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 still have to pay to get there! Well, when trying to ride all of the transit modes in the Philadelphia area in one day, I made an exception and headed to 15th/16th and Locust on an early Sunday morning to go to the Garden State.
This station has no fewer than five stair-based entrances spread between 15th and 16th Streets, and four of them are just staircases into the ground. That’s nothing new for Philadelphia. However, there is one fancy entrance near 16th Street that actually takes up the front of a building. Of course, it is still just a staircase into the ground, but at least it’s different.
Luckily this station is accessible, but boy, the elevator sure is lurchy. Located at 15th Street, the doors will close on this thing, but it’ll wait a few seconds to actually start moving. During that time, you contemplate whether or not you’ll be stuck in here for the rest of your life, but then, with a loud screech and a shudder, you’re finally going. The same process repeats in reverse when you get to the bottom. Oh, and don’t forget about the trash on the floor and the horrible smell!
This is my first station review that’s connected to the Center City Concourse, so I should bring that up. Basically, Center City has this huge transit concourse that runs between a lot of the stations downtown. Its usefulness mostly comes down to being able to walk between stops without having to go outside, but the corridors are often stark and dingy. In this case, the concourse is quite useful for getting between PATCO and the Broad Street Line (although people are far more likely to make the connection at the next stop east), but it’s clear where PATCO ends and SEPTA begins: the PATCO area is nice and clean, but once you pass through a doorway, the ground becomes dirty, the architecture gets bland, and on this early Sunday morning, a few people were making the big wide SEPTA hallway their home for the night.
Well, okay, the architecture for the PATCO mezzanine is pretty bland too, but at least it has these cool green lights on occasion! No, but seriously, it’s a bad mezzanine. There’s a ton of space but not nearly enough fare machines or gates, so it all ends up feeling empty. Plus, since PATCO has zone fares, you have to exit through the faregates as well, forcing them to handle double the traffic (at least SEPTA usually has exit-only turnstiles to lighten the load). The mezzanine has two sets of faregates, one at each street, and a hallway between them.
Now in fare control, we have a few things you would expect: some wastebaskets, stairs, and a this-time-not-smelly elevator down to the platform. However, this area also has another fare machine, meant for people who might’ve bought the wrong zone on their ticket, as well as bike racks. Yes, the in-station bike racks are actually within fare control, which I guess makes them harder to steal, but that also means you have to lug your bike through the fare gate. I would say it evens out to be net neutral.
Every PATCO platform has a specific color, and this one is yellow. The platform has that sleek retro-future feel that I get from a lot of PATCO stations (just check out those benches!), and it has what you would expect: seats, wastebaskets, PATCO’s cool tactile maps, and a screen that looked to be in testing at the time. Also Xfinity Wi-Fi, apparently. The station also has photos of Philly on the walls, which is nice. Since this is the first stop on the line, there’s probably gonna be a train waiting here, leaving most people with no time to appreciate the platform much. After I was done with my pictures, I too hopped onto the waiting train.
Station: 15th/16th and Locust Streets (PATCO)
Ridership: Well, darn, PATCO doesn’t give ridership information by station. And 7 AM on a Sunday is really not the time to be analyzing ridership, when very few people are using transit. Well, I’ll say this: people most likely transfer to the Broad Street Line at the stop before this one, 12th/13th, leaving 15th/16th to be used for what’s around it. What is around it? Rittenhouse Square. Well, that’s a big boost for pleasure-seeking off-peak ridership, then!
Pros: This is a decent place to end the service. I know it was originally supposed to be part of a loop around Center City, but as it stands, the station is two blocks from Rittenhouse Square, which seems fine. And the station itself is pretty nice, feeling generally much cleaner than SEPTA stations do.
Cons: The elevator heading up to street level was an unpleasant experience to ride. The mezzanine feels sparse, and when everyone has to enter and leave through the faregates, I can see things getting pretty congested during busy times.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Rittenhouse Square, of course! Everything around there is pretty expensive, but I still enjoy walking through the park and around the neighborhood.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Yeah, this is a good station. Why didn’t it score higher? The problems it does have are pretty major, and there isn’t anything special here to blow me away and help overlook the other issues. Still, this is better than most SEPTA stations, and I know that’s not saying much, but I still like this one anyway!
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
SRTA: NB 6 (Shawmut/Rockdale)
At this point, I had been riding the SRTA more or less continuously for 9 hours, so as you can imagine, I was exhausted. Ergo, I wasn’t happy when for the second-to-last route, the SRTA decided to throw me this:
So that’s what we’re up against. The NB 6. Ugh.
We began by heading west on Mill Street, passing houses and a few businesses. We then turned north onto Park Street (bearing in mind this route’s final destination is south), a local road through a residential neighborhood. Next, it was a right onto Parker Street for two blocks, then a left onto Shawmut Ave.
There were some small businesses at the intersection with Durfee Street, then a bit of industry at Potter Street. We turned onto Potter, a local road that went past a housing development. When that road ends, many trips just take a left. But I was on one of the ones that gets to do an additional deviation! Oh boy! Right we go!
So we went over Route 140 and entered a residential neighborhood. The following streets are so local that you really wouldn’t expect a bus to be using them. Also, bear in mind that our driver was flying around each turn, probably to get this stupid deviation over with faster. Okay, here we go: left on Granite Ave, left on Sandstone Drive, right on Pamela Drive, left on Carriage Drive, right on Bryant Lane, right on Hill Road, right on Rockway Street, right on Roseanne Street, left on Pamela Drive, left on Sandstone Drive, right on Granite Ave, right on Rockdale Ave. I had no idea where we were, all I could see was houses, no one was getting on or off, and I just wanted the ride to be over.
Well, at least now we could continue with the regular route on Rockdale Ave, which was mostly residential, although we did also go by an elementary school and the New Bedford Police Headquarters. At this point, we had been driving for about 20 minutes, but crossing the one-way pairs of Mill and Kempton Streets, it dawned on me that the 9 and 10 run here…and arrive in a third of the time! It was houses after the brief splurge of businesses around those streets.
Oh, hey the 6 has a by request deviation to the Buttonwood Community Center! That’s right, if you’re going outbound, just ask the driver to take you there; if you’re going inbound, you have to talk to the secretary at the community center to call SRTA to deviate the bus for you. Oh, gee, that’s real intuitive. Luckily it only does this deviation on weekdays (although I doubt it happens much to begin with), so we just sped by the community center and the rest of Buttonwood Park.
Oh, this route is nefarious. Just when I was starting to get used to being on the same street for a while, we got to do…a deviation! Yes, we took a left on Hawthorn Street, a road that was, yes, way too local for a bus, passing, yes, more houses. These were generally bigger and more spacious than the ones we had been seeing before. We turned onto Page Street in order to serve Saint Luke’s Hospital (along with the 3), then it was a right onto Allen Street to head right back to where we were before.
There were a few businesses when we turned back onto Rockdale Ave (for what felt like the 50th time). It quickly turned back to houses, though, but there was also a bit of retail and a big cemetery, so that was a nice change of pace. Finally, we reached Dartmouth Street, and this was where we made our final deviation into a Stop & Shop. The bus stopped in this weird industrial area next to the store, but at this point, I really didn’t care. We were done.
SRTA Route: NB 6 (Shawmut/Rockdale)
Ridership: This route has the second-lowest ridership in New Bedford if you don’t count the North End Shuttle (which, frankly, I don’t). It got about 252 people per day in May 2014.
Pros: Well, hey, on the bright side…it does serve stuff. That is an advantage over the North End Shuttle.
Cons: The route itself is absolutely bonkers. You’ve seen the map! You know how many crazy turns it takes! Not to mention the “Rockdale West Extension” deviation, that one where it loops around a residential area, and the Buttonwood Community Center deviation, the on-request one that I’m sure very very very few people use because…it’s an on-request deviation. During the day, the route has a sad schedule, with service every 45 minutes on weekdays and every hour on Saturdays, which I suppose matches demand, at least (although the Rockdale West deviation makes some trips longer, creating confusion in the timetable – and they carry over to the 5 on Saturdays when the two routes interline). There’s an additional school trip that skips part of the route in order to serve New Bedford High School, but…it only happens in the morning? That doesn’t make sense! Usually school trips run in the afternoon because the end of the school day doesn’t align with parents’ work hours. Plus, New Bedford has an extensive list of its own school bus routes, although strangely, they don’t seem to run in the afternoon either. Maybe the school just sucks up its students for them never to return…
Nearby and Noteworthy: This is the closest bus route to the Buttonwood Park Zoo, which does look awesome, but just take the 9 or 10 and walk a little bit. It’ll be a lot less painful.
Final Verdict: 3/10
I thought the North End Shuttle was useless. And, to be fair, it got a lower score than the 6. But honestly, I think this might be my least-favorite SRTA route. I mean, it’s trying to be crosstown but it still leaves from the terminal! It ends up not working as both a radial route and a crosstown route. But…what if it did become a crosstown line? And what if in doing so, it could make another route a lot simpler? Take a look:
I turned the 6 into a fully circumferential route and had it take over the 11‘s deviation to Market Basket, thus eliminating its redundant portion with the 2 in New Bedford (and providing overall more residents with a one-seat ride to Market Basket). One flaw with this plan, though, is that the 6’s radial section out of New Bedford is lost. This is definitely a tough tradeoff, but most of that part of the route is within a 3-minute walk of the 8.
In Fairhaven, I originally had buses going to the town center further south on Main Street, since I had lamented the fact that no bus actually runs there. However, people probably wouldn’t take the bus there, especially when it’s a circumferential route, plus residents would likely oppose and the streets in that neighborhood are very narrow (not that that hasn’t stopped the SRTA before).
I tried to write a schedule for this, but SRTA interlines like crazy at the terminal with no rhyme or reason that I can see. If it’s helpful, though, a one-way trip on this new route 6 should take about 35 minutes, an outbound 11 trip (with all the deviations) should take about 20 minutes (an improvement of 15 minutes over the current route!), and an inbound 11 trip should take, no joke, about 10 minutes. I think it’s about time the SRTA looked into doing a redesign…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
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.
As much as I like my dorm’s location and transit options, I have to hold some jealousy for those who live in King’s Court, since the trolley station is right outside that dorm! Plus the El station at 34th Street is only a few blocks away. Hmph. Well, anyway, I’m stalling, because these two entrances are just staircases going into the ground and that’s it.
Well, would you look at that. A big, giant, open mezzanine with nothing in it (well, aside from a nice mural on the far end). Hmm, I have a small proposal that might help to fill the space a little bit. Definitely a little out of the box, so bear with me. How about putting in…FARE GATES????????
No, of course, we have to deal with the classic trolley business of flagging things down, paying on board, and just generally having a terrible and sad time. Look at this platform, it’s just so…bleh! I’m glad that the walls and floors are generally clean, but the industrial-like ceilings? The mysterious yellow liquid oozing down the tracks? Yeah, no thanks.
Because Google Maps (somewhat misleadingly) considers these to be the same station, let’s hop up two blocks to the 36th Street Portal, used by the 10 trolley. There isn’t much to it: just two shelters, one for each direction. Signs are plastered all over the tunnel entrance saying various permutations of “SEPTA Vehicles Only!”
There are two other noteworthy aspects of this station. First of all, if you look at the photo above, you can just make out the bike rack sitting behind a tree! I dunno, seems like it would be pretty hard to actually lock up your bike there. Also of note is the fact that this station has the dreaded blue light that lets you know when trolleys are being diverted to 40th Street. But wait…”Trolleys will operate…via Spruce Street.” Welp, that’s just blatantly wrong. The 10 doesn’t go near Spruce! Oh, SEPTA…
Station: 36th Street (Trolleys)
Ridership: Oh right…SEPTA doesn’t release ridership information for the trolleys. Well, the station is the closest to many of UPenn’s buildings, so most of its ridership is probably from university workers and students. I’m sure it gets a decent number of riders per day. As for the portal…I honestly can’t see much reason in using that to go into the city when you have four times the frequency in the underground station!
Pros: It’s a straightforward station that’s very easy to navigate. The mezzanine has that nice mural. The portal…has…shelter…?
Cons: Look, I get the portal not having fare control, since it’s basically a street stop. But the subway station has this perfect mezzanine that would be so easy to install fare gates in! Like, way easier than 19th and 22nd, where they really had to get creative to install the things. Other problems here include the dinginess of the subway station and the overall uselessness of the portal. So, you know, this station is pretty bad.
Nearby and Noteworthy: UPenn, wooooooo! Also, the free Institute of Contemporary Art is right outside the trolley entrance, but bear in mind it’s closed until the beginning of February.
Final Verdict: 3/10
There are definitely no redeeming qualities to this one like there have been with my other trolley station reviews. 37th Street had the cool trolley entrance and 19th and 22nd Streets had fare control, but there’s nothing here that could raise the score above a 3. I mean, okay, the mural in the mezzanine is nice, but that’s certainly not enough to add a point. Put fare gates in there already!
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
Guide to the RTAs’ Winter 2019 Service Changes
This went over really well when I did it for the MBTA, so let’s try it for the RTAs! Each system changes its schedules at different times, so I’m not sure how often I’ll do these round-up posts, but this one will cover any changes that are happening soon or have happened recently (or not so recently…).
BAT
No new changes have happened at BAT since July, when they increased their fares by 25 cents ($1.25 to $1.50). If you ride the system regularly, you’re definitely aware of that by now.
CATA
One thing to know about CATA: they never change anything. In this sense, they’re keeping the tradition alive.
FRTA
I actually did review the route in question here, so I’m gonna include it! Starting Monday, the 23 will gain two midday trips. Nothing much to say about it, it’s just a really good addition and provides extra connectivity to Amherst and UMass!
GATRA
Back in August, GATRA added a new route just to make me as mad as possible. The Wareham-Plymouth Connection seems to be designed to get people to a school, and it is very, very hard to ride. That’ll sure be fun to review!
Also, in February, the system will be undergoing a really hefty fare increase: from $1 to $1.50! They’re quick to point out that it’s their first fare increase in 15 years, but that’s still a lot to ask. The cost of passes and dial-a-ride is rising with the same proportions, but ADA paratransit takes a massive jump from $1.25 to $3.00. I don’t entirely know what the difference between that and dial-a-ride is, but a 140% fare increase is crazy!
The one silver lining is that transfers will now be free. But honestly, GATRA is not really a system designed around transfers, and I can only see them being useful for sneaky return trips (e.g. take the 10 one way to Emerald Square Mall, then “transfer” to the 12 for the return journey).
LRTA
The LRTA increased its fares somewhat recently (as in, sometime in 2018), but I can’t remember when it happened. Again, if you ride the system regularly, you know this happened by now.
MART
MART’s last big service change was in October, but I’ll go over the main highlights.
Fitchburg Routes: The changes in Fitchburg were small. A few trips at the beginning and end of some routes’ days were removed (making MART end even more ridiculously early than it did before), while changes were made regarding Reliant Medical, which has moved locations. The 7 and 8 no longer serve their former branches of the clinic, while the 9 now has an extra deviation to a new one.
7A: Ah, the 7A…one of the dumbest bus routes I’ve ever ridden. Well, it no longer exists, sort of. The route is now a call-in service with the same hours as the former fixed route. This makes sense – it’s one of the rare occasions where a dial-a-ride vehicle will get more passengers than a fixed route. Seriously, the 7A was really stupid.
11, Gardner – Wachusett Commuter Shuttle: These schedules have been rearranged, I think possibly to provide better connections with each other. The number of trips on the 11 remains the same (with a better balance between the morning and evening now), while the Gardner – Wachusett Shuttle actually gained two trips, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Gardner Routes: The 1’s last trip is now cut back to City Hall instead of the “ITC“. That’s it for Gardner.
Athol/Orange Van Shuttle: This is an…odd change. You may remember that this route used to be a horrible messy loop with a million deviations. Now it only runs with one bus, but it’s been dramatically changed to be a linear journey between Athol and Orange! On the one hand, this is a lot more rational, and it can now run every hour instead of every 90 minutes like before. On the other hand, one look at the map is enough to tell you that they should really just extend the G-Link to Orange and use the resources of this bus to put better service on that one. They’re basically the same route at this point.
MVRTA
They added a deviation to the 14…then they got rid of it “until further notice”. I don’t know.
MWRTA
Back in October, some changes were made to this system’s commuter shuttles. I don’t actually know what they are, but they still connect to trains and serve offices, so they probably weren’t major. Yeah, I’ll probably have to ride those routes at some point…
PVTA
The PVTA made some big changes back in late summer, but the page announcing them can only be found on the WebArchive now. In short, they added a new downtown loop in Springfield; replaced all service to Wilbraham with a call-in service for residents only; added a new 39E route for seemingly no reason; reconfigured the former X98 for the 50th time; made the R24 even worse; totally rearranged the Palmer and Ware routes to the point where I might have to ride them again; and reconfigured a few other schedules.
RIPTA
RIPTA’s changes came into effect today:
3: Trips are getting padded out to improve on-time performance. This only affects arrival times in the outbound direction, but coming inbound, a lot of trips are leaving earlier than they usually do, so watch out for that.
9x: RIPTA doesn’t really give the full story here. They list a few trips that won’t be deviating to Citizens Bank, but in actuality, only one trip that served it before will be skipping it now. The new rule of thumb is that only reverse peak trips will serve the bank. Also, they’ve changed the times of two inbound trips without telling anyone – one will leave earlier and one will leave later.
10x: This once-daily route will be detouring due to construction. It looks like it’ll actually become more of an “x” route, spending some more time on the highway. Bear in mind that its trip times have changed slightly to reflect the new travel times.
17, 19, 32, 33, 34: These routes used to have a cool arrangement where they would interline through the center of Providence and form one cohesive corridor. Well…no more. RIPTA will be breaking the interline, which is unfortunate. They’re also rescheduling the routes slightly. The 17/19 combo will remain every 30 minutes each on weekdays (every 15 minutes coordinated), but service at night and on weekends will now be every 50 minutes (with 25 minute coordinated headways) – a downgrade from Saturday’s current every 45 minutes, but an upgrade from every hour nights and Sundays. The 32’s weekday-only schedule will stay every hour, but with new times. The 34 will continue to coordinate with the 32 on weekdays with an hourly headway, while on Saturdays, it will go from every 45 minutes to every 40. The Sunday schedule is more or less the same, although with shifted outbound times. The 33’s times are being shifted, with a Saturday increase in service from every 45 minutes to every 40. Also, I never noticed that the 32, 33, and 34 all coordinate to provide service every 15 minutes into East Providence on weekdays. I wish RIPTA made that more obvious, although I guess they do hint at it on their system map…
20: Four new short-turns to RIPTA’s Elmwood Garage have been added, while one has been discontinued. We’ll get to why those new trips have been added later…
50: An inbound school trip in the afternoon has been discontinued.
54: The 8:55 AM outbound trip on weekdays will no longer connect to the 87, not that they ever tell you which trips connect to begin with (get on that, RIPTA). Also, presumably coming from the 87, the former 1:07 PM weekday inbound trip will now depart from Main and High Streets across from Woonsocket City Hall (a different location than the regular starting point) at 1:09. Remember that, because the route’s schedule doesn’t actually tell you this information. It just shows the bus arriving at the next timepoint at 1:16 with a note that says “Trip starts from Main St. at the Municiple [sic] Parking Lot across from Woonsocket City Hall.” Nice, it doesn’t tell us the time, and it needs a round of spell check.
60: Two inbound trips in the afternoon, the 3:03 and 3:33 from Newport, will now depart ten minutes earlier. I’m not really sure why they did this – it creates some annoying scheduled bunches with the supplementary trips that deviate to NUWC, a naval base.
62/66: Trips are being shifted around and changed for better on-time performance, but the frequencies remain the same.
64: Apparently this change was made back in October: the 7:00 AM outbound trip was moved to 6:45. I don’t know why this is showing up on the winter schedule change page, but I’m putting it here anyway!
QX: Oh darn it, of COURSE they had to add a new route! It’s better than some of the super infrequent housing-complex-to-Walmart routes they’ve been creating recently, but this thing still only has just two trips in each direction every day! Anyway, the QX is the Quonset Express, a route providing a much-needed express service to the Quonset Business Park. If they can advertise it well, I think this will be a really well-used route, since there are a ton of jobs in Quonset that aren’t served well by transit (the 14 kinda goes into it, but it’s not meant to get people to jobs). Until April 22nd, the route will be free to ride, so hopefully commuters will try taking a ride! Incidentally, this is why those route 20 short-turns to Elmwood Garage were added – this route runs in service to and from the garage for some reason.
SRTA
Nothing happening here. Which is good, because I talk about this darn system enough in my regular reviews!
WRTA
This system’s last service change was in September, when most notably they added a route 3A to the Ecotarium and North High School, and they moved the 5‘s terminus to a residential neighborhood rather than the near-abandoned Southwest Commons.
However, they’re also doing some changes that will come into effect on January 26th. Firstly, they’re eliminating all but one of the 15‘s weird short-turns at Fairlawn Plaza. Why they kept one, I have no idea. The other changes involve new service spans: the 5 is shifting one hour earlier on weekdays; the 6 is gaining an hour at the beginning and end of its service day; the 25 is shifting one hour later on Sundays; and the 27 is shifting an hour earlier on Sundays (leading to overall more service hours at the Auburn Mall between it and the 25, I suppose), but also losing its last Saturday inbound trip. These are pretty neutral changes overall – the WRTA is capable of doing much worse.
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 Massachusetts (represent!), so hopefully the blog can stir up some interest in Philly this coming year. That doesn’t mean I’m done with New England, though – the backlog for Miles on the MBTA is intense, and as long as I’m still going back there for breaks, the jurisdiction will just keep on growing. Every bus route in Massachusetts? Sure! Every bus route in Rhode Island? Definitely! Every bus route in New England? You never know!
So thank you all for sticking with me, whether you’ve been reading all six years or whether you’re one of my Penn friends reading the blog because I wouldn’t shut up about the fact that you should totally read the blog. Here’s to another amazing year…we’re gonna accomplish some fantastic things.
SRTA: NB 3 (Dartmouth Street)
We’re three routes away from finishing this darn system! Fittingly, our third-to-last review will be the 3, a route that calls itself “Dartmouth Street” but takes a pretty significant deviation away from it when it gets into New Bedford.
Now, I’m sorry to disappoint, but I did miss the route’s outbound-only deviation to Sol E Mar apartments. It basically makes a loop where it serves them on its way to Big Value Plaza, the shopping plaza in Dartmouth with nothing of note in it where the 3 officially starts. But while there’s a charming town center further south down the road, people aren’t gonna take the bus there, so we’re forced to start at this plaza named after a bargain store. Woo.
We headed up Dartmouth Street, a road mostly lined with sprawly suburban businesses, with houses on the side streets. Honestly, the entire Dartmouth section of the route was like that, until six minutes later when we entered New Bedford and deviated into a Stop & Shop (connecting to the 5 and 6). Continuing up Dartmouth Street from there, the neighborhood was a lot more mixed-use, with businesses occupying the ground floors of dense houses and apartments.
We passed a cemetery, and later on we made a sudden sharp turn onto Allen Street. We wouldn’t touch Dartmouth Street again for the rest of the route. Allen Street was all dense houses, and once we turned onto Page Street, it was clear why we were doing this deviation: it was to serve Saint Luke’s Hospital. Okay, that’s reasonable. What came after was annoying, though: left on Hawthorn Street, right on Rotch Street (which no bus should go down to begin with, since it’s just a local side street), right on Union Street. The street network does necessitate the jog, but it was a relief to take Union Street straight into downtown New Bedford, where we reached the bus terminal.
SRTA Route: 3 (Dartmouth Street)
Ridership: As far as New Bedford routes go, the 3’s ridership is pretty lame: about 312 riders per day. But also, the route has among the worst productivity on the New Bedford system, and we’ll see why soon.
Pros: The route has great service on weekdays, running every half hour from 7 AM to past 9 PM. It also serves a lot, running down the main corridor of Dartmouth Street. The deviation to serve the hospital is annoying, but I get why the route does it.
Cons: On Saturdays, it’s every hour from 8 to 5, which is…significantly worse than weekdays. But also, why does this route with mediocre ridership get one of the best service weekdays of any SRTA route? This is why its productivity is so bad! Maybe some of those resources could be put onto higher-performing routes than this one. That jog to the hospital also gets even more annoying after 6 PM on weekdays, when for some reason, it doesn’t use Rotch Street, instead jogging further out to Rockdale Ave! Maybe it’s because residents don’t want big buses clogging up their tiny street at night? I’m not sure, but it’s very odd.
Nearby and Noteworthy: That nice downtown in Dartmouth is only a sidewalkless 20-minute walk away from Big Value Plaza! Oh, you want a place that’s actually on the bus route? Eh…
Final Verdict: 5/10
I see why it exists. I see why it does what it does. But that doesn’t make it any less unbearable to ride, and it doesn’t make the schedule any more logical. Oh well.
Latest MBTA News:Service Updates
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 gotta get through my backlog!
There are four entrances to Tasker-Morris, two at Tasker Street and two at Morris Street. All of them are…discrete, to say the least. I mean, the staircases are really tucked away next to buildings. This is more or less the standard for South Philly, but that doesn’t mean I’m a fan. Also, there are no elevators, which means that this is one of the many Broad Street Line stations that’s not wheelchair accessible.
The two Morris Street entrances can only be accessed by walking down these long, twisty hallways. They both have strange mirrors on the corners that are used to…peek around, I guess? Also, one of the hallways requires passengers to go a few steps down to access, even though it’s taking them above ground. That’s just annoying!
Tasker-Morris has a similar bike situation to Snyder: the bike racks are underground, and passengers can bring their bikes to lock them up in the station. SEPTA at least acknowledges the presence of these spaces on its station page, unlike with Snyder, but it says there are only 16 racks – in reality, there are 20. Also, Snyder’s special bike stair ramps didn’t exist, but they are here, on both of the Tasker Street exits! There’s just…er…one slight problem: the ramps stop midway up the stairs to make room for the gates to close the station. Hey, at least they still cover, like, 85% of the journey…
As usual, the mezzanine for this station is just a giant place with way too much space for its own good. I mean, look at how much room there is here! There’s really no excuse to only have three fare gates and two fare machines. SEPTA, you have to use your space better than this! Why not put in some new fare gates closer to the exits, since at the moment, you have to walk down to the center of the mezzanine to enter the station? They would be unstaffed, but ideally the cashier would have a security camera view of each one to potentially catch fare dodgers.
Another classic SEPTA element of Tasker-Morris is the waiting area just beyond the fare gates. It has a few benches within sight of the cashier, as well as some maps and wastebaskets. Multiple staircases lead from here down to the platform, while the signage directing passengers towards exits and buses is pretty good.
There isn’t much to say about the platform, since it’s what you would expect. It’s a center platform with benches and wastebaskets all along it, and that’s about all there is to it. Everything is as aesthetically meh as you would expect from a Broad Street Line station.
Oh right, we have to talk about the bus connections. I gotta say, the bus stops here make a lot of sense. The 4, which runs straight up Broad Street, essentially has four stops here, two each at Tasker and Morris – all but one of them are signs, which is really all the 4 needs. The 29, meanwhile, is the crosstown route along Tasker and Morris Streets. Even though both of those are tiny one-ways, the route gets shelters at both of its stops here! Granted, neither of them have benches underneath, but it’s a start.
Station: Tasker-Morris (BSL)
Ridership: Tasker-Morris is the second-busiest station in South Philly, getting just over 5,000 riders every weekday. Most of that ridership is coming from the dense apartments all around the station, although nearby East Passyunk Ave is probably a draw, too.
Pros: This station has perhaps the most sensible bus infrastructure I’ve seen so far at a SEPTA stop (not including the big transportation centers)! Other than that, it’s in an excellent location, which lends itself to high ridership.
Cons: Even though we finally get bike ramps on the stairs, they’re hardly functional because of the gap in the middle! If you’re gonna have to lug your bike off of one ramp around onto the next one, you might as well just carry it all the way down the stairs. The mezzanine is a terrible use of space, as usual, and the station entrances are underwhelming. Finally, it’s not wheelchair accessible.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I love my East Passyunk Ave. This is the closest stop to many of the attractions along that thoroughfare. Also, I missed it this year, but the Miracle on South 13th Street is a tradition where all the houses on 13th between Tasker and Morris go all-out with Christmas decorations. It looks like a ton of fun, and I hope to make it down there next year.
Final Verdict: 5/10
Yeah, I’d say this is of similar quality to Snyder. Tasker-Morris is a touch better than Snyder, but with all its problems, I can’t see it getting higher than a 5. This is just a generic, uninteresting Broad Street Line station, although it is close to a bunch of great stores and restaurants. Also, there’s a punk song about it, so…that’s neat?
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
SRTA: NB 8 (Mount Pleasant)
The NB 8 is the same bus as the North End Shuttle, with every run on this route turning into a loop on that one before coming back. I really wish they made it more obvious that they use the same bus, but marketing them as two different routes does have one advantage: it makes the 8 look a whole lot better on its own.
I just stayed on the North End Shuttle, so after deviating to Fieldstone Marketplace (which has nothing of substance in it), we took Kings Highway over Route 140 and turned onto Mount Pleasant Street. Although there were a few houses and a cemetery along here, it was mostly industrial. We crossed Route 140 again and there was some public housing on the other side, although we missed out on a Price Rite supermarket and a bunch of apartments a few blocks away.
Mount Pleasant Street still did run through some dense housing. We also went by another cemetery and an elementary school. It was all residential as we crossed I-195, and it remained so on the other side, apart from a few convenience stores here and there. Eventually, we turned onto Kempton Street, and this led us into downtown New Bedford. After taking a right on 6th Street, we had arrived at the terminal.
SRTA Route: NB 8 (Mount Pleasant)
Ridership: This one gets a respectable-for-SRTA-standards 340 passengers per day. My trip got 9 people, which was one of the highest I had seen all day.
Pros: It’s a nice straight shot serving a lot of dense houses and apartments on its southern half, plus it gets decent ridership.
Cons: Despite getting a decent amount of passengers, the 8 has a pretty awful schedule. Service only operates from 7 AM to 6 PM (8 to 5 on Saturdays), and it’s every 40 minutes throughout the day. The NB 3 gets fewer people than this, but that one runs every half hour until 9 PM! Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but a jog or deviation to Price Rite might be a good idea. It’s an 8-minute walk from the route at present – serving a supermarket would probably add a lot of ridership, especially with the route’s midday-focused schedule. It would also provide access to a giant apartment development.
Nearby and Noteworthy: It’s mostly residential, apart from the plazas at the end, which don’t have much in them.
Final Verdict: 4/10
It doesn’t seem like the 8 is especially useful at the moment. Its schedule doesn’t match its ridership, and it doesn’t really serve much once it leaves the urban core. As it stands, for passengers to get food, they have to stay on when the bus becomes the North End Shuttle and use the Stop & Shop deviation, but that’s only in one direction. Of course, SRTA also doesn’t tell you the two routes interline, so that connection might as well not exist for an unfamiliar riders!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
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! Look, I know Route 1 has pretty parts to it, but there’s no denying that this road tends to attract a lot of horrible suburban sprawl. Anyway, let’s take a long and depressing journey on the 14, which spends most of its length on the ol’ Boulevard.
As one of the most complex routes on SEPTA (and that’s saying something), the 14’s service patterns are enough to make your head spin. The important thing to know is that most trips terminate at the Neshaminy Mall, but some of them continue on to the Oxford Valley Mall, which is a full 20 minutes further out. Those are a lot less frequent, so all I can say is…thank goodness there’s a big indoor mall here to wait at.
As much as I hyped up Roosevelt Boulevard, the route does not actually begin on it. No, the first main street the route traverses after leaving the Oxford Valley Mall is Maple Ave, and while it’s no Boulevard, it is a horrible road lined with industrial car lots. That said, it got a lot more leafy after we crossed I-295, the West Trenton Line, and Route 1. There was even a semi-dense, semi-charming downtown-type area, but we turned onto Pine Street a block before it.
Pine Street was total woods as it crossed over Route 1, passing a street literally called “Woods Drive”. It curved to the right, then we made a left onto Bellevue Ave, running through a leafy residential neighborhood. That ended abruptly when we hit Langhorne Station, with a connection to the West Trenton Line, or the…ahem…”R-3″, according to the announcement. SEPTA, if you’re gonna get rid of the R designations, can you at least eradicate them entirely and stop reminding us that it’s a far better system that what we have now?
There wasn’t much to see around the station, just some ugly businesses with big parking lots. Indeed, they continued as we turned onto Lincoln Highway, at least until it became woods and industrial buildings. We navigated an interchange to get onto Route 1, but it was still called Lincoln Highway. Taking the next exit onto Rockhill Drive, it was time to deviate to the Neshaminy Mall, where most 14 trips begin, as does its limited-stop cousin, the Boulevard Direct.
Leaving the mall, we retraced our steps and turned onto Horizon Boulevard, a street lined with restaurants surrounded by parking lots. The street curved right at a Walmart, and it twisted its way down a hill onto Old Lincoln Highway, which featured some mobile home parks. We went under I-276 and passed a giant cemetery, then there were some giant office parks as we merged onto Route 1. A few seconds later, we crossed Poquessing Creek and entered Philadelphia, when the road became…Roosevelt Boulevard. Uh-oh.
The road grew to its classic arrangement of three “express” (barely) lanes and three “local” lanes in each direction. For a little bit, all we could see from the road was trees (hiding the industrial wastelands beyond), so that was somewhat tolerable, but eventually that stuff came right up to the road. Plus, we got to see giant shopping plazas!
What else, what else? Well, we went by the general aviation Northeast Philadelphia Airport, but it was blocked by a row of trees. Eventually we encountered a few residential areas, whose residents’ livelihoods are hopefully not affected too much by the countless fumes spewing from the twelve-lane monstrosity in their backyards. The road crossed Pennypack Creek and entered an area with a denser street network and apartments rather than houses. That didn’t mean the suburban businesses had gone away, though – their parking lots were just a little smaller.
Suddenly…yes! We were turning off of the Boulevard! Yes, we were now on Bustleton Ave, and it took us past a bunch of rowhouses, as well as SEPTA’s Comly Depot and a cemetery. And finally, the sight of a train yard meant that we were arriving at our destination, the Frankford Transportation Center. Well, that was a long and arduous trip from the middle of nowhere – I think the Boulevard sucked all the life out of me. Good thing I never have to travel along that road again. Oh wait…there are still a ton of other bus routes that use it. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Route: 14 (Oxford Valley and Neshaminy Malls to Frankford Transportation Center)
Ridership: It’s one of the busiest routes on SEPTA. In fact, coincidentally enough, it’s the 14th-busiest route on SEPTA! But though the route gets a very respectable 12,340 riders per weekday, it’s not especially efficient or productive, just because it’s so long. But we’ll get to that.
Pros: As awful as the Boulevard is, there’s no denying that it has quite a few attractions along it that people want to take the bus to. The main trunk of the 14 is beautiful in its directness, sticking to Roosevelt Boulevard up until just before the Neshaminy Mall. The route’s trunk also has fantastic frequencies: every 5-10 minutes at rush hour (though the peak direction is away from Philly in the morning and vice versa in the evening because of all the industrial parks on the 14’s outer portions), every 15 minutes middays and Saturdays, and every 20 minutes on Sundays. Bear in mind, too, that all of these headways are further supplemented by the Boulevard Direct, which is always just as if not more frequent than the 14 when it’s running – transfers between the two routes are free. Heck, this route even has overnight service to Neshaminy Mall, and though it’s only every hour, it’s still a great lifeline for employees and residents, especially given how suburban the area is.
Cons: I’ve heaped a lot of praise onto this route, but it has so many problems that I need to pull out a bulleted list:
- A simple one first: peak service is less productive than midday service. And when you’re running service every 6 minutes over an up-to-20-mile route, it’s gonna take a ton of resources that would probably be better used elsewhere. You know how many buses the 14 uses during the peak? 24.
- Speaking of which, this route is sooooooo long. I get that it’s providing a one-seat ride from far-out locales to the El, but the length combined with the short stop spacing (oh yeah, that’s another con) can cause reliability issues and low productivity.
- Not to mention that doing a full trip to the Oxford Valley Mall on this thing is really difficult, since only some trips run all the way. Frequencies can range from every half hour on weekdays to every 45 minutes on Saturdays to…every 40 minutes on Sundays. Huh, it actually gets better Sunday service than Saturday service.
- And that brings us to the variants. Ohhhh, geez, the variants. Does every industrial park along the way really need its own special trip with its own special note on the schedule? I’m sure they get ridership, but my gosh, where does it end? I can only imagine how this route has probably mutated over the years, adding new schedule notes whenever a new industrial park wants to be directly served by the bus. But come on. This has gone too far:
Nearby and Noteworthy: Uhhh…malls? Let’s stick with malls. Although Sesame Place is quite close to the Oxford Valley Mall if you’re looking for some Sesame Street-related amusement park attractions!
Final Verdict: 6/10
I’ve thought long and hard about this. For all its flaws, I still have to applaud the 14’s relatively consistent frequency, direct trunk route, and 24-hour service. When you get right down to it, this is a really important route that could be a whole lot worse. That said, I am fully aware of its many problems, and they do drag down the route. In particular, cutting down on the industrial park deviations would be great for simplifying the schedule, although I can’t see that happening without a lot of pushback. Also, there’s the interesting case of the Oxford Valley Mall. Honestly, its service is so bad that I think all 14’s should terminate at Neshaminy, and a separate route with a free transfer can run between there and Oxford Valley. That would improve reliability, create better frequencies to the outer parts of the route, and generally simplify the 14.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
New North Station Pedestrian Tunnel!
Well…this was a surprise! No one really knew when the underground walkway between the subway and the Commuter Rail was going to open up, but the most recent rumor had been that it was slated to open tomorrow. I guess they decided to do it a day early, though, because as of today, the walkway is now up and running! Will it be enough to raise North Station‘s score to a 10? Let’s find out.
From the subway, the entrance to the walkway comes straight out of the fare gates. The MBTA’s signage has been really on point lately, and they did a great job here directing passengers to the new route. The screen showing Commuter Rail departures wasn’t working when I was here (maybe it hasn’t worked for a while, I don’t know), but once they get it fixed, it will be in a great location right next to the tunnel entrance.
First thing’s first, this tunnel gives us a new elevator leading to the north side of Causeway Street. The elevator itself is great and while I can’t see the entrance being too useful (there isn’t much outside of TD Garden and the station on this side of the street), it does provide a redundant elevator in case the one directly to the station needs maintenance. The signage to and from this entrance is excellent as always.
I had concerns that the walkway would be too narrow, and as it turns out, I was right…sort of. The majority of the passageway is actually quite wide, but the elevator entrance to Causeway Street juts out and creates this bottleneck just before the subway entrance. I don’t think it will be as big of a problem as what we’ll see later on, but it is something to note. The tunnel looks fantastic, though, and it’s currently squeaky clean – we’ll have to check back six months later and see if that still holds true, though.
The walkway ends with a choice of stairs, an escalator (which wasn’t working this morning), and an elevator. This, I fear, is where the rush hour bottlenecks will be. Look at the stairs – they are really narrow, and the constant divider in the middle doesn’t help. I was here on a Sunday, and I ran into someone coming down on the left. Imagine trying to go in the reverse peak direction here against the swarms of people walking the other way. I hope I’m wrong about this, but the narrow staircase seems like a recipe for congestion. For the escalator, I think the best tactic would be to run it in the downwards direction during the morning rush (I assume its default will be up). That will essentially double the capacity in the peak direction, which may just leave a little more room for riders travelling the other way.
Once you get up to the landing, there are Green Line, Orange Line, and Commuter Rail maps before the doorway leading into the station. It drops you off right next to the exit that one would’ve used to get to the subway before the walkway opened. I just have one problem: I wish there were Green and Orange Line countdown clocks somewhere at the beginning of the walkway! Yes, they still exist in the foyer leading out the Legends Way exit, but that’s not super useful for someone using the new tunnel. They do broadcast all countdown announcements within the passageway, but being able to see the clocks and know how fast you have to walk or run would be fantastic.
Despite my complaints, this tunnel is such an amazing upgrade to North Station. To see just how useful it is, I decided to time the old method of getting to the subway versus the concourse, with a few rules: walk at a steady pace, climb steps one at a time, and no jaywalking. I was unlucky with the lights taking the aboveground route, and it clocked in at 3 minutes, 47 seconds. The concourse? 1 minute, 56 seconds, plus warmth and protection from the elements. Okay, that settles it for me. North Station‘s new score is a 10/10!
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.
The route begins at the Frankford-Knights Loop, right on the Philadelphia city line. We crossed Byberry Creek on Bristol Pike, instantly entering Bensalem – the houses and businesses on this road felt like they were trying to be as dense as possible while still remaining annoyingly suburban and car-oriented. The Woodhaven Mall was a proper suburban development, although certainly not a true mall. At least the outdoor plaza did have a movie theater in it.
Because this route is full of surprises, we suddenly had a brief express section on Route 63! It was only for one exit, but it still came out of nowhere. Once we left the highway having reentered Philly, we instantly ran down Franklin Mills Court in order to serve the Philadelphia Mills Mall (which is an actual indoor mall, for the record). We headed onto Knights Road after that, which actually did have a few dense apartments on one side, but it quickly devolved into suburban houses, car-oriented residential developments, and shopping plazas once we left Philly for Bensalem again.
There were a few municipal buildings among some fields as we turned onto Byberry Road, but that was the only unique thing about the scenery here. It started to get industrial when we turned onto Bridgewater Road, and this is where the first of the 129’s weekday-only industrial park deviations occurs: buses will do a jog to serve the Bridgewater Industrial Park. I rode on a Saturday, so I didn’t get to experience any of these wonderful deviations.
Despite not deviating further into the industrial park, we still got to experience some of the random warehouses and factories of the area on Bridgewater Road. But then it ended abruptly and we entered a residential neighborhood, turning onto Bensalem Boulevard. The only business along here was a Wawa, although that’s really all you need, am I right?
We eventually reached a patch of open land, and across the street from that was a small shopping plaza with a few small businesses. Soon after, we turned onto New Falls Road in order to cross Neshaminy Creek, then we took a right on Newportville Road. Yes, we had essentially turned in the opposite direction, but in the route’s defense, this is the most direct route via local roads because of the creek.
There were actually a few cool historical-looking buildings on the other side of the creek (part of a village called Newportville), but it wasn’t a downtown or anything. Newportville Road quickly got residential, but once we turned onto Ford Road, we were in another industrial area. This is where the second weekday-only deviation occurs, this time to serve the Keystone Industrial Park. This one is particularly special, as it gets an express trip directly to it in the morning rush. Oooooooh.
We crossed I-95 and turned onto the narrower Wharton Road, passing the third and final weekday-only deviation, this one to serve an unnamed industrial area. That road ended and we turned onto Veteran’s Highway, but we weren’t on it for that long before deviating into the Bucks County Office Center. It featured such attractions as United Gymnastics Academy, Nirvana Family Fitness Center, and Taco Bell. Okay, okay, the complex did have a community college and a welfare office, but no one was using this deviation on a Saturday!
We continued down Veteran’s Highway, a giant road lined with some houses. We soon turned into the Bristol Commerce Park (or the “Bristol Park Shopping Center”, according to SEPTA), a plaza that really wasn’t offering much, but it was a clever deviation that let us get onto Bristol Pike. Incidentally, this was the same Bristol Pike we had been on way at the start of the route, and I can tell you this would’ve been a much shorter ride if we had just stayed on that.
We weren’t on this fast road for long, as we soon turned onto Bath Street, going under the Northeast Corridor. Now we had entered the urban part of Bristol, and it’s actually urban! There were a ton of dense row houses everywhere, although this route doesn’t stay in that part of town for long – we turned onto Pond Street, then Beaver Street, skipping the downtown part of Bristol. At least the six-days-a-week 128 goes further into the urban core. The 129 does serve Bristol Station on the Trenton Line, though, and there were more apartments and a few businesses around the station.
Once we crossed Bristol Pike, our street became Beaver Dam Road, and we were back in suburbia. After passing through an apartment complex, we turned onto Plymouth Ave, which was a side street in a residential neighborhood. It became Elwood Ave when it curved sharply to the left, and we went under a highway interchange and turned onto Green Lane, a more major street. We went by some massive industrial buildings, while some unfortunate houses sat across the street.
We crossed Mill Creek and entered good ol’ Levittown, which is just as boring and sterile as you would think it to be. We turned onto Mill Creek Road, then Bristol Oxford Valley Road, then New Falls Road, and though there were a few businesses (particularly on that last road), mostly all that could be seen were quiet streets lined with the American dream of the 1950s: lots of suburban homes. Oh, by the way, that New Falls Road is the same New Falls Road we used to cross Neshaminy Creek half an hour ago. It would take literally two minutes to drive directly between the two points. Yeah, I love this route!
Eventually, we headed down Durham Road, which took us into Langhorne – there were a few apartment developments between the houses here. The street went over I-295 and we eventually ended up in downtown Langhorne, which…really wasn’t much besides a few suburban businesses and a West Trenton Line station. This was the home stretch, though! We turned onto Lincoln Pike, passing an absurd number of car dealerships, shopping plazas, and parking lots, before finally deviating into the Oxford Valley Mall to finish the route! PHEW!
Route: 129 (Frankford-Knights to Oxford Valley Mall)
Ridership: The route gets the rather low patronage of 879 riders per weekday. But wait, it’s not terribly frequent, so maybe it’s better if you calculate it on a per-trip basis? Let’s see, that leaves us with about 25 passengers per trip. The route is 26.5 miles long. So…less than one passenger per mile. Alright, the ridership is terrible.
Pros: Okay, writing off the ridership as “terrible” isn’t totally fair. Bucks County is so sprawled out that it’s really hard to serve by bus, so I at least appreciate the 129 for trying. I mean, the thing runs hourly Monday through Saturday until around 10 PM – that’s not bad. It’s not such a bad route. Right?
Cons: Hahahahahaha. Okay, let’s get an easy target out of the way first: at every 90(-ish) minutes from 8 AM to 7 PM, the Sunday service is next to useless. More importantly, this route is just a complete mess! I get that you have to serve stuff, but one glance at the map of this thing is all you need to know that for anyone who’s trying to get somewhere in a rush, you might as well drive. It was truly a slog to sit through from beginning to end, but even if you’re going for a short distance, there are very few portions of the 129 that could be perceived as direct!
Nearby and Noteworthy: I mean…it’s really just a bunch of malls. This route is just endless suburbia. From Philadelphia Mills to Oxford Valley and everything in between, the 129 has got you covered!
Final Verdict: 4/10
Unlike a lot of the horrible routes I review in Massachusetts, the 129 does actually get some ridership – the highest of the four SEPTA routes that Bucks County subsidizes. It connects to some legitimately frequent transit services, and it covers areas that probably should have access to at least a barebones bus route like this one. This is a terrible route, but it does have a few good things about it that kinda sorta justify its existence. Just like 2018. Happy New Year!
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
New Battery-Electric Buses on the Silver Line!
Hot off the heels of new Green Line trains, the Silver Line has begun phasing in a new addition to its fleet. Last night was the inaugural run of battery-electric buses on the SL3 – unlike the current dual-mode buses, which have to change from electric wire to diesel power at Silver Line Way, these new vehicles can change to electric mode on the fly, meaning no more wait times at Silver Line Way! The bus also ran in electric mode on the Chelsea busway, which is better for emissions, although unfortunately it’s locked to 20 miles an hour in that mode for the time being. I look forward to seeing these roll out in the future!
MBTA Round-Up: Forest Hills Busway, Quincy Adams Gate, and NEW GREEN LINE TRAIN!
I’ve been away from this system for a couple months, so I had a lot to catch up on. This past week, I’ve been going to all the places where the MBTA has done something new, and it’s now time to put them all in a post!
First up, we have the new Forest Hills Upper Busway. This is something that the MBTA really hasn’t publicized that much, as far as I can tell, and I really don’t know why. I mean…just look at the before and after!
The MBTA went all-out on this thing. Of course, the obvious improvement is that it’s beautiful, but there are other upgrades like more layover space for buses and fully-sheltered walkways from the main building. The berth assignments make a lot of sense, generally putting together routes that go in the same general direction; in particular, it’s nice to see the 38 and 39 share a berth now that the 39 has lost its exclusive busway (a change I approve of), which will streamline trips to JP Center for passengers. The one flaw here is that the benches in “Zone B” (the outer one) no longer have anything behind them, so they’re not fully sheltered and are susceptible to getting rained on. Other than that, though, the Forest Hills Upper Busway now ranks among the best on the system for me.
But even less talked about than the busway is the work going on north of the Arborway! I was shocked to see how different the area looks without the Casey Overpass. Bike and pedestrian infrastructure has been dramatically improved in innovative ways to the point where it almost feels like you’re in a suburb of Amsterdam. Catering to these new paths and connections, the MBTA is building a new headhouse up here, replacing the former exit-only hut that didn’t really go anywhere. It’s really exciting stuff, and I didn’t even know it was happening!
So great things are happening down at Forest Hills! The original station scored an 8, but I’ll have to check back when this new entrance opens up. Honestly, given the Upper Busway improvements plus the new paths and headhouse, the station could be on its way to a 9. I’ll link the original post here, but we’ll have to wait until the entrance opens to see if it’s enough to change the score.
Next, we move on to Quincy Adams, where I finally got to see the new opened gate for myself. I came in on the 230 on Independence Ave; now that it’s finally connected to the station, there’s actually a “Red Line connection” announcement, which was a great touch. The entrance itself looks fantastic, and it came with a new traffic signal, an accessible path to the elevators, and signage improvements all throughout the station. I already updated the original review‘s score, but I’ll link it to here for the pictures.
And finally, we have the one I’m sure many of you came to this post to see: the new Green Line trains. Let me tell you, these things have evaded me for the past week! I slept through the first trip because I had no idea it was even happening, then I missed its single round trip on its second day of service the next Monday.
Yesterday, I was committed to getting it. I had my eye on the tracker all morning, and when that train (3901, in this case) left Riverside, I immediately rushed down to Park Street. Having written down the train before it, I got really excited when it came in. The new one was next! But…huh, interesting. 2 minutes until the next North Station train, 8 minutes until the next Lechmere. I didn’t think the new train had been that far behind the one in front of it…
When the next trolley from Riverside did come in, it was just…a normal train. I was livid. I still have no idea what happened to 3901, but I stood there waiting for far longer than I want to admit, still hoping it would come. Of course, it never did.
My mother had planned a meetup with family friends this morning at 11:30, which seemed to be when the new train was leaving Riverside every day – that meant I wouldn’t have a shot at getting it. But my dad woke me up at 9:30. “I convinced your mother to push the meetup half an hour ahead. Let’s see if we can get that new train.”
So we headed out, hoping to arrive at Riverside at around 11 and catch the new train on the way in (and no, there definitely was no hope in making it to the family friends by 12 in this scenario). We were at Kenmore when suddenly, I saw 3900 going in on the other side. “There it is!” I said, and we raced off the train to cross to the other platform. Hopping on a North Station train, we could take this to Park Street and then get 3900 on its way back out. And it…was…amazing!
I did that thing I do where I spent a lot more time talking about the bad things than the good things, but this ride really was a joy. Although there will only be 24 of these trains in service, getting one will always be a treat. They offer smoother rides, better passenger information, and more capacity, and if you can manage to get a ride on one, I strongly recommend it!
It’s been great coming back and seeing all the fantastic changes the MBTA has been making. Improvements are constantly being made to the system – the fact that this much can happen in just a few months is truly incredible. I can’t wait to see how else the MBTA upgrades its system in the coming year.
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 straight shot up Frankford Ave to the city line. Will the fact that the route’s buses run under the wire raise its score, or will it have enough flaws to override its wonderful vehicles? Let’s find out.
Our lovely bus glided out of the Frankford Transportation Center up Frankford Ave, running through a few different cemeteries. Once those cemeteries ended, we entered a dense neighborhood of rowhouses, but Frankford Ave was lined with businesses, many of them with parking lots. Also, the trolley wires split into four tracks, showing off one of the 66’s most unique features: during rush hour, a few trips actually run express, so they can pass other trolleys! I’ve yet to try one of these trips out, and none of them are actually scheduled to pass, but I’m sure it’s still a blast anyway.
The express tracks ended near the intersection with Cottman Ave, and this was the location of the 66’s first short-turn – this one only happens at rush hour, and it takes all of twelve minutes to get to this point. Meanwhile, there were still lots of businesses along Frankford Ave as we continued, but the side streets were still all residential. There really isn’t much else to say here!
We got to speed up for a bit to cross Pennypack Creek, officially entering Far Northeast Philadelphia. It was a notable transition: on the other side of the creek, there were now some regular houses amongst the rowhouses, and the businesses were a lot more car-oriented. We passed a church and a cemetery, then a big ol’ shopping plaza, and soon after that we reached Gregg Loop. This is the route’s second short-turn point, where every other trip on weekdays terminates. The loop also serves certain trips on routes 70 and 88.
After Gregg Loop, there were a few more businesses before Frankford Ave became lined with houses. We also passed a park and golf club, a small cemetery, and Holy Family University – after that last one, the housing stock actually switched back to apartments. Just after a shopping plaza, we pulled into the Frankford-Knights Loop, which showed up just before Poquessing Creek and the Philadelphia city line.
At this point, I’m just gonna throw in a mini-review of the Frankford-Knights Loop, since it’s not really worth giving its own review. There isn’t much to it, after all – it’s just a shelter, some bus information, and some bike racks. It basically has everything you would expect for a suburban loop. It is too bad that three out of its four routes (the 129, 130, and 133) go out to the ‘burbs from here, forcing people to transfer to the 66, but honestly, there are far worse routes to be forced to transfer to. 7/10. And now, back to our regularly-scheduled 66 review…
Route: 66 (Frankford Transportation Center to Frankford-Knights)
Ridership: It makes me so happy that a trackless trolley can make it into the top 20 busiest SEPTA routes. Granted, it’s right at number 20, but 11,216 passengers per day is nothing to sneeze at! I’m sure this route gets quite busy during the day, but I must confess that I rode outbound on a Saturday morning, so the bus was never too crowded at any one time – there were 19 riders in total.
Pros: First of all, it uses trackless trolleys. Second of all, the route is beautifully straight, running right up Frankford Ave with no turns to speak of. Third of all, it uses trackless trolleys. Fourth of all, the schedule is generally quite good for SEPTA standards: service is every 3-5 minutes at rush hour, every 8 minutes midday (though every 16 to Frankford-Knights, but based on the ridership I saw, that kinda makes sense), every 11-12 minutes Saturdays, and every 16 minutes on Sundays. The route even runs all night, with service every 45 minutes. Finally, and this is very important: it uses trackless trolleys.
Cons: I have three main problems with the 66. Firstly, this is a SEPTA route, so the stops are way closer than they should be. Also, this is a SEPTA route, so the service patterns at rush hour are ridiculous. The schedule gets too complicated for its own good with three possible termini, plus the express trips that save five minutes at best. I’m all for cool four-track wire arrangements, but it doesn’t seem necessary, especially when, as usual for SEPTA, the 66 is less productive at rush hour than it is midday. Finally, though this route does it a little better than others, it gets infrequent too early. I want to see service at least every 20 minutes until midnight, but it becomes every half hour at 10 PM, and 9 PM on Sundays. Maybe take off some of that excess peak service to run more buses at night (and also to bring the Sunday headway down to a clean 15 minutes from 16 – although that could be done by just shortening the lengthy layovers by a few minutes)?
Nearby and Noteworthy: I must say, I’m captivated by the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion. It seems like an off-the-beaten-path museum with lots of insects and a cheap admission, and the El to the 66 is the best way to get here with transit!
Final Verdict: 8/10
Okay, let me explain my reasoning here. At most times of the day, the 66 is a frequent and direct route straight up Frankford Ave, serving quite a lot on its relatively short journey. It runs all night, so no matter what, there will be a bus coming at some point. That being said, some of the route’s problems bring it down: it has close stop spacing, it’s complicated at rush hour, and it can be too infrequent at times. Overall, this averages out to about a 7 out of 10 for me. Buttttttttttt…trackless trolleys. 8 out of 10. Yes, I am a shameless sucker for them.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
SRTA: North End Shuttle
I hold SRTA to a reasonably high regard in my head. I think it’s one of the better RTAs in Massachusetts. That said…the North End Shuttle is a disaster.
The route begins at Fieldstone Marketplace, then it deviates to a Stop & Shop across the street. My plan was to get on at the Stop & Shop and get off at Fieldstone (after traversing the whole loop), so I would technically be “going somewhere”. So, we headed up Tarkin Hill Road, which was mostly residential except for businesses at the intersection with Ashley Boulevard (connection to the 4) and at Lunds Corner (connection to the 2). This was the somewhat useful part of the route, where it runs as a crosstown in north New Bedford, but it’s still not serving anything further than a five-minute walk from other routes.
We turned onto Acushnet Ave at Lund’s Corner, and it quickly became houses again. The street eventually led us to a merge with Ashley Boulevard, where we met up with the 4’s terminus at Trucchi’s. Like the 4, we didn’t deviate into that sacred institution, so we stayed on Acushnet Ave, entering uncharted territory. The big question, though: do these not-particularly-dense suburban houses really need bus service?
Eventually we got a few things of substance. There were a few scattered businesses later on, as well as a small hospital. I would’ve thought a hospital deviation would be a good place to turn around, but no…the bus goes a little further to this dirt patch at the New Bedford/Freetown border and awkwardly loops around there. Okay…
We went back a ways but turned away from the outbound route onto Braley Road. We went by an elementary school and went under a highway, then we turned onto Phillips Road. There were some apartments, but other than that, one side of the street was suburban houses and the other side was…woods. That was more or less it until we crossed that highway again, and the road became Church Street. We passed a few sets of apartments within an eight-minute walk from the 4, there was a brief industrial bit before some more houses, and then we turned onto Tarklin Hill Road to reach Fieldstone Marketplace again.
SRTA Route: North End Shuttle
Ridership: Oh, you know. 54 people per day. Lowest ridership on all of SRTA. Nice.
Pros: It serves a few places of interest, although aside from that hospital way up on the northern end of the route and a few of the apartment complexes, most of it is within walking distance of other buses.
Cons: Remembering that most of the route’s attractions are within walking distance of better, more frequent routes, the North End Shuttle’s 9-to-5, every 40 minute schedule looks pretty lame in comparison. Then again, the route really doesn’t serve much, so why should it run more frequently? Or…why should it run at all? Something the SRTA really should make more clear is that this route interlines with the 8 to New Bedford. That information might make this loopy stub look a little more appealing!
Nearby and Noteworthy: On the independent section? Really, nothing. If you want to say you’ve taken a bus to Freetown, this is the route for you.
Final Verdict: 2/10
This route is definitely useful for a few people, but very few people. To me, the North End Shuttle feels like a political statement of “Look, we serve all of New Bedford!” even though there really isn’t much to serve in the northern extremities of town. SRTA can do better than this.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates