The Spirit of 76

                                       by Daniel Brook of the Philadelphia Citypaper

October 18–25, 2001

 

Fans of the Center City bus route fight to stop its elimination.

 

Magic bus: The route 76 line may cost SEPTA more to run than other lines, but proponents say it serves senior citizens.

 

SEPTA’s proposal to turn the 76 bus route into a Center City "shopper’s loop," met substantial resistance at a public hearing Oct. 10. Senior citizens, public transit passenger representatives, and affected businesses and institutions each took their turn giving SEPTA a piece of their mind.

 

The 76 bus, known in cheeky SEPTA parlance as the "Ben Frankline," runs from Penn’s Landing to the Philadelphia Zoo, connecting Center City with the museums that line the Ben Franklin Parkway. According to SEPTA officials, despite efforts to promote the route, ridership is too low to justify continued service. Efforts to increase use have included the special name and a unique red, white and blue schedule that Christopher Zearfoss of the Mayor’s Office of Transportation described as "quite eye-catching." Despite these efforts, SEPTA’s analysis found that the subsidy per passenger on the 76 bus is more than three times the system average, making it too inefficient to merit continued service.

 

Many riders present at the hearing opposed any changes to 76 service. Ajay Creshkoff, a retired economist who lives in Center City, urged SEPTA to look beyond the bottom line and "examine the human costs." Creshkoff said that the 76 bus provides an important service to senior citizens and the disabled since, unlike most bus routes which serve the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the 76 bus drops off passengers at the building’s west entrance. Other buses use stops that require riders to cross wide, busy streets and climb the museum’s famous steps. Creshkoff noted in his testimony to SEPTA that the seniors refer to the Art Museum’s location as "cardiac hill."

 

Lorraine Brill, the president of the Delaware Valley Citizens’ Transportation Committee and a senior citizen, encouraged SEPTA to keep the 76 route intact but to market it more effectively. She claimed that since 1999 the 76 route has actually been gaining riders. If SEPTA publicized the route in the Metro newspaper, she suggested, ridership would increase further. Brill said the proposed shopper’s loop would provide redundant service since Walnut, Chestnut and Market streets in Center City comprise the best-served area in the whole SEPTA bus system. In a theatrical move, Brill presented the SEPTA official presiding over the hearing with 8 bus schedules— "evidence" that the area is already well served.

 

Another senior citizen, Herbert Sharp, submitted a petition he had organized at his Center City apartment building, Kennedy House. More than 200 residents signed his petition to keep 76 bus service in tact.

 

While many riders objected to the proposed changes, SEPTA had lined up some institutional support. The Center City District (CCD), Philadelphia’s downtown business improvement district, strongly backed SEPTA’s proposal. The new shopper’s loop would give a boost to downtown retailers during the coming Christmas shopping season. At the hearing, CCD Executive Director Paul Levy said his organization would raise funds to "wrap" the buses with ads, and subsidize fares at certain times of year.

 

Not everyone at the hearing was as pleased as Levy. Cynthia M. Philo, executive director of the Old City District, objected that the Center City shopper’s loop wouldn’t serve Old City or the shops on South Street. SEPTA should "market the city as a whole as a shopping destination," she said. While Philo was not against modifying the 76 route, she hoped any route specially designated for shoppers would serve the part of the city she represents.

 

One constituency that was particularly worried about the proposed changes was commuters on the Art Museum staff. According to Robert Morrone, the Art Museum’s facilities and operations director who represented the museum at the hearing, 20 percent of the staff uses public transportation each day. In addition, members have been calling the museum worried about the discontinuation of 76 bus service, he said. While Morrone did not have any specific recommendations to make, he urged that SEPTA keep the museum easily accessible by mass transit.

 

SEPTA’s response to riders worried about museum and zoo access from Center City was that they use the Phlash bus. Steven R. D’Antonio, who represented SEPTA office of New Service Initiatives at the hearing, said that plans were being made to extend the Phlash route to serve the zoo.

 

This proposed solution did not satisfy riders at the hearing. Since the Phlash route snakes its way through Center City to serve hotels, city residents felt it is a poor choice for native Philadelphians. Another sticking point was the Phlash fare structure of $2 one-way, $4 for an all-day pass. Since Phlash doesn’t accept SEPTA tokens or passes, Creshkoff and others said it represents an inconvenience and potential added expense for regular SEPTA riders. This was particularly problematic for senior citizens who ride free on SEPTA during off-peak hours, but receive no discount on Phlash.

 

One look at a map and schedule of the current 76 bus route, explains why it suffers from low ridership. The 76 bus route is one of the shortest in the city and doesn’t serve any major residential neighborhoods. This being the case, the line cannot attract the masses of commuters who make up the majority of city bus riders. People travel to and from work every day, but even an avid museum-goer may only visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art a few times a year. Since the route serves important historical and cultural sites in the city, perhaps it should be preserved, but extended through residential neighborhoods at one or both ends to create a base of commuters.

 

Few Philadelphians think their transit system is perfect the way it is, but many feel the proposed change to the 76 route would make the system worse, not better. SEPTA’s motto is "Serious About Change." Apparently the devil is in the details.