. Really, though, this station just isn’t especially useful. Half of its coverage is occupied by Cobbs Creek, and it’s only three blocks (a seven-minute walk!) away from its neighbor, 60th Street. Sure, it’s not as bad as Millbourne, which is in an even more terrible location, but…again, that’s Millbourne. I understand the need for a station here (63rd is an important street), but the location doesn’t equate to high ridership. Incidentally, because of that, only “A” trains stop here at rush hour. This is under “Cons” because the skip-stop system is stupid and I want it to go away.
Nearby and Noteworthy: 63rd Street is mostly residential, and the majority of businesses that are around here cater to that (i.e. convenience stores, pharmacies, etc.). There is a nice unpaved trail along Cobbs Creek, though, making for a nice escape from the city.
Final Verdict: 7/10
So I looked back at my Millbourne review to see what I scored that stop, and I had given it a 6. In terms of station quality, I would put 63rd and Millbourne on a similar pedestal, although I might as well reiterate that Millbourne Station is super weird and awesome and you should totally visit it. 63rd Street is a good station in a more traditional way, with good design and plenty of artwork to spruce the place up. And honestly, despite Millbourne’s charm, this station is just better. Plus, its ridership is less stupidly low (but still really low, not gonna deny it). That’s worth an extra point.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
I think our hacking saga should be over. For those who don’t know, the blog was attacked over the past few days, redirecting users to sketchy websites. The problem was a plugin that I’ve now removed; it does mean you won’t be able to see related posts at the bottom of the page anymore, but I think we can all agree that’s a fine tradeoff for having a functional website that’s not trying to scam people.
LRTA: 9 (Lowell Circulator)
This one’s not even hiding its circularity. It has “circulator” right in its name, for heaven’s sake, and it is in fact a giant, unwieldy, disgusting loop. It goes by the name of…the 9.
We went up Thorndike Street for a bit, but we stopped short of downtown, turning onto Middlesex Street. I don’t know why this route runs east down Middlesex Street when every other LRTA route that runs this way goes east down Appleton and west down Middlesex. I don’t even know why they wanted the 9 to run two ways down Middlesex to begin with – we had to use Elliott Street to get onto Appleton anyway and serve the Salvation Army! Then…WHY NOT RUN TWO WAYS DOWN APPLETON????
Appleton became Church, marking the starting point of the loop, and after some suburban-feeling offices, we crossed the Concord River into a more “real” neighborhood. There were dense apartments with some businesses as we turned onto High Street, then East Merrimack Street. Strangely, we came really close to the Lowell General Hospital, but we didn’t actually deviate into it. Why would the “circulator” skip a deviation, while a route that actually goes somewhere (the 2) does deviate? Who knows?
We passed the Lowell Memorial Auditorium before crossing the Concord River again into downtown Lowell. Of course there were lots of businesses along Merrimack Street, but then we turned onto the narrow Kirk Street. It was a left onto Father Morissette Boulevard from there, and we passed Lowell High School, some offices, and an apartment development.
Time to deviate to part of UMass Lowell that’s already served by their shuttle system: right onto Cabot, left onto Hall, right onto Aiken, left onto Perkins, and straight over to Pawtucket. We had to hang out at UMass’s Fox Hall for a few minutes because we were early – always a fun time. The tiny, one-way Pawtucket Street then crossed over a canal on a decrepit bridge that even the minibus felt too heavy for – even more of a fun time.
We turned onto Salem Street in order to serve the “University Crossing Transit Hub,” a stop that’s only really significant to the UMass shuttle system, and seems pretty darn unnecessary to serve on a city bus. At least we didn’t deviate into the bus loop. Instead, we turned onto Bowers Street, which was tiny and residential, then we turned onto Fletcher Street, which was wider…and residential.
Oh, I see, this Fletcher Street section was all just a deviation to serve the Market Basket and the Lowell Senior Center! Cool. We passed both of those on Broadway Street, then it was a left onto Adams Street to go right back up to where we were before. Adams went through a big apartment development, and a few tight turns at its end led us onto Merrimack Street.
We took Merrimack Street past some businesses to Lowell City Hall, then we used Dummer Street to get onto Market Street. But okay, we’re back downtown. Surely this is the home stretch? Let’s just take a right onto Dutton Street to return to the terminal. No? We have to continue down Market to serve the “Leo A. Roy Parking Garage”? Ugh…alright. Then it was a right onto Central Street, and once we turned onto Appleton Street, we could head back to the terminal. Well, after that unnecessary jog onto Middlesex Street first. Yup, this route just keeps on giving!
LRTA Route: 9 (Lowell Circulator)
Ridership: The LRTA’s haphazard Regional Transit Plan has no ridership information for the 9. The best I can give you is the 6’s Saturday ridership, which combines with the 9, and that route gets…78 people for the day. Alright, pretty low. Maybe weekdays are higher, though – how much ridership did my weekday trip get? One person other than me. ‘Kay.
Pros: The route’s title isn’t lying – this thing does indeed circulate. So props to the 9 for being honest about itself.
Cons: This bonkers, 40-minute loop just makes very little sense. It feels like it skips places it should be serving and serves places that it shouldn’t have to. For example, using the 9 to serve Lowell General Hospital would save time for through-riders on the 2, while I doubt the jog to the University Crossing Transit Hub generates enough ridership to bother doing it. And you’ve (hopefully) read the review – those are just a few examples! By the way, the weekday schedule is generally every 40 minutes, but in the morning and evening it has strange inconsistencies in the headway. At least Saturday service runs at a consistent every hour, but the combined route with the 6 is so egregiously twisty that its schedule page should have an “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” addendum. And somehow it’s scheduled to only take one minute longer than the midday schedule! Something definitely doesn’t add up there…
Nearby and Noteworthy: Like…yeah, you can use this to get to vibrant downtown Lowell. But if you’d rather not circumnavigate the earth on the way, I would recommend using the 18 instead.
Final Verdict: 2/10
I mean, at least the 6 kinda goes somewhere. Trying to get from point A to point B on the 9 is just an exercise in futility. For most destinations, there’s either a faster route, or walking takes about the same amount of time as the 9 (not to mention you can leave whenever you want when you walk instead of being chained to a 40-minute headway). Yes, this route absolutely serves its purposes (for example, certain cross-Lowell trips), but it is such a mess that I can’t bring myself to give it a higher score.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Somerton
SEPTA’s pass system has some pretty bizarre rules. One of the strangest is with Zone 1 Trailpasses, which you would expect to only be valid within…you know, Zone 1. Not so – on weekdays outside of rush hour, they’re valid for travel to any station within the geographical boundaries of Philadelphia. Oh, wait, there’s a catch here: “except Forest Hills and Somerton Stations”. Alright, sorry, Zone 1 passholders, but you’re out of luck for this one!
The reason Forest Hills and Somerton, both on the West Trenton Line, are exempt from the pass’s coverage is because the line actually leaves Philadelphia on its way into the city. Located on a sliver of the Far Northeast, these stations are more or less in the middle of nowhere. Somerton is surrounded by suburban sprawl, so it makes sense that it has a parking lot, although at just 201 spaces, it tends to fill up pretty quickly. Only a dollar a day to park, though! The station’s non-car entrances include direct access from Station Road to the south, and a pedestrian walkway that goes further west on Philmont Ave, taking you that much closer to the very nearby Forest Hills.
Somerton’s platform is basic but super functional. It’s slightly raised so there’s no need for those silly step-stools that SEPTA uses elsewhere, and there are consistent benches and wastebaskets on both sides. The outbound platform doesn’t get shelter, but that’s not a huge deal; the inbound side, meanwhile, has the awning of the station building to protect it from the elements. The station is wheelchair accessible, with mini-high platforms on both sides.
To get between platforms, you have to use a level crossing in the middle of the station. Luckily, safety precautions have been taken: there are both visual and audio cues that let passengers know when a train is coming. Somerton’s building is only open on weekdays from 5:15 to 11:30 AM, but it looks like a nice place to wait during the morning rush. From what I could see, the inside has benches, a ticket office, and a small library.
Station: Somerton
Ridership: Wow, here I was thinking this stop wasn’t super well-used, but it’s actually the busiest unique station on the whole West Trenton Line! On the average weekday, it gets 718 boardings, meaning that the majority of riders get here in some way other than driving and parking.
Pros: The layout is simple, but it gets the job done. It’s a far better low-level platform than a big chunk of other SEPTA stations, and while mini-highs aren’t optimal, it sure beats inaccessibility. The building seems like a great place to wait, but even when it’s closed, the station still offers plenty of sheltered seating. Also, this may not be a concern for most Regional Rail riders, but for a suburban station, the bus connections here are robust: the 58 serves points northeast and southwest, while the 84 takes a southeasterly course. No shelters for the stops, unfortunately, but I doubt transfer traffic is huge.
Cons: It’s a shame that the parking lot is so small that it gets full on a daily basis, but there isn’t much room to expand it. I only lament the parking lot size because this station isn’t in a pedestrian-friendly area, so for many people, driving or getting dropped off are the only options. There are only two bike racks here, though, so perhaps more of those would help generate new riders and free up space in the lot.
Nearby and Noteworthy: A few sprawly restaurants are nearby, but nothing seems particularly noteworthy. I like how many apartment developments there are around the station, though!
Final Verdict: 8/10
Who knew this little suburban station would be so busy? And yes, I know it’s in “the city”, but let’s be real, this is the suburbs through and through. It is great to see that there are a lot of apartments around the station, although given some of their sidewalk situations and the amount of parking they offer, it might be more transit-adjacent development than transit-oriented. Still, the station is an attractive place to commute from, with a great building for the morning rush and wheelchair accessibility. Just don’t try driving here!
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
Introducing TransportationCamp Greater Attleboro-Taunton!
I was at TransportationCamp Philly last week, and it was a blast. If you haven’t been to one of these “unconferences” before, I strongly recommend it – it’s a great way to meet other people interested in transportation and talk about some fascinating things. Here’s their website if you’re interested. In particular, TransportationCamp New England will be on April 27th at MIT.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it. Why, you ask? Well, it’s a matter of inclusion – I was talking to some people who were upset by the fact that New England gets lumped into only one TranspoCamp. Thus, after some back and forth with various parties and sponsors, I am pleased to announce TransportationCamp Greater Attleboro-Taunton!
This event will take place on April 27th, the same day as TCNE. We have some amazing sponsors, including:
- Downtown Attleboro Division:
- The Attleboro DMV
- GATRA (of course)
- Norton Senior Center
- Emerald Square Mall Division:
- Seekonk Stop & Shop
- That bowling alley that just opened up where all the kids are going
- Plainville Council on Aging
- North Attleboro Industrial Park Division:
- The Cumberland Farms in Mansfield
- Linda Reeves, resident of Norton
- Taunton Nursing Home
TCGAT will take place at the Middleborough Council on Aging, which is easily accessible using GATRA’s Middleborough-Taunton Connection route. GATRA has agreed to run a special Saturday service on the normally three-days-a-week bus, but remember that you still must call at least 24 hours in advance in order to secure a ride! Buses will run at very high frequencies, with service at 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM.
Now, the idea of TransportationCamp is that anyone can propose a session about anything related to the field of transportation. We have already gotten some very exciting ideas, including:
- Capacity and Intimacy: Truck Minibuses, the Best of Both Worlds
- Multimodal Connections to the Providence, er, Franklin Line in Norfolk
- Redesigning GATRA’s Route Network: Why More Deviations are Needed
- And many more!
The event will begin tardily sometime around 11:30. There will be one three-hour session, and the event will be over at 2:30. However, stick around afterward for the Early Bird Special at the Middleborough Dairy Queen, where the fun will continue over inexpensive food!
Tickets will cost $20 ($0.50 for seniors) and will be available for purchase by sending a letter to GATRA’s headquarters in Taunton with a self-addressed and stamped envelope, along with a check made out to “TCGAT”. They go on sale today, April 1st, which is definitely not a suspicious day for these tickets to go on sale. Hope to see you all there!
LRTA: 1 (Christian Hill)
Alright, we’re actually gonna go somewhere in a circulator this time. Also, you’d better have extra space in your wallets (or on your CharlieCards), because the 1 leaves Lowell, requiring the “suburban” fare. Got it? Alright, let’s go.
As usual, we headed up Thorndike Street, which became Dutton Street as we entered downtown. After curving onto Arcand Drive, we turned onto Father Morissette Boulevard, passing the Lowell High School and its cool bridges over the canal that splits it in two. Our next turn was a left onto Bridge Street, which did indeed become a bridge over the Merrimack River.
Bridge Street was a major thoroughfare with businesses, but we took a right onto the smaller residential 3rd Street. The houses very quickly got less dense as we turned onto Beech Street, then 10th Street, then Beacon Street, making our way up a hill (Christian Hill?) as we went. The route’s loop began at the intersection with Methuen Street, where the outbound route stays on Beacon and runs past a park.
We hooked a sharp left onto Willard Street, then a hard right onto Bridge Street (once again). We performed a pretty unnecessary deviation into Sunrise Plaza, but at least it didn’t take too long. Right after the plaza, we entered Dracut and turned onto Arlington Street, going by the town clerk and library. Finally, we turned onto Willard Street (once again), which took us to the last stop at Village Plaza.
I figured I’d document the other side of the loop too, although it’s a lot less involved. We headed the other way down Willard Street, staying on it this time – it passed a bit of forest, some houses, and a few apartment developments. We then turned onto Humphrey Street, a narrow street lined with houses, and once that ended, we swung onto Methuen Street and then Beacon Street. The rest of the trip was the same as going out.
LRTA Route: 1 (Christian Hill)
Ridership: The ridership is low, at 149 riders per weekday, but the 1 is slightly more productive than the LRTA’s system average, probably because it’s on the shorter side. Meanwhile, when the route combines with the 8 on Saturdays, ridership drops to 119 riders, but the productivity increases quite a lot.
Pros: The 1 seems to get decent ridership for such a small route with relatively suburban characteristics. The schedule is reasonable for the ridership, too, with service once an hour. I also like the combined route on Saturdays – it’s not too crazy for LRTA standards, and the loop seems to be better for productivity than on weekdays!
Cons: It just doesn’t have all that much to call its own. The loop at the end seems unnecessary and confusing, and that’s basically all the 1 serves uniquely. It could be worth looking into a full-time combination between the 1 and the 8 with more frequent service.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Is there anything of note in the two plazas served by the 1? Didn’t seem like it.
Final Verdict: 6/10
The 1 just…does its thing. It’s decently productive, and it just circles around getting mediocre ridership. A combination with the 8 could provide half-hourly weekday service, which would be very nice, but the question is whether or not the loop would be too indirect. It works for low-ridership Saturdays, but it would be a pain for someone going to a far end of the loop.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Service Change: Transit in Pittsburgh and Morgantown (yes, THAT Morgantown)
A lot of my friends were surprised when I told them that my family and I were willingly going to Pittsburgh over spring break. I guess that just goes to show how underrated this place is – I personally loved it, since it offers some incredibly diverse neighborhoods with fascinating topography (hills upon hills upon hills). Because my Baltimore post was pretty popular, I figured I’d talk about the various modes of transit I took while I was in Pittsburgh.
After an overnight Greyhound bus that was two hours late (go figure), I arrived in the surprisingly nice bus terminal Saturday morning. I had this day to myself, since my parents’ flight had been cancelled, so they were arriving in the evening. Hmm…a whole day to myself. I know, I’ll go ride an RTA! So I dropped my stuff off at our hotel, bought three weekly passes at a Giant Eagle supermarket, and returned to the Greyhound terminal to ride the Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority’s Commuter A route to a town called Donora. What a mouthful.
Pittsburgh’s transit agency, the Port Authority, uses a fare system called the ConnectCard, which is actually the same technology as the MBTA’s CharlieCard (right down to the same satisfying beep when you tap). Also like Boston, Pittsburgh has a multitude of RTAs that fan out to various other counties, except here, they all run express routes into the city. Most of these agencies also use the ConnectCard, so I was able to load money on and use it for the Commuter A.
The Commuter A is the MMVTA’s principle route to and from Pittsburgh. Although they run a few peak-only express services too, this one runs all day, taking a more local route and serving most of the major towns in the MMVTA’s service area (meaning yes, the route is twisty as heck). I believe it’s also the only RTA that runs into downtown Pittsburgh on weekends, with service every two hours on Saturdays and every four hours on Sundays.
Probably the crown jewel of Pittsburgh’s transit system is its network of grade-separated busways. There are three of them, and they’re all open-ended, so buses can use the busways and then fan out to other destinations. Even RTAs get in on the fun, as I found out after we cruised through downtown on regular streets. Once we crossed the Monongahela River, we entered a transit-only tunnel cutting through Mount Washington (shared with the light rail), and we officially entered the South Busway on the other side. The South Busway is the least-used of the three, since it more or less parallels the light rail the whole time. Rather than serve destinations within itself, its main purpose is to speed up trips from the suburbs, and indeed, it was a blast to go down this thing without any interruption from cars.
Once the busway ended, we just travelled on local roads through mostly suburban sprawl. Eventually, though, we started reaching the depressed industrial towns of the Mid Mon Valley, and this is where things got interesting. A lot of people used the bus for local service at this point, and some of the passenger interactions were fascinating (including one woman who told a stranger trying to talk to her that she was a police informant and would get him arrested if he didn’t leave). The towns had definitely seen better days.
Donora is the last town the Commuter A serves, and I got off in its rather dead downtown. Luckily, there was a spark of light: the Saturday-only Donora Smog Museum. I tell ya, for what looks like a town that’s fallen on hard times, it certainly has a lot of interesting history, including what is perhaps the birth of the environmental movement (check out the website for more info). The people in the museum were wonderful, and it was a fantastic experience. So, if you’re ever in Donora, PA on a Saturday…check it out!
Enough RTA adventures, though. My next bus trip was taking a 28x out to the airport to pick up my parents. The 28x is the airport flyer route, running every half hour to the airport via most (but not all) of the west busway, plus express sections on I-376. However, it has one fatal flaw: a five-minute deviation to a collection of shopping centers. Yes, this is a huge ridership draw, but it’s still annoying! But on this ride, I also discovered something that has absolutely no excuse: week passes are only valid for a calendar week, from Sunday morning to Saturday night! Who does that???? Luckily this driver let me on for free, and my family just paid the $2.50 single fare each for the trip back. This is some truly insane fare policy, though. It’s a good thing we were here for roughly a calendar week, so we only had to pay for Saturday!
But now it’s time to tackle Pittsburgh’s one true rail service, a light rail network with a downtown subway and two branches serving the inner suburbs, which then come back together before splitting off into another two branches serving the outer suburbs. This schedule has a map in it that might be helpful. Also, hey, the system is called “The T”! Come on, that’s Boston’s thing! Yes, I know Stockholm did it first…
A relic of the Port Authority’s fare-collecting past is the downtown free-fare zone. It used to be valid on all buses (but only until 7 PM) and the light rail, but the pay-as-you-exit situation on the buses was confusing, so now it’s only for the light rail. Still, though, free service between the system’s downtown stations is pretty awesome! The light rail begins at Allegheny Station, part of a 2012 extension to the stadiums and recent development of the North Side.
The trains themselves are fine on the inside – they certainly don’t feel as dated as the ones in Baltimore. There is an odd system where two-car trains are used in the peak, but if you sit in the second one, you can only get off at certain stops that are actually long enough to hold both cars. Luckily, said stops are marked on the maps, but they still tell you that if you’re unsure of which car to board in, just do the first car. It’s pay-as-you-exit going outbound, incidentally, because of the free fare zone.
Allegheny is above ground, but the line enters a tunnel right after it. North Side Station is next, and like all the other underground stations, it’s beautiful. Also, unlike in Baltimore, which played smooth jazz at its stations, Pittsburgh plays cool classical music! It feels pretty awesome to walk out of a train station with William Tell Overture blasting over the speakers.
From the North Side, the line goes under the Allegheny River and makes underground stops at Gateway, Wood Street, and Steel Plaza. Wood Street is the main bus hub downtown, and you’ll often see trains in both directions empty out here. After Steel Plaza, the line comes above ground for a stop at First Avenue, and then it’s over the Monongahela and out of the free fare zone.
After Station Square, we entered that combined bus-rail tunnel through Mount Washington. The first stop on the other side is South Hills Junction, where the Blue and Red Lines split for the first time. We were on the Red Line, which has a great section just after the split where it hugs the side of a mountain. Eventually it reaches Broadway Ave and gets a street-running section.
The street-running enters a more residential neighborhood, but eventually Broadway Ave ends and the line later enters a short tunnel through the neighborhood. Castle Shannon has a giant free parking lot, and the stop after that, Overbrook Junction (right next to the Blue Line), is where most Red Line trains stop…except for a few, including the one we were on! So, we rejoined the Blue Line, running for three stops until Washington Junction. This is where the lines split again – our train ran along the shorter branch, which ends right next to a shopping mall called South Hills Village.
We hung out at the mall for a bit, then we got one of the half-hourly (!) trains back up to Washington Junction. From here, we boarded a southbound Blue Line towards Library (also every half hour). This longer branch basically runs through the middle of nowhere, ending in, yes, the middle of nowhere. At least the station had a moat. Coming back to the reverse branch, the Blue Line’s section is a lot more boring than the Red Line’s – it basically just follows the South Busway past not-particularly-interesting scenery.
Coming back to downtown, it was time to tackle the full West Busway on the G2. Considering that this route exclusively runs on the busway, you would think it would have rapid transit frequencies, and it does…at rush hour. But after running every 8 minutes during those times, it drops to every 20 during the day, and alternating 25-30 minute headways on weekends! Ewwwww!
The first part of the G2 is in mixed traffic along West Carson Street, which slows it down significantly at rush hour. Once it hits the busway, though, you go fast. It even has a short bus-only tunnel! This busway mostly serves suburbs, which might explain the lower ridership and frequencies along it. It ends in a town called Carnegie, where we got a nice pizza lunch.
After taking a local bus, the 31, back to downtown, it was time to tackle the unofficial “north busway”, which is just an HOV lane along I-279. Still, the routes that run along it get a designated color like the other busways (this one is orange; west is green, south is yellow, and east is purple), so I figured it counted. The I-279 routes only run at rush hour, but they tend to be frequent within those periods. We got the O1, which is exclusively meant to serve one park-and-ride, and it gets an articulated bus every 10 minutes during the peak!
For a trip very early in the rush (about 3 PM), the quarter-seated load wasn’t terrible. It was also short, at only about 20 minutes of express running. But here’s the sad part: we didn’t use the HOV lane! It completely ruined the point of setting out to ride this thing to begin with! Oh well, at least it took us to…a parking lot. Yay. In all seriousness, though, the Port Authority’s Neoplan high-floor articulated buses like the one we rode are dying out quickly, so it was lucky that we got to ride one.
We got an 8 back to the city, then it was time for one more round-trip, this time on the 11. I would say if you can only do one bus in Pittsburgh, the 11 should be it. Sure, the busways are fast and fun, but how can you top great city views and being on a bus struggling down roads like this:
When it comes to rail in Pittsburgh, the light rail isn’t the full story. The city also has two “inclines” (funiculars) that travel up to Mount Washington: the Monongahela Incline and the Duquesne Incline. We weren’t able to do the Mon Incline because it was (and is) closed for repairs, so I guess I’ll have to come back at some point to tackle that. At least the Duquesne Incline was running, though, so we took a G2 out to the base of it (which, other than driving, is more or less the only way to get out there).
The Inclines use Port Authority fares, although the Duquesne Incline is run by a non-profit. It uses these really old rickety cars, so the ride up is harrowing, but a very unique experience with an amazing view. We rode it at rush hour, so it was interesting comparing the tourists with the people actually using it to commute (the suits and ties who were on their phone without regard for the view).
From here, we walked through the fancy Duquesne Heights neighborhood along Grandview Ave, whose name is very accurate. We had dinner in Mount Washington, and then took the “Mon Incline Bus Shuttle” back down the mountain. It had to take a ridiculously roundabout route, and the ride took forever! Again, I hope the actual incline is running when I make it back to Pittsburgh.
Another important corridor to talk about is the 61/71 corridor – or, more specifically, 61A/61B/61C/61D/71A/71B/71C/71D corridor (although not the 71 without a letter, that’s a completely different route – makes perfect sense). Aside from an outbound-only busway for the 71s, these routes run in mixed traffic, but they’re quite possibly the most important ones in the city. They all run together (more or less) from Downtown to Oakland before splitting off, serving UPitt and Carnegie Mellon in the process and getting a ton of student traffic using free university passes. In fact, from my experience, these routes get far more people east of Oakland than they do on the downtown section! But most importantly, this is by far the most frequent corridor in the city: it’s eight routes running every 15-20 minutes each. Even on Sundays when they all run every half hour, it’s still less than every 4 minutes on the combined section! Pretty amazing, and they often get packed.
We ended up doing the East Busway in two parts. First, we came back to downtown from dinner in East Liberty using the P1, the “all stops” East Busway route and I believe the most frequent and busiest single bus on the system. It is very often packed, but speeding down the busway, the trip is a lot faster than driving. We tackled the outer half of the busway on the P3, a weekday-only route that begins in Oakland and travels east from there. Like the P1, it was also busy and speedy!
Alright, I think that’s it for Pittsburgh! Overall, I thought it was a great city, and its transit system definitely has good infrastructure, but some of the frequencies could be a lot better. The light rail feels like it only exists because the track was already there (there are far better places for rail to go), and for a tourist, it’s only useful downtown. It seems like the busways (particularly east) and the 61/71 corridor are Pittsburgh’s true transit powerhouses. Okay, I guess that’s the end of the post! Except…
Yes, we went to Morgantown, West Virginia for a night, and it was for all intents and purposes just to see the city’s bizarre transit system. Morgantown is a geographically tiny city that packs in 30,000 residents, plus 20,000 college students across three campus of WVU. In the 1970s, traffic was getting insane, and delays on the college shuttle buses were causing students to be late for class. The solution? The future…or at least, what might’ve been the future.
The “future” was apparently a “Personal Rapid Transit” system, or PRT. With over 70 tiny vehicles (max capacity 15, and they won’t move if you go over), this automated system travels between five stops on campus. But here’s the fun part: when you enter the system, you punch in your destination, and it will release a car to take you there! Because it has to account for trips between every pair of stations, there is a ridiculous amount of track infrastructure, including express tracks and turnaround tracks where cars line up waiting for their next assignment.
Our hotel was very conveniently located within walking distance of the northernmost stop, Health Sciences Center (or HSC). The system is free for people with WVU cards, and it supposedly costs 50 cents for the rest of the world. However, the coin slots were just…closed off. And you could just punch in a destination and the gate would open. Alright, free rides, I guess.
As soon as you step onto the platform, you start getting lectured by an automated robot voice, telling you basically every rule under the sun. It also lets you know when a train is at the gate, and when it’s ready to depart. Unfortunately, the system was running in all-stops mode when we were here, so we didn’t really get the full PRT experience.
The cars run on rubber tires along the track, which you would think would make for a smoother ride, but it’s actually super jolty. These things bounce around like there’s no tomorrow! Also, as it turns out, all-stops mode is slowwwwwwwww. If you’re going right to your destination, they just fly through each station on express tracks, but when you have to make intermediate stops, it’s about a minute of dwell time at each one. The thing makes two stops at each one: a “departure” stop where people aren’t allowed to board, and a “boarding” stop one gate over where everyone gets on. The doors stay open for 20 seconds at both. It’s excruciating.
My favorite part of the PRT was the long gap between Engineering and Beechurst Stations. The line comes down from a mountain and runs alongside a road next to the Monongahela River, offering a great view towards downtown Morgantown. Beechurst is where most passengers tend to get off, and the next and final stop, Walnut, is right in the middle of downtown. There isn’t a ton to do in downtown Morgantown, so I can see why this stop is lesser-used.
We did at least get to try out one express trip. During busy peak times, the system goes into schedule mode, where extra trips are sent out on a schedule between Beechurst and Towers, since that’s where most people are going. Those trips skip Engineering, and even after getting off of a local and waiting for the express, we were still able to beat it by a wide margin to Towers!
The Morgantown PRT feels like a strange relic of a different time. I have a hard time seeing PRT as being a technology of the future. It requires so much infrastructure (Morgantown’s went way over budget), the tiny cars regularly get packed because of their limited capacity, and in this case, the whole thing could’ve been done with conventional light rail for far cheaper. Plus, it apparently breaks down relatively often, and whenever that happens, the whole system shuts down and they literally have to drive a Jeep onto the tracks to push the broken car to the next station. The future indeed. Still, if you ever find yourself in Morgantown, give this bizarre and unique transit system a ride. It’s apparently free!
Blue Hill Ave (Video Review)
Yes, I did travel over 250 miles to see a Fairmount Line station.
59 (Castor-Bustleton to Arrott Transportation Center)
It’s time to gush over another trackless trolley! Man, I love riding these. Can I just give the route a 10/10 now? What? That’s unfair? Okay, fine, I’ll ride the 59 first…
Our trackless trolley left the businesses around Arrott Transportation Center and turned onto the residential Penn Street. We took that for a block, then we turned onto Oxford Ave, a wide road with larger houses and some ornate rowhouses. Businesses started to come up as we got closer to Roosevelt Boulevard, and once we arrived at that monstrosity, we took a giant rotary to get onto Castor Ave. Traversing a rotary in a trackless trolley…cool stuff, man.
The 59 spends most of its time here on Castor Ave, and it’s a major street. It was lined with rowhouses for a little bit, but soon it changed to two-story retail buildings (with apartments above the stores). The eastern side streets were all rowhouses, while to the west were standalone dwellings. Cottman Ave was a major intersection, although unfortunately, the only businesses here were in shopping plazas with block-sized parking lots. This is also where two buses a day deviate to end at the Alma Loop, a fully-wired short-turn location for buses serving nearby Northeast High School.
It started to feel more suburban after Cottman Ave. The side streets were all standalone houses now, and most of the business blocks that appeared had parking lots in the front or back. Just before Castor Ave intersected with Bustleton Ave, we pulled off into the Bells Corner Loop, ending the short trip.
At this point, I’m just gonna go ahead and review the Bells Corner Loop because, hey, we’re here. The 59 is the only bus to serve the loop, which has a cool retro shelter with a bench underneath, a few wastebaskets, and three bike racks. Employees have a building where they can use the bathroom, while anyone can enjoy the Dunkin’ Donuts located in that very same building. Ramps and stairs provide access to Bustleton Ave on the other side of the loop, where the inbound 58 makes a stop. It’s too bad you have to walk up to Strahle Street to get the outbound, but it’s not a big deal. Overall, I’m going to give the Bells Corner Loop a solid 8/10!
Route: 59 (Castor-Bustleton to Arrott Transportation Center)
Ridership: The 59 barely scrapes the top 50 for SEPTA bus routes, getting 4,641 riders per weekday. However, you have to remember: this thing is short, and it has a lot of local turnover for what looks like just an El feeder on paper. For these reasons, it ends up with the 5th-best farebox recovery ratio on the system, at 47%.
Pros: I apologize in advance for drilling this in, but I must say first and foremost that yes, this route uses trackless trolleys. Beyond that, though, it gets great ridership for its length, and that length gives it fantastic on-time performance: 91%, quite possibly the best on the whole system. The bus not only feeds into the El, but it also provides local service along Castor Ave, thanks to its direct routing with no frills. Not only that, but for much of the weekday, it’s every 15 minutes or better, with service every 8-10 minutes at rush hour. It’s every 20 minutes on Saturdays, too, which isn’t bad. Oh, and the route is more productive during the peak than it is midday! That’s a rarity for SEPTA, but it shows that they’re running the perfect amount of peak service.
Cons: Night and Sunday service is inadequate. It gets infrequent way too early in the evening, becoming every half hour by 8 and every hour by 10 (and it’s earlier on Saturdays). Meanwhile, Sunday service is every half hour all day. Man, you go from providing such good weekday service to going down to a frequency like that on Sundays? What a bummer.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are a number of stores and restaurants along the route, but the Picanha Brazilian Steakhouse caught my eye in particular. An all-you-can-eat buffet of Brazilian meats? I’m hungry!
Final Verdict: 7/10
I really want to give this route as high of a score as possible because I really do love it, but the scheduling issues are a big sticking point for me. I rode it on a Sunday when it runs every half hour, and my ride still managed to get a respectable 23 people. How much would it hurt to add another bus to it and make it at least every 20 minutes like on Saturdays? The jump in frequency would surely increase ridership along with it! I’m kinda at a 6.5 here, but hey…trackless trolleys. That’s absolutely enough to boost it up the half-point.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
LRTA: 6 (Broadway/UMass Lowell)
The LRTA sure likes its circulators. I’ve previously covered the 18, which is an example of how to do a circulator right – it got a well-deserved 8/10. But they also operate two other circulators within Lowell, and they don’t fare quite as well as the 18 does. Today we’re looking at the 6, which may not be a “pure” circulator loop, but it sure feels like one. In the worst way possible.
We took Thorndike Street into downtown Lowell, going right by Broadway Street. Oh, we would come back to Broadway Street – we just had to take a left onto Merrimack Street, then a left onto Dummer Street, and finally a right onto Broadway Street. I guess this jog is ostensibly to provide direct access to Lowell City Hall, but the 6 could be sped up by going directly to the station. I mean, the 18 exists for a reason.
We passed a Market Basket, the Lowell Senior Center, and a ton of smaller businesses along Broadway Street. This part actually made sense, serving a major commercial thoroughfare with no diversions. Oh wait, a few blocks later we turned onto the residential Fletcher Street, starting a big loop. I don’t know why we took Fletcher and not the regular route a block over on Mount Vernon, but I guess there must’ve been a detour of some sort.
We were back on the regular route once we turned onto Pawtucket Street. Right next to the Merrimack River, lots of big houses lined this road. Just after the Lowell Motor Boat Club, we turned onto Wilder Street, entering UMass Lowell’s South Campus. We had to take a right onto Broadway Street to deviate to a UMass Lowell parking lot because, geez, I don’t even know, and then it was a straight shot on Broadway back down the route. With small, dense houses and lots of businesses, this street actually felt worth serving. Also, we never actually laid over at the terminus, so we arrived back at the Kennedy Center eight minutes early. Nice.
LRTA Route: 6 (Broadway/UMass Lowell)
Ridership: In 2015, it was an average of 161 riders per weekday and 78 riders on Saturdays – that’s about 7.5 people per loop. As for my ride? It only got four people.
Pros: It serves Broadway Street, which is a corridor that definitely needs bus service. But that’s, like, the only thing this route serves on its own!
Cons: Basically everything else! The route is absolutely insane: it deviates to City Hall; it makes a point to run up to Pawtucket Street, even though the section on Mount Vernon is a block away from the 9 (the other circulator within Lowell) and nothing on that corridor is more than a five-minute walk from Broadway or the 9; and it deviates to a UMass Lowell parking lot for really no reason. I guess maybe layover, but my bus sure didn’t do it! And then there’s the schedule. The 6 runs every 35 minutes on weekdays, which is just such an awkward frequency. At least it’s a clean every hour on Saturdays, but oh wait, on Saturdays it combines with the 9 to make this ungodly creation:
Nearby and Noteworthy: We passed an old wooden mill something-or-other on Broadway as it crossed over the Pawtucket Canal. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks interesting!
Final Verdict: 3/10
There’s very little the 6 does right. It’s not a direct route, but it also doesn’t “circulate” to very many things that need circulating to! I think the ideal fix to this bus would be to combine it with the 9 full-time. No, not the horrific Saturday mess they have right now. Something…simpler. Actually, if you scroll to the 6 in this document, they have a decent routing that combines the routes, plus gives them a consistent 30-minute headway! It’s not perfect, but it sure is better than what there is now.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Fare increases for July 1st were approved today. Check out this page to see the new prices.
5th Street/Independence Hall (MFL)
See that cracked bell behind glass? That’s apparently a giant tourist attraction for some reason! Yeah, I don’t know why people love this thing so much when…I mean, it’s a bell. Philly has so much more to offer than…a bell! Okay, whatever, I’m not here to review tourist attractions. I’m here to review the stations people use to get to those attractions – in this case, it’s 5th Street/Independence Hall.
As Wikipedia oddly specifically points out, this is the only MFL station in Center City where passengers must walk above ground to switch directions. Thus, each direction gets two entrances on their respective side of the street: one fancy one, and one hole-in-the-ground one. That being said, “fancy” only means that there are two or three sets of stairs instead of just one, and “hole-in-the-ground” is your classic SEPTA single-staircase entrance with no frills. In other words, there’s nothing special here.
5th Street is wheelchair accessible, so we also get two elevators – one for each direction. They get these nice facades poking up on Market Street, and the elevators themselves are fine (although someone decided to use one as a dumping ground for their unfinished chicken meal). I like the signage directing people across the street if they’re trying to go in the other direction, although geez, talk about wordy: “SEPTA Market Frankford Line eastbound accessible 5th Street Station/For westbound accessible entrance, cross Market St. to NW corner of 5th St. and Market St.”
Before we head underground, I want to talk about the bus situation here. 5th Street has four bus stops, all but one of which amount to nothing more than a sign. The stop that gets a shelter is the westbound one for the 17 and the 33, which makes sense. The other routes that stop here are the eastbound 48, and the 38 and 44, which terminate here. Finally, the PHLASH makes stops here, as do countless tour buses. You can tell they know where their passengers want to go.
We’ll start with the eastbound side, which is…cramped. I mean, it’s trying really hard to make use of the space, but two awkwardly-placed fare machines doesn’t feel like enough (although five faregates isn’t bad). Also, sorry, people who need the elevator – it’s a long way down a narrow hallway to get there. Have fun! On the plus side, the red, white, and blue designs on the walls add a splash of color to the otherwise drab area.
Like any SEPTA station, 5th Street goes as crazy with exit-only turnstiles as it can, including two that are right next to each other! Once you leave the station through those, there’s no way to get back in, so you’re going to have to buy another ticket. Let’s just see what the cashier hours are here, taken from the website: “6:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 6:00 a.m. – 2:40 p.m. Monday through Friday.” Huh. Okay, so I assume that second one is supposed to be Saturday and Sunday, but even then, if you can only afford one shift (which is why I assume the station goes unstaffed at 2:40), why not have it start later in the morning? The market here is primarily tourists, and I don’t think hordes of out-of-towners are waking up at 6 AM to go check out the Jewish History Museum before it opens.
Coming down through the “fancy” westbound entrance, there’s a rather nice map of the Independence Mall area on the wall. Although – and I know this is nitpicking – wouldn’t it be better on the eastbound side? After all, most tourists are probably coming from west of here, so they’re getting off from eastbound trains. Stick a “You are here” marker on the map, and it would actually be pretty helpful as a navigation tool for first-time visitors.
The westbound mezzanine is more or less identical to the eastbound one. However, it’s here in the more often-used direction where having two fare machines poses a legitimate problem: this is a major station for tourists, many of whom might not be inclined to buy a SEPTA Key and are just getting single trip tickets for their rides. I can imagine the lines for the machines here getting real long…
Huh…so this is what tourists see when they come to the birthplace of American independence: trash, chipping paint, low ceilings, broken lights, and a general feeling of hopelessness and despair. Welcome to SEPTA, I guess? Yeah, I really don’t like this platform. I’ve been here before during a rainstorm and seen a monsoon of water blasting down from one of the columns. The one saving grace is once again the wall art, which has some great collages of historical images colored in red, white, and blue.
Station: 5th Street/Independence Hall
Ridership: Wow, I thought this station was more important than it actually is. As it turns out, 5th Street gets pretty mediocre ridership for the El, with about 3,986 riders per weekday. My guess for why it’s lower than other stations (especially other Center City stations) is just that it’s in such a touristy area. For the most part, the market for this station is leisure travellers. However, that also means that its weekend ridership is probably close to what it gets on weekdays. There’s no public data for this, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Pros: The station is accessible, which is always a plus, and it boasts some nice wall art that gives it character. And it sure is in a good location for all those people coming to see Philadelphia’s most popular attractions!
Cons: Of course, once people seeing those attractions enter this station, their thoughts on America’s birthplace might change a bit. I mean, this is just not a pleasant facility to use, from the moment you enter the cramped mezzanine to the moment you leave the squalid platform to board a train. And don’t come when it’s raining unless you want to see lots and lots of water. Lots. And lots. Of water.
Nearby and Noteworthy: You know, I could list off all the tourist attractions around here, but you probably know what they are already. Instead, I’m going to shout out the Ritz at the Bourse, a movie theater that shows new releases but also a ton of classics and independent films. I’ve never been, but they played Rocky Horror last month (I wish I could’ve gone), and they’re showing The Room (the best movie of all time – look it up) in April, so it’s clear that this is a great theater!
Final Verdict: 4/10
I would feel bad giving an accessible station with some decent artwork a 3, but just know that I’m darn close. Still, for only 4,000 people a day, is it really worth renovating the place? In that sense, I understand why they’re keeping it in its current state – there are so many other SEPTA stations that need much grander improvements, including a ton that remain inaccessible. Oh wait…they’re rebuilding this station. Well…at least it’ll look prettier for the tourists, I guess.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
Guide to the MBTA’s Spring 2019 Service Changes
The reason I started these guides was because the MBTA stopped listing its schedule changes on its website. Well, I’m happy to say that they’re back to doing it! But…a lot of its descriptions are still really vague. And I really enjoy writing these. And it seems like you all enjoy reading them, too. So…let’s get to it! These changes will come into effect on March 17th.
7: Just a few tweaks here and there to the weekday PM schedule. The only super noteworthy changes are that the 2:33 inbound trip will now depart at 2:30, and there will be one fewer inbound PM peak trip.
36: Watch out, schoolgoers! The 6:20 AM trip to Townsend and Humboldt will now leave at 6:15, and the 6:50 trip to Avenue Louis Pasteur will depart at 6:30. Also, both of these trips will be scheduled to take quite a lot longer than they used to – the Louis Pasteur trip will be 28 minutes instead of 22, and the Townsend and Humboldt one will take a full half hour when it used to be 17 minutes. I guess they must’ve ran late a lot. Anyway, the overly detailed analysis on two school day-only trips is now over.
39: The 39 will generally be getting less frequent throughout the weekday. It will go from every 8 minutes to every 10 minutes in the early morning, every 14 to every 15 in the late morning, and every 8 to every 10 in the evening rush. There are some places where it will improve, though: for example, from every 11 to every 10 in the late afternoon, and every 12 to every 11 at night. So, in other words, the route won’t really change all that much.
43: Oh, they did it! The ever-unreliable 43 will become every half hour on weekdays, down from every 25 minutes now. It’ll also lose evening peak service – right now it’s every 20 minutes then, but soon the half-hour headway will stick it out all the way through the rush into the evening. Finally, that long-standing rule where the 43 leaves Park Street as soon as it arrives will disappear – buses will now wait for their departure time.
47: The 47 makes its long-awaited return back to Pearl Street! Luckily, it won’t be entirely like the pre-detour route, as it’ll omit the old Magazine Street jog. Thank goodness.
62: The 3:00 PM outbound trip will arrive at Bedford VA at 3:48 instead of 3:45. I’m sure this big change will have a profound impact on your life.
64: No, ew, why? What the heck is this? Instead of a weekday midday headway of 35 minutes, it’s now going to be every…39-40 minutes. Disgusting. Also, one trip in each peak will be dropped. And finally, did you like that clean hourly schedule at night? Too bad! Now it’ll be every 70 minutes. It seems like as usual, the 64 loses out.
70: The 70 is one of the most insanely-scheduled routes on the T. So it’s a good thing we have visionaries pushing the University Park arrival of the 10:30 inbound trip ahead by two minutes. Wait…that’s literally the only change? Argh. Better luck next time, 70.
77: The 77 will generally become more frequent throughout the weekday, with small improvements like running every 11 minutes instead of every 12. There’s one exception, though: night service will improve from every 13 minutes to every 10! It seems like they’re actually adding a bus to the route to accomplish this. Look, I’m a regular user of this route, and I’m all for service improvements, but I really don’t look at the 77’s ridership at night and say “Oh yeah, this definitely needs more service.” If anything, it should be a little less frequent (every 15 minutes max) to keep the thing reliable, since buses are often late at night! 10-minute service until 1 AM will be nice, but honestly, that extra bus could go toward one of the countless other routes that actually do provide inadequate service…
80: This one is an update, since the MBTA forgot to put this one on its list of service changes! Thanks to Jared on Facebook for letting me know. Anyway, because of the Broadway Bridge closure, the 80 will now continue up Medford Street and Main Street, take College Ave to Tufts University, and then return to the regular route. This isn’t as interesting as the 89’s detour (see below), and it’s definitely more of an inconvenience. The route’s schedule doesn’t actually change, so you’ll still be picking up the bus at the same times – it just might be in a different place if you’re used to boarding on parts of Broadway or College Ave.
89: The Broadway Bridge detours will be miserable for many people, but I actually really like the effect they have on the 89. Now, outbound buses will turn onto Cedar Street just before the bridge, then take Highland Ave to Davis Square. Clarendon Hill trips will continue there from Davis along the route of the 87/88. I’m all for extra service to Davis Square – this is a clever and innovative way of tackling the detour. The headways will still be weird, but not quite as terrible as they are now. The one major issue I can see is sending buses down the narrow Cedar Street, but buses on narrow streets isn’t a new idea for the MBTA.
104/109: These routes are notoriously crowded in the early morning, so the MBTA is taking steps to mitigate that. A 5:00 AM inbound trip will be added to both routes on weekday mornings, and the 109 will gain three additional trips in the early morning on Sundays. The route will be about every 15 minutes from 5:30 to 6:30 on Sundays now! Too bad the rest of the Sunday schedule is so infrequent…
111: There are some minor trip time changes on Sunday mornings. Service will start ten minutes earlier on both ends, which is nice!
114/116/117: The 116 and 117 will gain an early-morning round trip: a 4:45 116 outbound, then a 5:20 117 inbound. As for the 114, its trip times are changing throughout the weekday. For most routes, I would try to explain the changes in detail, but the 114 times are so random, and this route is such a dead horse at this point, that I’m not even going to bother. If you’re one of the three people that actually uses the 114 for its intended purpose, check out the changes yourself.
120: Huh…it’s kinda hard to rationalize these changes. If I were to describe them in one word, I would say they’re…inconsistent. Whereas the route currently has consistent 25-minute service middays, it will change to 20-25 minute headways with no pattern. Rush hour ends up in a similar boat, with 20-30 minute headways in the morning and 25-30 minute headways in the evening. Overall service ultimately isn’t gained or lost (the route will have the same number of weekday trips), but this just doesn’t sit well with me. Why sacrifice consistency for…well, I don’t even know what the advantage here is?
134: You thought the last one was bad? Oh, honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The 134’s current weekday service runs every half hour on the combined portion to West Medford, with hourly service to North Woburn. Pretty nice, right? Yeah, well, just have a look at the new schedule. Long story short, this thing gets crazy. And it loses service, too. This schedule makes absolutely no sense. Check out the 1:18 Playstead Road trip from Wellington – I’ll bet that thing’ll be empty, considering that it leaves just fifteen minutes after a North Woburn trip! Same deal with the 2:17. And the running times are all over the place, too. Sorry, 134 riders, but your life is about to get a lot more miserable.
136/137: Phew, a minor one. The 1:45 inbound 136 will change to a 1:41 departure, and the outbound 2:30 137 will change to a 2:34.
238: Service during the evening rush will decrease from every half hour to every forty minutes, plus midday service will be every 65 minutes instead of every hour. Not good.
240: Many outbound morning peak trips will disappear, but more importantly, the evening rush loses service in both directions. Granted, the losses with this route mostly affect sections with service every ten minutes, where because of the frequency, buses tend not to be as crowded. But it’ll now be every 15-20 minutes, which might be too steep of a drop. I’ve been on this route in the evening rush, and it definitely has the potential to get packed!
325/326: The South Shore isn’t the only place that loses peak service – these rush hour express routes get major cuts. The 325 will lose one trip in the morning and one in the afternoon, while the 326 gets absolutely severed in the morning: it goes from twelve inbound trips…to seven. I know the route doesn’t get a ton of ridership on a trip-by-trip basis, but if you cut half its service, you can bet this express route will have standees. Strangely, the 326’s evening rush gets off mostly scot-free, losing just one trip.
351: All of the running times for this express route are lengthened to allow for extra travel time. Also, the 7:05 outbound will leave at 7:00, and the 5:20 inbound will leave at 5:25.
424: The route will be scheduled to take longer to get to its destination. Hopefully this will help its horrible lateness problem!
428: Alright…we’re back to going to Wakefield High School, huh? But at a slightly different stop this time? Sure, whatever you say.
436: The one trip a day from Broadway at Conomo Ave will now leave from Broadway at Euclid Ave. I looked it up on the map – it’s one block away.
439: Yay, the 439 is no longer scheduled to leave Bass Point before it arrives! I would’ve been curious to see how that worked, though.
450/456: Great, another route whose changes I can only describe as “random”. Service on the 450 will just get a lot less consistent throughout the day, creating short service gaps in some cases and really long ones in others (how d’ya like the gap in inbound service between 1:16 and 3:02?). Also, this will make the 456 even more useless, ruining the 40-minute coordination between it and the 450. Oh, incidentally, the 456 will get a few running time changes.
455/459: Consistency? See ya! Coordination? Bye-bye! Lost service? Hi, come on in! Yes, the 455 and 459 will be less frequent, but with no consistent headway with this upcoming schedule change. It’ll be about every hour and a half on the 455, down from every 70 minutes, while the 459 will be every 100-120 minutes. And you know what that means: the semblance of coordination that the routes used to have is all but gone! Yes, there will in fact now be a 459 that arrives at Salem three minutes after a 455, then a nearly two-hour gap on the whole corridor. Look, I know these routes have abysmal on-time performance, but there has to be a better solution than this! At least the 455 gains a new early-morning trip from Lynn to Wonderland on Sundays.
501: Some of the 501’s times are shifting, but it’s not losing that much service – about one or two trips per peak. Also, all inbound evening rush trips will now operate via the shorter Cambridge Street routing. This change is a long time coming, and it should help reliability on the way out. I don’t even know why some trips went the long way to begin with!
502/504: Both routes lose a minimal amount of peak service, but nothing to go crazy over. The 504’s midday service changes from every 30 minutes to every 35 minutes, though! Another clockface route has been killed.
505: Based on the trend of these changes, you would probably guess that the 505 is losing a bit of peak service. And you’re right! The evening rush loses one peak-direction trip, and running times throughout are lengthened by ten minutes or more because let’s face it, the Pike is a mess at rush hour.
SL1/SL2/SL3: The three Silver Line Waterfront routes sadly are getting a little less frequent. It’s never anything worse than a one-minute difference, though.
Summary: Sadly, these changes seem to mostly represent further steps down a dark path the T is taking. We seem to be heading toward a world with completely random headways, no coordination between routes, and overall less service. I don’t want to continue down this path, and I hope that Better Bus changes (particularly in Phase 2) will lead to serious improvements to a bus system that is clearly declining in quality. I understand that most of these changes are to offset truly horrible on-time performance (check out any bus route profile and you’ll see how bad the situation is), but the service is getting so much worse as a result! It’s clear that the bus system needs more investment so we can have buses with clear, clockface schedules…that also run on time.
There is one positive, though: the MBTA continues to invest in better early-morning service on multiple routes. Hopefully we can one day have a system that truly runs 24/7, so it wouldn’t have to run such intensive early morning service because there’s nothing from 1 AM to 5 AM. Either way, it’s nice to see the early morning getting some much-needed love. Oh, also, the 77 is getting better night service. For some reason. Seriously, I really don’t understand why they’re doing that. Each 77 after 9 PM gets, like, 20-25 people max with perfectly frequent headways. And there are so many other routes that could use better service! Okay, okay, I’m done…
Aquarium and Entertainment Center (River LINE)
Welcome to the very small touristy part of Camden! It gets two River LINE stations, each named after their closest tourist attractions, and I figured we’d look at both of them in one post. Why? Because…well, they’re both pretty uninteresting. So, let’s review Aquarium and Entertainment Center!
Aquarium is a street-running station in mixed traffic, but the road is two lanes in each direction, so cars can pass stopped trains. It has two long platforms with ramps on each end (although the sidewalk does continue behind both), and there are shelters in the middle. Both get maps, benches, and artwork on the columns, although only the northbound platform gets ticket machines. Okay, it’s the second-to-last stop, so I get it.
Entertainment Center isn’t street-running, but it’s basically the same thing as Aquarium in all other aspects. It has two platforms with ramps, two shelters (both with the same amenities, although this time, each shelter gets a ticket machine), and a tingling feeling of deja vu. Since this is the last stop, though, you can board at either platform depending on which train is leaving next. How you actually find out which one is leaving, I have no idea.
River LINE Stations: Aquarium and Entertainment Center
Ridership: There’s no ridership data for these, but I honestly don’t think it’s too high. The most I can imagine is a few tourists taking PATCO to Broadway and then taking this for a few stops. Even then, though, the RiverLink Ferry is probably how most tourists would get here (but it’s far more expensive).
Pros: They have River LINE amenities. That means they’re pretty good by default, if a little boring.
Cons: One con for each: Aquarium is street-running, and Entertainment Center has an ambiguous layout where you don’t know which train is leaving (as far as I can tell).
Nearby and Noteworthy: The station names are very helpful here! Each one has its namesake tourist attraction, plus an additional attraction that’s also pretty close. So, Aquarium has the Adventure Aquarium (which I’d love to visit, but aquariums are expensive) and the Camden Children’s Garden, while Entertainment Center has the BB&T Pavillion and Battleship New Jersey.
Final Verdict: 6/10
These are standard River LINE stations, but since River LINE stations are all so average, the smallest issue can lower their score. As you saw in the Cons section, I have one slight problem with each stop. So: 6/10 for both.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
Blue Hill Avenue
The day after I became the first passenger to ride SEPTA’s new bus route, the MBTA just had to open a new station! And yes, I did go to Boston to review it. Not just any station, too – a Fairmount Line station. Where all of the stations are notoriously the same thing. Clearly, I’m crazy. So, after my eight-and-a-half hour journey (video coming at some point!), I hopped on the 10 PM Fairmount train with Jordan (the true first passenger to step foot into the station that morning) and rode down to Blue Hill Ave.
First observation: wow, this place is well-lit! Like, really well-lit. LED lights galore bask the platform in huge amounts of brightness. Second observation: oooh, rocks! The station was built in a partial cut, and the open rock formations add a surprising amount of character to what would normally be a generic Fairmount Line station. The central part of the platform has no shelter, just benches and some digital signs that are slightly smaller than the normal ones. We also get those robotic Boston Landing announcements, for better or for worse.
The station has two entrances, one at Cummins Highway and one at Blue Hill Ave. Both get identical shelters. Again, they’re incredibly well-lit, plus they have security cameras and emergency call boxes, so the station feels very safe. From each entrance, longgggggggg ramps lead up to their respective streets. So long that they both have benches in the middle in case people need to take a break!
The Cummins Highway entrance gets a T symbol, train information, and a bench, perhaps to wait for pickups. There’s also a Blue Hill Ave sign on the bridge that still says that the station is “Coming Soon!” Finally, we get this odd stone block in the middle of the entrance. I’m not sure what its point is, but it’s just…there. The 30 runs down Cummins Highway, but the closest stops are 1-2 blocks away. I know the route only runs every hour most of the time, but it might make sense to consolidate some stops to relocate them closer to the station.
Yup, and the Blue Hill Ave entrance is basically identical to the Cummins Highway one, minus the big stone. Instead, this one gets a knee-high blockade blocking access to the road. This wouldn’t be a huge problem if it wasn’t for the fact that the inbound bus stop for the 28, 29, and 31 is right across the street from the entrance! I guess most people won’t be making bus transfers here, but for what it’s worth, the bus stops are generally well-placed at this entrance. Jordan and I jaywalked across and hopped on a 28 towards Dudley from here, and in a few hours, I would be getting on a Greyhound bus back to Philly.
Station: Blue Hill Ave
Ridership: A 10 PM train is not a good one for judging ridership (although for a Fairmount train, it was reasonably busy with about 20 people on board), but two other people got off here. Jordan said when he was here in the morning, it was getting decent inbound ridership. Either way, I think this will be a well-used station: it’s right near Mattapan’s commercial hub, and there’s plenty of dense housing around it.
Pros: Even though it’s boring, the Fairmount Line station formula works well. It’s hard to complain about a fully high-level platform with direct entrances and lots of light. Plus, the rock formations do add some character! The station’s location is fantastic – Mattapan will finally get a one-seat ride into downtown, which will be a huge benefit to everyone in the neighborhood.
Cons: Sigh…it’s still the Fairmount Line. The station still gets one train per hour. You still can’t pay using CharlieCards. You still won’t get free transfers to other modes. That’s really the biggest drawback here – Blue Hill Ave won’t blossom until it gets legitimate, frequent service integrated with the rest of the system. As for problems with the station itself, though? Just a few wonky connections to bus stops and the fact that the Cummins Highway shelter is basically useless unless you’re travelling outbound (which very few people will).
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are a ton of businesses along Blue Hill Ave south of here – in particular, a bunch of casual restaurants and a few salons, among other stores.
Final Verdict: 8/10
I’ve definitely said this in a Fairmount Line review before: I’m reviewing the station, not the line. Yes, the line remains inadequate for the dense urban areas it serves. In a logical world, this would be a rapid transit station. BUT: the station itself is quite good, and that’s really what I’m reviewing here.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
It was a blast to come back to Boston for about three hours! Stay tuned for a video documenting my journey, plus the hilarious review of the station with Jordan. I don’t know how long it’ll take to edit, but it’s in the pipeline for sure.