A new city, a whole new transit system! From my home base at the University of Pennsylvania, I’ll be reviewing every bus route and train station on the sprawling SEPTA.
*Full Disclosure: I volunteer on the SEPTA Youth Advisory Council, but all opinions on this blog are my own.
Recent Posts from Miles on SEPTA
48 (Front-Market to 27th-Allegheny)
Since the 49 is opening in less than a week, I thought I'd take a look at one of the other routes that winds its way through Brewerytown and Fairmount. I've actually ridden both the 48 and the 7 in full, but since A) the 48 comes before the 7 in my backlog, and B) the...
Riverside (River LINE)
The River LINE's half-hourly headways are really good considering it's basically a commuter rail service. But waiting in Riverside, NJ for half an hour on an early Sunday morning? Lemme tell ya, there's not a lot to do. Yup...this is all there is to it. I get the...
NJT: 419 (Camden – Route 73/Pennsauken Station – Riverside)
Look, I like the River LINE. I know the diesel-powered light rail/commuter rail hybrid from Camden to Trenton is basically there just so NJT can say "Look, we have light rail in South Jersey!", but it's great for what it is. It's reasonably frequent, it has vastly...
15th/16th and Locust Street (PATCO)
Oho, we're getting some PATCO up in here! As much as I love going to New Jersey (I know a lot of people hate it, but you can't deny it's one of the most interesting states in the country), the main thing keeping me away is the fact that, despite having a SEPTA pass, I...
36th Street (Trolleys)
The first time my family came to Philadelphia, we stayed at a hotel right next to this station. I was shocked when we took the trolley for the first time. "Where are the fare gates????" I asked desperately. Oh, Miles. You had a lot to learn. The station's two...
The Blog’s Sixth Anniversary!
A lot has happened in 2018. I've ridden the first trip of a new commuter rail line, conquered the bus from hell, and even changed domains and started writing about Philadelphia for some reason! As it stands, the vast majority of my viewership is still from...
Tasker-Morris (BSL)
I'm back in Philly! So far I've taken the El and a few buses, but I've yet to set foot on the ol' Broad Street Line. Will that hinder my ability to properly review Tasker-Morris Station in South Philadelphia? Uhhh...doesn't matter, because there's no turning back - I...
14 (Oxford Valley and Neshaminy Malls to Frankford Transportation Center)
It's time to spend some quality time on Roosevelt Boulevard. This road is among the ranks of Route 1 in West Palm Beach, FL, Route 1 in Saugus, MA, and Route 1 in South Jersey as being one of the ugliest I've ever seen. Oh, and Roosevelt Boulevard is Route 1, too!...
129 (Frankford-Knights to Oxford Valley Mall)
I think most of us can agree that in the grand scheme of things, 2018 was not a great year. It feels fitting to close it off with a long, crazy route that doesn't really go anywhere (at least not quickly) and makes way too many deviations for its own good. Hi, 129....
66 (Frankford Transportation Center to Frankford-Knights)
Anyone who's read my Boston content knows that I love trackless trolleys. I was bound to take a SEPTA one pretty early on. The 66 is the longest and most suburban of the three trackless trolley routes in Philly, running from Frankford Transportation Center on a...
Chinatown (BRS)
Once upon a time, Philadelphia was planning on building a loop line around Center City. The Broad-Ridge Spur was built off of the Broad Street Line to the busy department stores at 8th and Market, then onwards to 16th and Locust. Now, there's no money to complete the...
Fox Chase
I've chased the fox all the way to the end of the Fox Chase Line, and now it's time to review its last stop! Okay, well, that was a terrible intro. Ahem...Fox Chase Station. On the platform. Fox Chase has three platforms split between two tracks. Since this is a...
Farewell to the AEM-7s
SEPTA is retiring its oldest kind of Regional Rail locomotive, but they gave it one last ride two weekends ago. A free express trip from Paoli to Suburban and back was run for the general public two weekends ago, and it was a lot of fun (save for some rabid railfans,...
VIDEO: What’s the Cheapest Way to Upstate New York?
I filmed this back in September and finally got around to finishing the editing. As it turns out, getting to upstate New York is not easy to do on a budget... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLxDBrZhy08
19th and 22nd Streets (Trolleys)
Trolley stations tend to be samey, so I'm combining these two into one post. This is the part of SEPTA where the El runs express in the center two tracks and the trolleys make these two local stops on the outer tracks, leading anyone passing through to think either,...