SEPTA FLEET NEWS ARCHIVES
June 2001
June 29, 2001
A page dedicated to the 2001 SEPTA Roadeo has been posted. The photos from the Roadeo will be added sometime next week (week of July 8).
- I guess I spoke too soon about Midvale assigning the ElDorados to virtually any route. On Wednesday, 4574 was spotted on the 57. Yes, there is another 40 ft bus shortage at Midvale. At least 4 Neo CD buses have been sent from Comly to Midvale to make up for the shortage, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good just yet.
- The awarding of a 3 year contract to Keystone Quality Transport of Media to operate the 314 bus has been delayed. Without comment, the SEPTA Board removed that item from the agenda. It's possible that it will be brought up at the next board meeting.
June 26, 2001
In addition to the 35, 39, 77, and 89, the ElDorados assigned to Midvale are also operating on other routes, such as the 2, 32, and the 61 Express. Apparently there is a shortage of 40 foot buses at Midvale, so they are sending anything on any line. What's next, an ElDorado on the 47?
- A meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at the Upper Merion Municipal Building for the Cross-County Metro project (remember that?) between 4:00pm and 8:00pm.
- It appears that all remaining 35-ft Neoplans are now off the roster. Some reports indicate that 1322 is still operating out of Callowhill, however, that has not been confirmed.
- On the Route 10 bus substitution, it appears that Frankford has sent some buses over to Callowhill. Some 30xx Neoplans were spotted at 52 St & Lancaster Av today. One day later, 3082 was spotted on a 65 run out of Callowhill.
June 22, 2001
The SEPTA Board of Directors voted 12-1 (with Philadelphia representative Christian DiCicco the lone dissenter) to increase fares system-wide. That part was expected. What wasn't expected was an increase in the base fare from $1.60 to $2.00. The fare zone changes will not take effect until the Fall Schedule changes. It means that bus commuters on some of the longer distance lines (ie. the 104) will now be paying upwards of $4.00 for a one-way trip including a transfer, at least for the next 2-3 months.
Even worse, I would not want to be a SEPTA rider living in Hatfield or Telford who has to take the 96 bus all the way to Norristown, then the P&W to 69 St to connect with the El. Such a one-way trip would now cost $5.70. Factor in that Telford to Norristown is a 4 zone ride - $3.50 plus a 60 cent transfer to the P&W - then the P&W from end to end is a 3 zone ride for another $1.00 in zones, plus another 60 cent transfer to catch the El. Click here for the gruesome details.
Incidentially, SEPTA claims that the ridership loss will only be in the low single digits, around 2 percent. Excuse me while I laugh...
The real kicker is that there was never any mention of a $2.00 base fare at any of the 5 public hearings, as the public was preparing for a $1.90 base fare. I have a feeling that some fringe group is going to file a lawsuit attempting to block the fare increase on those grounds. Ultimately, such a suit may not be successful, but given that SEPTA never told the public about the so-called "Alternative 2" before the meeting, I have a feeling that such a suit could delay, if not overturn, the increases. Stay tuned...
- The proposals for the FY 2002 Annual Service Plan coverind Delaware County/West Chester, Andorra, and Center City are now available on-line at this site.
- At next week's regular board meeting, SEPTA is looking to award the contract to operate Route 314 to Keystone Quality Transport, replacing Krapf's as the operator of that line, effective in August. As a consolation prize (so to speak), Krapf's will end up taking the Montgomery County para-transit contract from King, the embattled Norristown based contractor presently in a dispute with SEPTA over billing practices in Montgomery County, effective August 19. The Eddystone-based Community Transit will take over the Delaware County para-transit contract at the start of July.
- A dedication ceremony will take place tomorrow at 10:00am for the re-built Allegheny El station. The event is part of an all day festival in the Kensington & Allegheny area.
- NJ Transit schedules in South Jersey will change on June 23. Among the changes:
- ROUTE 313/315: Operating on summer schedule, which minor time adjustments to reflect seasonal traffic conditions between Cape May and Philadelphia.
- ROUTE 316: All trips originating in Philadelphia operating via Broad & Snyder Sts, then directly to Wildwood/Cape May. Reduced service to Camden, with Camden trips originating at Walter Rand Transportation Center, then via Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal and Broad & Snyder; service to Strathemere and Wildwood Crest discontinued due to bridge weight restrictions.
- ROUTE 317: All trips are accesible to wheelchair passengers, with the introduction of the D4000 cruisers.
- ROUTE 319: Seasonal service begins to Cape May City; service to Wildwood Crest discontinued due to weight restrictions.
- ROUTE 403: All trips operating via Branch & Decou in Pine Hill will serve Clementon Park. An Saturday trip will be added departing Winslow Plaza at 9:57pm to accomodate extra ridership from Clementon Park.
- ROUTE 407: Selected PM trips will be adjusted to better meet worker shift endings at Moorestown Mall daily.
- ROUTE 409: All trips are accesible to wheelchair passengers, with the introduction of the D4000 cruisers.
- ROUTE 452: Later evening service seven days a week to accomodate crowds at the E-Centre and Campbell's Field extended to 11:00pm, with weekday service operating every 30 minutes and weekend service operating every 45 minutes; school day service has been discontinued for the summer.
- ROUTE 459: Increased Saturday service with added trips operating via Winslow Plaza, with trips departing every 90 minutes instead of every 120 minutes; summer service discontinued to Technical Institute of Camden County.
- ROUTE 509: Two daily round trips added between Atlantic City and Somers Point; selected trips extended to Ocean City.
- ROUTE 551: The 7:20am weekday trip from Avandale to Philadelphia will now depart at 7:10am.
- ROUTE 553: Limited service introduced to the Cumberland Family Shelter near Vineland.
- ROUTE 559: Detour routing in effect between Smithville and New Gretna due to construction of the Nacote Creek Bridge (this is probably the reason the D4000s are not used on the 559 just yet).
June 20, 2001
The R5 Lansdale shuttle buses are operating between Ambler and Jenkintown, rather than Glenside or Fern Rock. The bridge at Fort Washington is expected to be out at least 1 to 2 months as reported earlier. During the shuttle operations, a local routing will serve Fort Washington, Oreland, North Hills, Glenside, and Jenkintown, while an express bus will operate non-stop between Ambler and Jenkintown. R2 service returned to normal - at least by SEPTA standards - on Tuesday.
- A reminder that SEPTA will hold a "special" board meeting to approve the FY 2002 Operating and Capital Budgets, along with the fare increase. The hearing examiners upheld virtually all of the proposed changes, however the proposed transfer fee will be reduced from 60 cents to 50 cents. (On a side note, SEPTA does a pretty poor job going into great detail as to what the board is approving, but that's another rant for another time.)
- For those heading to the SEPTA Roadeo this Saturday at Veterans Stadium, the event starts at around 8:00am. The location is listed as 10 St & Packer Av, however the main entrance is at Pattison Av. For the second straight year, the Roadeo contestants will be using NABIs.
A Celebrity Roadeo will take place starting at around 11:30am. The celebrities participating include Philadelphia Daily News gossip columnist Stu Bykofsky, Philadelphia Inquirer transit reporter Jere Downs, and KYW News Radio's Steve Butler. In addition, a display of current and historic SEPTA vehicles will most likely be the highlight of the day. This display may include any or all of the following vehicles (based on appearances at previous Roadeos):
- A Neoplan 40-ft bus (most likely an EI or EZ) - usually from Callowhill or Southern
- A Neoplan 60-ft articulated bus
- A NABI - usually from Frankford
- A Breeze van - one each from Frontier and Germantown (in either Breeze or Phlash livery)
- An ElDorado - undetermined, but most likely Germantown
- 1974 Flxible 53096-8-1 #6569
- 1980 GM RTS-II 35-ft #4462
- 1984 Volvo B-10m Articulated #7011
- A paratransit vehicle presently operated by a SEPTA contractor
In addition, the following non-SEPTA operators have also made appearances at past roadeos:
- New Jersey Transit
- DART First State
- Greyhound
- Martz Lines
- Krapf's Coaches
- The School District of Philadelphia
- ABC Bus (Van Hool distributor in Camden)
- Neoplan USA (usually sends a demo bus out)
- Baltimore transit enthusiast Charley Neal and his ex-Baltimore Old Look
The above is subject to change due to a variety of reasons. It's possible that some additions will be made, while other past attendees may not make it this year. What I can confirm is that New Flyer #5401 will most likely not be at the Roadeo this year. However, GM Fishbowl #4300 (1969 T6H-5306A) could make a surprise appearance, however I don't know the status of that bus, as Wyoming mechanics were working on it a couple of months ago.
For the 5th straight year, I will be attending. This year, however, I'll make sure I don't lose my camera so I can bring the sights of this year's Roadeo on-line.
- On a somewhat related note, the APTA International Bus Roadeo will be held at the Navy Yard instead of Veterans Stadium.
- If you've been in the Pottstown area recently, you may have noticed that Pottstown Urban Transit recently retrofitted their RTS buses with Luminator MegaMax destinations signs, replacing the roll signs that were installed originally.
- The ElDorados are popping up on the 61 Express service between Center City and Summit Loop. However, 4570 was spotted on the 32 during rush hour carrying a standing load. Um, does anyone at Midvale remember the 77/artic fiasco, or is ridership really that low on the 32?
June 18, 2001
This was not a good day to be a SEPTA commuter. Following the flooding in Montgomery County over the weekend, SEPTA Regional Rail service will be disrupted for several weeks. In addition, several other problems have popped up over the course of the day around the transit division. Here's a partial rundown of the major delays systemwide:
- The R2 Warminster line is operating as far as either Glenside or Fern Rock, depending on which supervisor you're talking to, due to a washout near Roslyn. This morning, passengers along train #4222 (the 11:00am Warminster train originating as an R1 Airport train) saw the schedule boards indicating train service would end at Glenside. After leaving Market East, it was announced that the train would end at Fern Rock, but moments later, the conductors corrected themselves and said the train would end at Glenside. When the #4222 arrived at Fern Rock, however, passengers were told that the busing would start at Fern Rock. I don't blame the train crew in this case, because it seemed that the supervisors had no idea what the hell they were doing. (In case you were wondering how I knew about this particular case, I was on board #4222 this morning, trying to get to Glenside.)
- The R3 West Trenton line was returning to some sort of normalcy, however delays were significant, which had an adverse affect on the Elwyn branch, since weekday trains are interlined between Elwyn and West Trenton. The #329 (8:17am from West Trenton to Elwyn via Center City) broke down this morning, forcing the annullment of the #350 (10:46am from Elwyn to West Trenton via Center City). I saw the disabled train being "towed" back to Roberts yard by SL-1 #60 - one of the few non-revenue diesel locomotives SEPTA uses. Most R3 trains were delayed anywhere from 15-20 minutes today due to clean-up work around the Jenkintown area.
- The R5 Lansdale line is probably the line in the most trouble. A bridge near Fort Washington washed out as a result of the flooding, and it appears to be several weeks before the bridge will go back on line. In the interim, trains will operate between Doylestown/Lansdale and Ambler, with express buses operating to Fern Rock, and a local bus serving Fort Washington, Oreland, and North Hills. I will have more details on the R2 and R5 situations tomorrow, because right now, I can't even figure out what the hell SEPTA is doing. Anyway, there's more...
- During the AM peak period, Route 92 buses were detoured off of PA 100 in Exton due to police activity between the 30 Bypass and Old Route 30. This undoubtedly had an impact on the 133, which is interlined with the 92 during rush hours. Plus, a 92 (or 133) bus broke down according to a Frontier supervisor I spoke to at Norristown.
- Route 98 buses were detoured around the North Hills/Oreland area due to the flooding. The 98 was reported to have been running about 25 minutes late.
- The 29 trackless trolley line operated buses today due to downed wires on Morris St (I haven't confirmed the exact location yet).
- The Subway-Surface lines were operating diverted service due to downed wires in the area of 34 St in the westbound tubes. Many sub-surf passengers were forced to walk through the tunnels to reach the next station. In a related item, today is the first day of the Route 10 bus substitution.
- The El was out of service on the Frankford side due to a gas leak around the Kensington & Allegheny area.
All in all, this was not one of SEPTA's better days.
June 17, 2001
At the NJT Roadeo yesterday, operator Dan Bruey from Egg Harbor captured first place in the Southern Division competition, and will represent the South Jersey operators at the APTA International Roadeo this fall in Philadelphia. Bruey will be joined by Wayne operator Pat Flynn (Northern) and Big Tree operator Edwin Nigron (Central) in Philadelphia. Egg Harbor mechanic Jeff Corr took top honors in the Maintenance Driving skills competition, while the Maintenance team from Newton Avenue won the Air Board competition and finished third overall.
- RTS #1292 (Market St/Paterson) and #1349 (Orange) were used on the Roadeo course, while #1464 (Hilton) appeared to be used as the defect bus. On display at the Roadeo yesterday were MC-9Bs 5027 (Egg Harbor) and 5123 (Wayne), Flxible Metro D Transit #1922 (Big Tree), MCI 102D3 CNG #7072 (Howell), Baby RTS #2530 (Hamilton), and MCI D4000 Coach #7800 (presently used as a training bus with no set assignment).
- NJ Transit is changing the route numbers on some of it's Central Jersey contract routes. The Mxx numbers are being retired and replaced by the 8xx series numbers, eg. M10 is now 810, M18 is now 818, and M27 is now 827.
- NJT is phasing out the MC-9A sketch that appears at the bottom of all bus timetables with a sketch of D4000 cruiser #7504. It's probably only a matter of time before the Flxible sketches on the local route timetables are replaced with a Nova RTS.
- On the new timetables, City Transit routes are represented by Neoplan DK #3002 with the Ben Franklin bridge in the background, which looks to be on the 57 line, as well as on the 10 line, which will be operated as a bus shuttle while the track renewal project on Lancaster Av continues. The artic routes (9, 18, 22, 27, 33, 48, 55, 60, and 65) feature Neoplan artic #7141 making the turn from Front St onto Chestnut (most likely as a 33). The tracklesses are represented by Southern #836, at what looks like Broad & Snyder on the 79. The Red Arrow schedules have NABI #5144 preparing for a 110 trip at 69 St, with some of the smaller routes (103, 107, 111, 114, 115, and 118) sporting ElDorado #4546 on their respective covers. Route 100 sports #139 (I can't make out the location), while the 101 and 102 timetables have LRV #103 at what looks like Springfield Mall on the 101.
- Callowhill #5030 and 5039 along with Comly 5072 are the latest NABIs to complete the overhaul process, complete with the all white paint scheme.
June 15, 2001
Among the highlights of the Summer City and Red Arrow schedule change:
- ROUTE 14: The Saturday 5:25am departure from Frankford will be extended to Neshaminy Mall.
- ROUTE 53: The Eldorados will be used on this line on weekends only.
- ROUTE 67: The weekday 5:08pm and 5:42pm departures from Frankford to Northeast Av (Comcast) operate as locals instead of as expresses.
- ROUTE 84: The weekday 4:45pm trip departing Frankford will depart 2 minutes later in order to offer better connections to the R7 Trenton line at Torresdale Station (Grant Av & James St).
- ROUTE 88: The weekday 6:35am departure from Frankford will be extended to Holy Redeemer Hospital.
- ROUTE 104: The weekday 5:45pm departures from 69 St Terminal to West Chester has been restored to Express status, adding a second PM peak express trip that was converted to Local operating at the last schedule change.
- ROUTE 109: Early morining service will operate in both directions to Springfield Mall; The Sunday 7:35am departure from Chester will now depart 5 minutes earlier.
- ROUTE 110: All Sunday service will now extended to the Fair Acres Geriatric Center.
- ROUTE 114: All weekday and weekend trips will now serve Eddystone Crossings Shopping Center.
- ROUTE 117: 5 Sunday trips will now extended to operate from the I-95 Industrial Park in Chester Twp to the Fair Acres Geriatric Center.
- ROUTE 124/125: Two additional trips have been added to operate between 1:30pm and 3:30pm.
- Most of the remaining City Transit schedules have minor schedule changes to reflect the end of the school year in Philadelphia.
- SEPTA will operate shuttle buses on the 10 trolley between 63 & Malvern loop to the 33 St Subway-Surface station, as part of Phase II of the track renewal project along Lancaster Av in West Philadelphia. The shuttle will most likely be operated out of Callowhill.
- The following are the details of the proposed FY2002 Annual Service Plan:
- RED ARROW RESTRUCTURING: SEPTA is proposing changes to the 103, 104, 107, 110, 111, 112, and 115. The highlights of this portion of the plan include:
- ROUTE 103: Service would be extended from the Cricket Terrace loop to the Ardmore Regional Rail station (R5 Paoli/Thorndale), as the 105 and 106 recently were.
- ROUTE 104: Service would be extended from New & Market Sts in Downtown West Chester to the West Chester University Campus, via S High St, Price St, S Church St, Rosedale Av, S New St, Price St, and S High St; adjustments would be made to peak hour service between 69 St and Newtown Square; service along West Chester Pike between 69 St and Manoa would be coordinated with the 112, 120, 123, and the proposed 126 line.
- ROUTE 106: Service would be added in the early morning and later evening hours.
- ROUTE 107: Service would be extended from Clifton Heights to Darby via Springfield Rd and Chester Pike; service would operate earlier and later hours than the present schedule.
- ROUTE 110: Service would be re-routed as more of an express service. The proposed 110 would operate via West Chester Pk & Township Line Rd, then via US 1 to Granite Run Mall and Penn State-Delaware County; some weekday trips would be extended to Concordville and Chadds Ford via US 1 (Baltimore Pk); present Route 110 local service would be operated by the 111.
- ROUTE 111: Service operate over the current 110 local routing via State Rd, US 1, Marple Crossroads, Baltimore Pk, Springfield Mall, Downtown Media, and Elwyn on route to Granite Run. The segment via Westbrook Park and Glenolden (MacDade Mall) would be operated by a new route (designator to be determined); service within Primos and Secane would be taken over by the 115.
- ROUTE 112: Service to Delaware County Community College would operate later weeknight service to coordinate with class times; service would bypass Lawrence Park and be replaced with the proposed 126, operating via West Chester Pk rather than Lawrence Rd and Springfield Rd.
- ROUTE 115: Service would be extended to 69 St via Lansdowne Av and West Chester Pk from Darby Terminal, offering a one seat ride between Upper Darby High School, Msgr Bonner High School, and Archbishop Pregergast High School, as well as offer another routing from Darby and Lansdowne; service between West Chester Pk and Ardmore would be discontinued; service would be extended from Delmar Village/Folcroft to Springfield Mall over portions of the present 111 via Primos and Secane.
- ROUTE 126: New service would operate to Lawrence Park via West Chester Pk and Lawrence Rd, replacing the 112.
- ROXBOROUGH/ANDORRA: This would encompass the proposed turning back of Route 9 to Summit Loop while replacing Summit Loop to Andorra service with Route 35. As sort of a replacement for direct Center City to Andorra service, SEPTA is planning to extend the 61 Express trips - which operate via I-76 instead of the local routing on Ridge Av through North Philadelphia - to Andorra. The bad news for the 61 Express extension is that it has to operate via Main Street in Manayunk - the local 61 routing. Even at off peak times during the day, it's virtually impossible to operate buses on time on Main St.
- CENTER CITY BUS LOOPS: The City of Philadelphia is proposing the creation of a new daytime Shoppers Loop through Center City (via Chestnut and Walnut Sts) and a parking lot shuttle service along Avenue of the Arts (S Broad St) which would also connect Suburban Station. SEPTA plans to discontinue the 76, while Phlash service would be extended to the Philadelphia Zoo. Seeing as the Phlash and SEPTA 76 buses already duplicate each other in some segments, this plan makes sense, however I have a feeling Harry Lombardo and his orchestra known as TWU 234 will raise all sorts of hell over it.
- REGIONAL RAIL FREQUENCY IMPROVEMENTS: In addition to the planned addition of service to the Chestnut Hill East and Fox Chase lines, the City of Philadelphia is proposing adding Regional Rail service departing Center City on or around 11:00pm, in order to accomodate passengers attending performances at the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. This would create later service on at least one route segment on weeknights, 5 on Saturdays, and 4 on Sundays.
- The New Flyer order is now delayed until at least September. How many times has SEPTA been through the delay of a bus order?
June 9, 2001
The SEPTA Board will have a special meeting to vote on (and probably approve) the fare increase on Thursday, June 21, starting at 10:00am. The fare increase is expected to take effect on July 1, however one can hope that SEPTA holds off until July 15, since the July Monthly Transpasses, Trailpasses, and Cross County Passes will already be on sale, presumably at the present prices. Factor in the fact that the fare increase takes place on a holiday week when the City of Philadelphia hosts the Welcome America festival, and that's a recipe for financial disaster.
June 6, 2001
A third grader from Pollack Elementary School in Northeast Philadelphia was killed today after Frankford 5279 - operating as a Northbound 88 to Holy Redeemer Hospital in Lower Moreland - struck and killed him on Welsh Road. According to NBC 10, Philadelphia Police report that the victim had "darted out into the street so suddenly that the driver didn't have time to stop."
- SEPTA seems to be slipping on maintaining a few of it's buses. Comly 3416 was spotted with one of it's center door out of alignment; Frontier 2041 was spotted with one of the light fixtures dangling from the interior; a few Neoplan artics have been spotted with the engine covers not completely latched.
It appears that the ElDorado order is now complete. All 80 buses are on the property, however not all are in service just yet. The highest number spotted on the road is 4571, which was seen on - hold on to your hats - the 32. Now, I didn't realize ridership on the 32 was small enough to require a 30 ft bus, but sure enough, there was 4571 at 30 St & Allegheny Av.
June 5, 2001
Most bus routes are scheduled to change on June 17 (City) and June 18 (Red Arrow).
With the arrival of the ElDorados nearly completed, the 13xx series Neoplan BP buses are slowly being phased out. The BPs haven't been on any Red Arrow routes recently, however an BP shows up from time to time on the 35, although that is becoming less common. The Eldorados have now been spotted on the 89, in addition to the other Midvale lines previously reported. For the June schedule change, all 89 trips will operate out of Midvale. As stated earlier, the 28 will remain at Comly.
- At least two Breeze vans are now at Elmwood for use on the 10 shuttle between 40 St & Lancaster Av and the 33 St subway-surface station. There is no word on whether Elmwood drivers will operate the shuttle service when the detour is extended in two weeks or if Callowhill operators will handle those duites.
June 3, 2001
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