By Gloria DULAN-Wilson
Hello All!
Well, we are actually heading towards May of 2025 at break neck speed- we got through Easter and Hitler's Birthday - April 20; we made it through the Oklahoma Ruin and Earth Day - April 22 - and, despite the sickening, ignominious headlines, and the legions of podcasts that say the same thing - ad infinitum - about the predator in chief's latest assault on America, somehow we've managed to get through our day to day affairs somewhat intact.
Then, some lunatic tried to assassinate Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro by throwing molotov cocktails into his mansion (theoretically because of religious differences - I will stick with lunatic)! Governor Shapiro is one of my personal heroes and I took the whole thing personally - as did most of Pennsylvania. What the sam hill is going on here?? The poison from DC is wafting its way up north and polluting our environment. It has to stop - or, rather, it has to be stopped.
That said, I was recently regaled with an
unexpected and unnecessary challenge - that of the possible dismantling
of the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority: SEPTA!
Just when I was smugly bragging on the wonderful things that were
happening in Philly, I was blindsided with this big of negativity!!!
Philadelphia has begun to make progress due to the many ambitious, and laudable, projects enunciated by Mayor Cherelle Parker less than a scant month ago. She detailed all the wonderful measures that she was implementing to enhance the city! I'm sure she was not aware that there was dirty work afoot behind the scenes: Apparently SEPTA's General Manager has decided to step down from her post; and at the same time, the State of Pennsylvania is sitting on essential funds needed to keep the system immaculate and running right.
They were either unaware of, or did not care
about what was getting ready to befall the nearly 3 million passengers
who rely on SEPTA to get to their destinations - work, school,
hospitals, shopping, local and regional travel. And it seems the
interim general manager had no compunction about pulling the rug - er,
tracks - out from under them by shortening the schedules, rerouting
buses and trains and leaving passengers stranded in the different stops
SEPTA routinely services.
Need to get to Treton? Tough noogies; going to Delaware? Not from here? Have to get to the more than 290 stations that connects SEPTA to PHILLY and beyond? Yes! 290 stations. Not only that, SEPTA is the 6th largest US rapid transit system in the nation - with more 3 million riders on a daily basis, and 450 miles of tracks, and 2,350 buses an trains over 196 routes! Regional Rail has 13 branches and 155 stations. But it appears it doesn't matter to them. It looks as though Philadelphia and SEPTA are being T-rumped (rhymes with punked)!!
The interesting thing about this is the fact
that in July, 2024, SEPTA had enthusiastically announced they would be
replacing the Market /Frankfort lines with 200 newly minted, sleek
trains - the scheduled arrival was 2029 - four years away! However, if
there is a reduction of services in the interim, this will leave Philly a
ghost town. It may even cause an exodus similar the one Philly
suffered from under the Reagan administration. It would be awesome if
the new trains could be fast tracked in time for Philadelphia's 250th
Anniversary - but that's 2026.
With the reduction in the number of services, in the face of the growing population of Philadelphia and surrounding areas, what the Sam Hill is the problem with Pennsylvania's state legislators. Why are they sitting on SEPTA's budget, and putting the system on the brink on disaster and bankruptcy? That's the kind of stuff repuglycons do - don't tell me that we are under the boot of the leviathan! Don't tell me that we are dealing with a state legislative body that would rather see its constituents suffer than have what they need to function.
Sounds to me like the good people of Philadelphia and surrounding areas should also be protesting against those in the State who are blocking SEPTA's budget and their means of transportation. Their connections to other attenuating states which also brings funds into Pennsylvania will also be adversely affected - or completely eliminated.
The pending new SEPTA bus schedules appear to
be aiming to relegate Philadelphia to the level of a backwater town,
instead of a growing metropolitan city on the rise. Who came up with
the concept of curtailing bus schedules at 9:00 PM? What's up with
that? Are the Quakers back? Are Philly's sidewalks rolling up again?
Are Blue Laws being reinstated? The route changes leaving riders
stranded and trying to find means to get home make no sense whatsoever.
What dweeb is behind this madness? Clearly someone who obviously never
uses SEPTA.
I do wonder whether or not any of these changes were put before the actual riders. I seriously doubt it. I remember they used to hold so called community meetings at 5:00PM right around the time most people would be just getting off from their jobs. It was one of those "let's don't, but say we did" meetings, so they could pretend to have community input. Had they given the riders the chance to be part of the meeting, or planning, I doubt seriously that they would have agreed to such egregious cuts to these essential services.
Hey SEPTA! if you want to do something, why not enhance the services instead? Make SEPTA the envy of the Eastern Seaboard Rapid transit system - including NYCTA, MARTA, etc., like Washington, DC has done. You know - lighted stops, Audio and LED enunciators of the next bus or train so people with disabilities can be alerted. And, hey! How about MONORAILS around the periphery of Philly and other areas to feature the beautiful waterfront and other sights that the city is famous for? This will not only enhance the service for the residents, but uptick the tourists who flock here by the millions to see the CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE AND SISTERLY AFFECTION?
As I mentioned before, it's time Philadelphians paid a visit to Harrisburg! And make a visit to SEPTA's Headquarters at 1234 Market Street to have a sit down with the ersatz SEPTA management and demand they restore and expand the services.
In fact, SEPTA, while I'm writing this article, I might as well make some additional recommendations:
1) Make your trolley cars wheelchair accessible!
2) Provide LIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE PHONE SERVICE until 10:00 PM so people can get real time updated info - the apps are a joke.
3) Provide kiosks with led banners announcing when next bus is approaching
4) Bring back the bus stations for GREYHOUND,
TRAILWAYS, BOLT, ETC to their original point or nearby (the 30ths street
transit hub) in areas safe for passengers - not on the Schuylkyl
parkway (I know this isn't SEPTA, but it's a hot mess now - you either
have to go all the way to Delaware Ave., or risk your life on Schuylkyl
Ave and Walnut).
5) Provide better training for bus operators, train operators and maintenance personnel
6) Host monthly community meetings for community input!
7) Be
Creative and Provide a SEPTA MONORAIL SERVICE that connects key areas
in and around the periphery of Philly and Southeastern Pennsylvania to
take advantage of the speed as well as the beautiful vistas for local
and tourist enjoyment. Guess what - takes 18 months to build them, low
to no pollution, and no escavation or blocking of the roads.
In summation: SEPTA IS AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF PHILADELPHIA AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. AS THE 6TH LARGEST RAPID TRANSIT SERVICE IN THE US, IT WOULD BE FOOLISH TO UNDERCUT THE SERVICE, INSTEAD OF USING CREATIVE INGENUITY TO EXPAND AND ENHANCE IT.
THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL TO PHILADELPHIANS:
NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
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| Gloria DULAN-Wilson |
Note:
For 10 years Gloria DULAN-Wilson was Administrative Manager of the New
York City Transit Authority's Rapid Transit Training and Evaluation
Division. Including writing and revising training manuals, developing
training and incentive programs for NYCTA Personnel. She also developed
a NYCTA Newsletter, and worked with other rapid transit systems in the
development of the automatic fare card. She served for a brief period on
SEPTA's Senior Council that made recommendations for ways to
accommodate senior passengers on SEPTA's Buses and Trains.
