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
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 loop, 8th and Market is a less busy destination, and the route to 16th and Locust is now operated by PATCO. We’re thus left with this weird little stub of a line, and here is its one independent station: Chinatown.
For a station called “Chinatown”, you’re not really expecting the entrance to be in a post-apocalyptic hexagonal plaza surrounded by brutalist office buildings. Well…that’s where it is. There is a nice bus shelter on 8th Street that serves the southbound routes 47 and 61, though. Also, Google Maps Street View would lead me to believe that “Chinatown buses” to New York leave from the intersection of Race and 8th, but I’ve looked at all the companies on GoToBus, and none of them seem to leave from here.
There’s a singular fare machine at the ugly entrance to the station, and then the fare gates are right after. Let’s see…we’ve got a closed ticket window (this was a weekday evening rush, too), one fare gate, an exit-only door, and a huge turnstile entry gate separated from the rest by a wall. Behind all that, there’s one bench and one wastebasket, plus a sign apologizing for “our appearance while we renovate this station for your comfort and security.” Doesn’t look like much construction is going on…
And thus you see the gaping flaw of Chinatown: the platform is built for trains much longer than the ones the line actually uses. I get that this line was meant to be way more important than it is, but this is still a little problematic! The platform itself is fine, with a few benches and wastebaskets where the trains board and not much else.
Most of the platform seems to have been renovated at some point, but the original wall shows through at the main exit stairs for each platform. At least those are the only times we have to see it. Finally, this wouldn’t be a SEPTA station without exit-only stairs; in this case, they lead to…the middle of a city parking lot. Quick, if we can get to our car before 10 AM, we get the Early Bird Special!
Station: Chinatown
Ridership: It’s the least-used station on SEPTA rapid transit. Only 240 people per weekday use Chinatown, or about 1.5 riders per train.
Pros: The aesthetics of the platform aren’t terrible, actually. It’s a pretty clean station, too, probably because so few people use it.
Cons: Oh, this is just an awfully designed station. The fare line is strange, the platform is far longer than it has to be, and the exit-only stairs lead you into a parking lot surrounded by a chain link fence (yes, they’re useful for getting to some destinations, including a New Jersey Transit stop, but you still get let out in the middle of a parking lot). Because this is a Spur station, it has no night or Sunday service, which certainly doesn’t help its ridership. Also, I’ve been getting spotty cell service on the Broad Street Line in general recently, but it seems to be particularly bad at Chinatown. Anyone else noticed this?
Nearby and Noteworthy: I mean…yeah, the Chinatown neighborhood is great…but also, just take the El to 11th and walk two blocks. Bam, you’re in Chinatown! One thing this station does have all to itself, though, is Franklin Square, otherwise known as the worst of the squares. You know it’s true.
Final Verdict: 2/10
Even if this station wasn’t terrible in every way from a functional standpoint, it’s just really useless! I mean, that’s partly because the Spur is useless, but the only reason to use this station over 13th is if you’re coming from North Philadelphia or from PATCO. And you don’t even have that option nights and Sundays! I’ll stick with the El, thanks.
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
SRTA: NB 11 (Fairhaven)
Time for an SRTA route that actually goes somewhere! Today, we’ll be taking the NB 11 out of New Bedford into Fairhaven, which is…a town. That has a very deviation-filled bus route.
Now, there is a very convenient bridge straight into Fairhaven from downtown New Bedford. But wait, the 11 has to serve Market Basket first! Alright, we’ll take a ridiculously long route, then. We headed up Purchase Street, then we turned onto Hillman Street, crossing over the JFK Memorial Highway. Now in an industrial area, we had to snake around to get onto Herman Melville Boulevard, a truly awful road with absolutely nothing that anyone would want to take a bus to. But hey, at least we’re heading toward Market Basket!
The road became Front Street, and once we went under I-195, we entered a real neighborhood with apartments and businesses and turned onto Coggeshall Street. We performed our little Market Basket deviation and returned to Coggeshall Street, and now it was finally time to cross the Acushnet River into Fairhaven. The street became Howland Road, and we were in a neighborhood of single-family houses.
We turned onto Main Street, passing a cemetery and an apartment complex, but it soon turned to houses again. There is a small “downtown” Fairhaven with some pretty dense houses and a few businesses…but the 11 turns onto Huttleston Ave a half mile before it (Huttleston Ave, incidentally, is the direct bridge from downtown New Bedford). This wide street took us past the Fairhaven High School and some suburban businesses.
And now, we entered the 11’s two-pronged deviation loop. First, we turned onto Bridge Street, passing a Walmart on-street but not deviating into it. Once the road crossed Route 240, there were just sparse office parks with trees and fields in between. We turned onto Mill Road, taking us up to Southcoast Health System, which is where I had to leave the bus for the sake of time.
The route does continue, though, if “continuing” means “going back the way it came.” Yes, the bus comes all the way back to Walmart, except this time, it does deviate into the big box store. But it’s not over yet: it continues onto Alden Road, passing a few more shopping plazas, then it turns onto David Drown Boulevard. This takes it to its final deviation at Stop & Shop, and from there, it goes straight back down Huttleston Ave to make its way back to New Bedford (via Market Basket again, of course).
SRTA Route: NB 11 (Fairhaven)
Ridership: It’s not terrible: about 370 riders per day. The 11 actually ended up being the New Bedford route where I saw the highest ridership, with 12 people total on the ride. However, all but one of them were gone by the time we got to the deviations.
Pros: Fairhaven is reasonably dense for a suburb, and the ridership shows that there is demand for a bus here. Service is also consistently frequent, with service every half hour weekdays and Saturdays.
Cons: Service span is sacrificed for frequency, though: buses stop running at 6:30 on weekdays and 5:30 on weekends. More importantly, though, this route is a mess. Because the bus has to go all the way up to serve Market Basket, it takes forever to actually get into Fairhaven, and once you’re there, the bus skips the densest parts of town in favor of its really convoluted terminal loop. Sure, the route is frequent, but if it’s gonna take you 35 minutes to get to a generic Stop & Shop (which takes ten minutes to drive to), is it really worth it? Not to mention the route screws over everyone living in the actual dense parts of town.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Cap’n Barnacle’s Mini-Golf? Sign me up! Also, downtown Fairhaven looks like a pleasant place to spend an afternoon. The problem is that it’s a ten minute walk from the bus, which already takes 20 minutes just to get to the closest intersection. At that point, you might as well walk the whole way.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Look, I’ll give it points for relatively good frequency and decent enough ridership. But when walking is comparable to taking the bus, you know there’s a problem. Sure, it does provide a one-seat ride from Fairhaven to Market Basket, but the route already serves a Stop & Shop on the other end! Plus, it’s not serving anything on the run from New Bedford to Market Basket, and the whole thing is redundant to the 2 (which also serves, you know, actual neighborhoods on the way up). If you really want to go to Market Basket, just transfer to the darn 2. That said, I’ll be proposing a solution to this problem a few posts down the line…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
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.
Fox Chase has three platforms split between two tracks. Since this is a terminal station, I imagine that trains can board on either track here, but the one to the west is far superior – we’ll see why in a bit. Out here, the platforms are all narrow, and they’re mostly just meant to provide extra capacity for longer trains.
There’s a pedestrian crossing across the whole station that leads to the two parking lots, one on each side. The 314 spaces in total aren’t managed by SEPTA, but rather by the Philly Parking Authority itself. They have Pay-by-Phone set up, which is great, but if you’re gonna go analogue, you have to pay at these decrepit old machines. The rates are decent, though: 2 bucks per day, up to a total of $14. You could park your car here, take the train to the airport, and go on a week-long trip if you wanted to!
Yes, Platform 1 (the western one) does get wider, but it takes its sweet time doing it. The wide part is actually pretty nice, though – it has the only shelter in the entire station, the only benches in the entire station, the only departure board in the entire station, and the only building…in the entire station. Okay, I’m not so mad about the last one. But seriously, doesn’t this say something about how few amenities this place has?
Like most SEPTA buildings, this one is only open during the morning rush period. For what it’s worth, though, it looks quite cozy inside. It has a ticket office, lots of seating space, outlets, a small library, and various posters and trinkets on the walls (including destination boards for Silverliner IV trains, a sports schedule, and a LEED placard – Silver, apparently!). Welp…too bad it’s only open in the morning rush.
Further north, both tracks get mini-high platforms, which for once are located in a convenient place that’s closer to the station’s entrance! Well…unless you drove here. Oh well, it’s a start. Anyway, other amenities here include newspaper boxes, bike racks, and a few wastebaskets. The eastbound stop for the infrequent 28 bus is really well-placed right at the station, but if you want to go west, you have to jaywalk and hope for the best, since there’s no crosswalk here. They were digging up the tracks on the other side of the street when I was here, completing the trailification of the former Newtown Branch.
Just a block down Rhawn Street is the starting point for the 18, the busiest bus route on SEPTA. It gets its own little loop, which offers…well, not much, really. A bench and a wastebasket, and that’s about it – most of the amenities are for the drivers. At least the loop wraps around a nice park, though. Also, there’s the 24 bus, which just kinda…stops on the street. Yeah.
Station: Fox Chase
Ridership: Believe it or not, this is the ninth-busiest station on all of Regional Rail! It’s busier than Wilmington, Trenton, Paoli, and even Glenside, which sees way more train service than Fox Chase! But yeah, this odd little terminal station that’s still in Philadelphia gets 1,376 riders per weekday. Wonder how much lower it is on Sundays when trains run every 90 minutes…
Pros: Well, geez, look at that ridership! Also, most of those people must walk or take the bus here, since that’s a ton more people than what the parking lots can hold. After all, there are many dense, walkable residential neighborhoods around here, and as much as people want to see service restored to Newtown, the new trail will probably bring even more riders to Fox Chase. As for the station itself? Well, the building is decent and everything is wheelchair accessible. That’s good.
Cons: Basically everything else about the station. Heck, the building is only open during the morning rush, so you’re stuck waiting underneath it otherwise. I realize this is standard procedure for most Regional Rail stations, but for the 9th-busiest stop on the system, I would expect at least a little bit more! Also, while the bus loop is functional, it really needs shelter. Even something basic would suffice.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There’s a cute little village next to the station. It’s not the kind of place you can really come to and walk around for hours in, but it has a few interesting places: a weird furniture store, a classic German meat shop, and a few Italian restaurants with varying degrees of fanciness.
Final Verdict: 6/10
I gotta be honest, most of the ridership for Fox Chase probably comes during the morning rush. And during the morning rush, it really is a nice place to wait, since that great building is open. So…I don’t want to take away too many points. But if you’re here at any other time, it’s a pretty lame station. Also, if you’re here for the bus, then it’s even lamer! So overall, most of the time, you’re getting a lame experience out of this station. Six-outta-ten, BAM!
Latest SEPTA News: Service Updates
SRTA: NB 2 (Lund’s Corner)
This is more like it! I was able to get one of the NB 2 trips that serves Melville Towers – an occurrence that happens only once every two hours. Of course, this is only one of a few random extra deviations that happen on this route, and the rest happen even less often!
The route begins at Lund’s Corner, a “downtown” that has too many parking lots to be very interesting. We used local streets to loop around to head south on Acushnet Ave, where the businesses quickly thinned out and became dense houses and apartments. Going by Brooklawn Park was a highlight.
South of the park, Acushnet Ave became a major retail drag. Lots of stores and restaurants were lined up on either side of the road, and for the most part, it was pretty urban and walkable! The side streets, meanwhile, were packed with apartments.
We eventually turned onto Sawyer Street. This was an elaborate deviation to serve a Market Basket, and although the supermarket did get a nice bus shelter, it was still an annoying deviation. Case in point: after serving it, we had to continue out to the Acushnet River only to loop around onto Coggeshall Street to return inland. That’s the only way the street pattern will let you go to Market Basket. We eventually turned onto North Front Street, which went under I-195 and got industrial.
Using Logan Street to get to Acushnet Ave again, we had a highway on one side and a factory converted to apartments (and then random industrial buildings) on the other. After passing the Whale’s Tooth parking lot, we turned onto Hillman Street, crossing over the JFK Memorial Highway. And now…it was time for the Melville Towers deviation! What adventure would this rare event bring us? Oh…a one-block jog just to get a little closer to the apartment building. Okay…cool. And after that, it was a straight shot down Pleasant Street to the New Bedford Terminal.
SRTA Route: NB 2 (Lunds Corder)
Ridership: This is the third-busiest route on the entire system! It got a little over 800 people per day in May 2014.
Pros: The ridership is reflected in the weekday schedule: service is every 20 minutes all day from 5 AM to 9 PM! Acushnet Ave is a dense, major corridor that definitely deserves this level of service.
Cons: You know…there’s a lot not to like about the 2! For one thing, Saturday service is every 40 minutes, when it really should be at least every 30. I mean, when it’s running every 20 minutes at 8 PM, I doubt it’s getting all that much ridership – maybe service could be less frequent at night to balance out better service on Saturdays? Also, this route should be a prime candidate for Sunday service. Finally, this thing has way too many variants. The Melville Towers deviation happens about every two hours and saves people a one-minute walk; the Whaler’s Cove deviation serves an assisted living facility, but it’s a long deviation, only happens twice a day on weekdays only, and everyone who would use it is eligible for SRTA demand response anyway; and the random “express” route that the first round trip of the day takes adds a lot of complexity for just one trip. The one deviation that makes sense serves an industrial area twice outbound and once inbound, timing with work hours, so that’s useful – so long as people actually use it, of course. And I forgot to mention that they don’t change the running times for the route when they do deviations, so I would imagine some trips get late!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Lots of businesses along Acushnet Ave, including some interesting hole-in-the-wall bars and restaurants. I’m also fascinated by the New Bedford Museum of Glass, which seems like a hidden gem.
Final Verdict: 6/10
The 2 is an important route. But what should be a reasonably direct run down Acushnet Ave becomes a crazy schedule where you have to check to see which of the six mostly unnecessary variants your trip will be doing (main route, express route, industrial park, Melville Towers, Whaler’s Cove, and both Melville Towers and Whaler’s Cove, which happens on one weekday inbound trip). Plus, the Saturday service is less frequent than it should be, and the SRTA really really really needs Sunday service. But other than all those things…the route’s fine?
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
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, but that was to be expected). The train had an AEM-7 on one end and SEPTA’s single ALP-44 on the other – both are being retired. This is just a photo dump, so enjoy! Click on each picture to open it up in full size.
What a crowd! 
Coming… 
Closer… 
Here it is! 
The busy front car. 
Looking towards the front. 
At 30th Street. 
Heading out… 
Goodbye! 
Suburban Station. 
The cab! 
Departing Paoli.
