SEPTA’s Annual Public Meeting

Posted by on February 14, 2011

INVITATION TO ATTEND

SEPTA’S FISCAL YEAR 2012 ANNUAL SERVICE PLAN PUBLIC MEETING

Following is a list and descriptions of the projects to be included in SEPTA’s Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Service Plan.  The Plan is a one-year plan which identifies new transit services or significant changes to existing services for the following fiscal year.  It includes submissions from outside sources, as well as by SEPTA staff.  Submissions were received in accordance with SEPTA’s Service Standards and Process guidelines and have been or are presently being evaluated through the Comparative Evaluation Process.  The Service Standards enable an objective evaluation of all major route and service changes using standardized criteria.

Implementation of projects is contingent upon available funding.

The Annual Service Plan includes the following projects listed by division with counties affected.   Below are brief project descriptions.

City Transit Division
(Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties)

•    Route C – A Staff request to evaluate the feasibility of extending service from the current southern terminus at Broad and Geary Streets to AT&T Station. This extension would provide a direct connection with Route 71 and the southern terminus of the Broad Street Line.  Recommended.

•    Route G – Evaluate a proposal received from Tri-State Transit 21, with several suggested modifications to Route G in the Overbrook and Hestonville sections of West Philadelphia, as well as the Elmwood section of Southwest Philadelphia. Not Recommended. This proposal also advocates for a reduction of service to the Food Distribution Center, and an extension of Owl service into Overbrook and South Philadelphia.  Further Study Needed.

•    Routes L and 27 –  Consider a Customer request to divert Routes L and 27 in order to serve the Marketplace at Plymouth Shopping Center (IKEA and Home Depot) , at Ridge Pike and Alan Wood Road. These routes would continue their regular routing after making this diversion.  Not Recommended.

•    Routes 25, 47, 47M, 57, 79 and G – Analyze a proposal from the City of Philadelphia Office of Transportation and Utilities intended to enhance the connectivity of services in Southeast Philadelphia. As part of the proposal, Routes 25, 79 and G would have their terminals consolidated to a single location to better facilitate transfers. Recommended. The proposal also considers extending Routes 47, 47M and 57, currently terminating at Whitman Plaza, to this new location.  Not Recommended

City Transit Division
(Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties)

•    Route 39 – Additional service to Sugarhouse Casino requested by a customer. Both Routes 39 and 89 were considered for route modification, with Route 39 being selected for analysis due to its closer proximity to the Casino.  Recommended With Conditions.

•    Route 44 – Discontinue weekday evening spur service to Cynwyd Regional Rail Station, via Conshohocken State Road and Bala Avenue, due to lack of use.   Recommended.

Suburban Transit Division
(Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties)

•    Route 90 – Examine simplifying the routing through Norristown State Hospital to reduce excess mileage and improve travel time for customers.  Recommended.

•    Routes 92 and 314 – An ongoing comprehensive evaluation to examine routings and service to determine potential changes given the fact that both routes each year consistently fall below the minimum economic performance standard.  Recommended.

•    Routes 93 and 139 – Evaluate the feasibility of improving service to operate every 30 minutes on weekdays between Norristown Transportation Center and Pottstown.  For Route 139, service would be rerouted to terminate at Ridge Pike and Township Line Road to connect with enhanced Route 93 instead of terminating at Philadelphia Premium Outlets.  Recommended.

•    Routes 95 and 98 – A comprehensive evaluation has been undertaken to examine the feasibility of splitting Route 98 into two routes (Norristown to Plymouth Meeting Mall) and reallocating resources by combining Route 95 with the eastern leg of Route 98 (Plymouth Meeting Mall to Willow Grove) in order to improve the economic performance of Route 95, which is below minimum standards.  This change would offer new transit trip opportunities that presently do not exist.  Recommended.

•    Route 112 – Evaluate the potential of splitting Route 112 into two routes to address different and distinct ridership markets.  Route 112 would operate between 69th Street Terminal and Delaware County Community College (DCCC) via West Chester Pike.  Service to Lawrence Park would be covered by proposed Route 126.  These proposed changes would simplify the present schedules and offer faster service to DCCC and Lawrence Park.  Recommended.

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Suburban Transit Division
(Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties)

•    Route 115 – Revise the route between Brookline and Ardmore, due to low ridership, and terminate the route at Delaware County Community College.  This concept would provide the following benefits:  1) create a one-seat ride to DCCC’s Main Campus from Eastern Delaware County, 2) reduce travel time versus taking two or more vehicles today, 2) potentially free up seats on Routes 112 and 113.  A walking transfer would allow a connection with Route 103 at Darby Road and Brookline Boulevard.  Recommended.

•    Route 119 – Address route segments that attract few riders and address poor economic performance.  This proposal would 1) discontinue service between Chester Transportation Center and Harrah’s Casino & Racetrack as alternative service is provided by bus Routes 37 and 113. 2) simplify the routing in Marcus Hook that would speed the ride for medium and long-distance customers, 3) revise weekend service to maximize utilization.  Recommended.

•    Bucks County Route Rationalization – A comprehensive route and service evaluation for Routes 127, 128, 129, 130 and 304 addresses routes that fall below minimum economic performance, unproductive trips and route segments.  Routes and services would be rationalized with the goal of improving economic performance, maintaining core riders for these routes, and eliminating duplicative service.  A summary of actions are noted below.

•    Route 127 – Discontinue duplicative service between Neshaminy Mall and Oxford Valley Mall.  Route 14 offers service every 30 minutes.  Implementing this change would improve the route’s poor economic performance and impact very few riders.  Reduce mid-day service to every 90 minutes due to low ridership.  A minor routing change would provide new service to the Court at Oxford Valley Shopping Center.

•    Route 128 – No routing or schedule changes are proposed.

•    Route 129 – No routing or schedule changes are proposed.

•    Route 130 – Convert non-revenue trips to revenue service by extending service from Franklin Mills Mall to Morrell Park loop.

•    Route 304 – Discontinue route in its entirety, except for the route segment between Morrell Park and Expressway I-95 Industrial Park.  This route segment would be rebranded as Route 133 and would operate during weekday peak hours.  This restructuring would reduce expenses, maintain 60% of Route 304’s present ridership, and raise the economic performance of the route above minimum economic standards.

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All Transit Divisions
(Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties)

At previous Annual Service Plan public meetings, SEPTA staff suggested changes to SEPTA’s Service Standards regarding the Route Performance Guidelines.  Comments were solicited to revise the guidelines to include a new standard for “Lifeline Routes”.  These are routes which do not meet SEPTA’s adopted economic standard for cost recovery from the farebox, but for reasons of geographic coverage would cause undue hardship to the public if eliminated.  Input regarding what constitutes a “Lifeline Route” service, and which routes should be considered as such, will be discussed at this public meeting.  Comments received will be considered in suggesting revisions to the SEPTA Service Standards to the SEPTA Board.

PUBLIC MEETING

As part of the Annual Service Plan process, a public meeting will be held prior to finalizing the Plan.  Representatives of affected citizen groups, public agencies, elected officials and interested individuals are encouraged to attend.  The purpose of this meeting is to receive input regarding items, which are included in the Plan prior to the tariff and public hearing process.  The date, time and location of the meeting are as follows:

Friday, February 18, 2011
12:30 PM
SEPTA Board Room, Mezzanine
1234 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

If you, or a representative, are not planning to attend the meeting, but wish to submit comments in writing, you may do so by sending them to SEPTA’s Service Planning Department, 1234 Market Street, 9th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  If you would like copies of the SEPTA Service Standards and Process document, we would be happy to provide it to you by writing to the above address.  This document is also available on-line under the “Reports” section of the SEPTA website (http://www.septa.org).

The FY 2012 Plan will follow a timeline aimed at Fall 2011 implementation for approved projects, pending available funding and approval by the SEPTA Board.

Thank you for your interest in the Service Standards process.
Charles Webb                            Frances Jones
Chief Officer                                     Assistant General Manager
Service Planning                                    Government Affairs