Cabs at Fort Washington Station?

How is the cab service around the Fort Washington station on a Saturday evening? Heading out with the girlfriend and some of her friends to a wedding out there near the station (~1.5 miles, so walking is basically out of the question), and for obvious reasons do not want to drive.

Also, is there any other signs of life out there? The train schedule isn't the greatest; the trains arrive 7 minutes before and 8 minutes after the party is over, so if we do train we would probably take an earlier train and find somewhere to hang out (a bar) while we wait.

DeltaV wrote:How is the cab service around the Fort Washington station on a Saturday evening?

You'll probably have to call. Might have a better chance of finding a cab waiting at the station at Glenside (their dispatch and garage is up the street).

My father used to take me to the Fort Washington Expo Center when it still existed (for model train conventions ) when I was a child 10-15 years ago. We would take the R5 to Fort Washington and call a cab company. It usually took 10-20 minutes for a cab to show up.

There is a Holiday Inn within walking distance (but not terribly convenient) to the station, which probably has a bar. You might be better off taking a cab to another R5 station (might I suggest McKeever's tavern at North Wales -- it's a great bar/restaurant and right next to the station) to wait for the train.

DeltaV wrote:Also, is there any other signs of life out there?

Unfortunately, Alison Two (Alison Barshak's restaurant, in the former Marita's) bit the dust earlier this year. The bartender there made a fabulous cocktail called a Plantation, with gin, grapefruit juice, and fresh basil (contact me off-list for the complete recipe).

--MDM
(see, I don't just drink beer and coffee...)

Delta: I am no stranger to Fort Washington-my relatives used to live nearby up on Madison Avenue steps from the Montessori School with the GATSME model train layout...
I will mention some places near the railroad station: There is a Friendly's steps up the hill from the northbound side platform at Summit and Pennsylvania Avenues.
I am also surprised that no one mentioned the Beef and Ale(Toner's)at the intersection of Bethlehem Pike and Pennsylvania Avenue...
Another place that's a favorite of mine is Rich's Deli adjacent to the railroad bridge on Bethlehem Pike-I have always liked their hoagies...

Getting taxi service can always be a potential problem-I have noticed for many years the lack of cab services along SEPTA's RRD and as MM mentioned Glenside and I believe Ambler are the places to access taxi service-and remember they can be somewhat expensive-especially if they have to come from another town for a pick-up.
I will also mention that there are fewer cab services in the Suburban Philadelphia area as I compare it to my home area of Long Island and taxis in the Philadelphia suburbs tend to be more expensive fare-wise to boot...

You can go elsewhere like North Wales as Septadude suggests but keep in mind if you take a taxi it probably will be considered an "out of town" ride from the Fort Washington area and if you ride the train the fare from FW to NW will be $3.00 in advance or $3.50 each on board. If any of you have SEPTA passes,though it would help...

MACTRAXX

Like oil and water, SEPTA and taxicabs have not mixed very well.

Decades ago before RRD, there was a taxi terminal next to if not within every major, in-town suburban railroad station facility, usually inside the outbound station building. It would contain the local taxi company's dispatcher's booth, plus a waiting room with benches. These would fill up when a outbound train arrived, especially in the afternoon and during inclement weather. You'd enter, go up to the window, give your destination, and wait for a cab going in your direction with more than one passenger.

However, the mainstay of the taxi business became and now is airport service. For some operators, the local station-centered traffic was left waiting during peak airport travel periods.

When SEPTA began serving the airport with a bus from center-city, the question became one of tossing the competition out of SEPTA's facilities. It became even more conceived as a bad deal when the airport rail line opened.

That's why the once-nearly-universal link was broken.

John, while the decline of the suburban taxi business might have coincided with SEPTA and its airport line, I think that's coincident and not causal. I'm sure said decline had a lot more to do with the increase in auto ownership, and particularly in the rise of two- and three-car families, which allowed commuters to drive themselves to the station instead of walking, taking a bus, or being dropped off by a family member.

I'd be surprised if the airport line has even 10% market share to the airport, or a fifth of the taxi share.

JP and MM: Upon further thought has anyone thought about taking note of which SEPTA RRD stations are served directly by local taxi companies? It would be interesting to see and take note just how many stations have this service...

For starters I will mention Lansdale-I remember Lansdale Yellow Cab and I believe the cab company there is called Homestead Taxi,LLC.
They serve Lansdale,Quakertown and the North Penn area. Phone numbers: (215)855-9006 in Lansdale and (215)721-4480 in Souderton.

In a comparison Long Island has taxi companies serving virtually any significant LIRR station and in some cases more
then one company has permission to "Hack the Rail" at a certain station as it is known locally there. Auto ownership was mentioned-from looking at NYSDMV statistics recently I noticed that
Suffolk and Nassau Counties have the highest percentage of vehicle ownership in NY State-in fact Suffolk is the only NYS county with over one million passenger vehicles and Nassau is well into the 900 thousands. I have 2003 population stats: Nassau-1,339,463 and Suffolk-1,468,037. In comparison the five boroughs of NYC have about 1.8 million registered vehicles in a population about eight million.

Again-why does it seem to me that there is a lack of taxi companies serving SEPTA RRD stations? MACTRAXX

I have occasionally seen taxis at Norristown Transportation Center but they aren't consistently there.

With the new cab company that expanded service to Norristown, the taxis (as well as taxis from the other company) are parked outside of the transportation center more consistently now. This really makes me happy, as beforehand there wasn't reliable taxi service in Norristown if I ever needed to stay out late, particularly after the buses stop running. I've had to walk home quite a bit (2 or 3 miles) or use "hack cab" service as well. I just rode a taxi (from the new company) for the first time in May, after living in the area for almost 9 years....

I think the Bryn Mawr Regional Rail station still has taxis parking in that mini loop by the inbound platform.

Nowadays, the trend with taxis is that you have to call them so that they will pick you up.

MACTRAXX wrote:JP and MM: Upon further thought has anyone thought about taking note of which SEPTA RRD stations are served directly by local taxi companies? It would be interesting to see and take note just how many stations have this service...

I had occasion to travel to Willow Grove for a bar-b-que a few weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon (train 1142). I was suprised to see that more than one taxi was waiting. And, IIRC, they all found passengers.

Montco Suburban cab is situated between the Glenside and North Hills station and less than five minutes from Glenside. There are also a couple watering holes in Glenside which are convenient to the station - The Glenside Pub and Blue Comet are both within a block just south of the station on Easton Road.

The phone number for the cab company is (215) 572-6100.

I've used hack cabs at norristown as well. how about paoli, specifically for the late night run? I was amazed my first time in DC when I took the metro to the suburbs, stepped out at 3 am, and there were cabs lined up!

ExCon90 wrote:Since every SEPTA timetable has a panel listing facilities available at stations (parking, handicapped access, open ticket office, etc.), I'm wondering whether there are enough outlying stations with taxi service that it would be worth while to add a (T) in a circle at such stations.

Taxis are available at all stations--you just have to call.
What would make sense (and we've raised this in a station inventory and signage context) is making sure the phone number of the local taxi company is posted at each station.