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  • Bouquet pass

  • Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.
Discussion relating to Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Philadelphia Metro Area). Official web site can be found here: www.septa.com. Also including discussion related to the PATCO Speedline rapid transit operated by Delaware River Port Authority. Official web site can be found here: http://www.ridepatco.org/.

Moderator: AlexC

 #34  by chuchubob
 
I read that SEPTA had an $8 "Bouquet Pass" in conjunction with the Flower Show that is good for all subways, trolleys and buses (like the $5.50 Day Pass) but is also good for Regional Rail (except Trenton) after 9:30 AM. So on Wednesday a friend and I decided to railfan SEPTA for eight dollars.

The cashier at Market East informed me that the $8 Bouquet Pass was sold only along with a $21 Flower Show ticket (regular price = $22). Fortunately, my wife and I had planned to do the Flower Show on Thursday, so I bought the two Bouquet Passes with our flower show tickets.

We rode MFSE from 11th to 69th, P&W (Route 100) to Radnor, R5 to Thorndale, R5 to 30th Street, R3 to Media, Media trolley (Route 101) to 69th Street, P&W to Norristown, R6 to Temple U, R8 to Chestnut Hill West.

We had planned to walk to Chestnut Hill East, having a 12 minute window, but our R8 got stabbed for 8 minutes to let a late Amtrak long distance train pass us on track 1 and cross over to track 2 in front of us, so we called it a day and took the R8 back to 30th Street and took the subway/surface to 15th and Broad Street Subway to Walnut/Locust for our return home on PATCO.

Photos of the trip are uploaded onto SubwaySpot

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album14

 #80  by Guest
 
Hi ChuchuBob:
I was wondering about the bouquet pass for the flower show. Thanks for explaining how it works.
 #208  by Guest
 
>>The cashier at Market East informed me that the $8 Bouquet Pass was sold only along with a $21 Flower Show ticket (regular price = $22).

That is not correct. No show ticket purchase is necessary to buy the Bouquet Pass or other such special event passes.

 #494  by queenlnr8
 
Bob-

That's really cool that your wife likes to railfan as much as you do! ... Or, is she 'just along for the ride'?

 #621  by chuchubob
 
Au contraire!! My wife and I went to the Flower Show together. She has no interest in railfanning but will ride a train with me from time to time.

We've ridden the Cape May Seashore Lines several times with our grandson.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/751 ... 4764ltBhBs

 #1004  by blueduck577
 
I used the bouquet pass today...i bought it without a problem but every vehicle operator except for regional rail guys didnt know what it was!! I had no problem using it though. This is what we did:

R7 Levittown - Suburban
17 15th & Market - Southern Depot
Walked to Broad & Oregon
BSL Oregon - Wyoming
75 Broad & Wyoming - Margaret Orthodox
MFL Margaret Orthodox - Frankford
24 Frankford - Fox Chase
R8 Fox Chase - Market East
MFL 11th - 69th Street
109 69th Street - Baltimore Pike station
102 Baltimore Pike - 69th Street
100 69th Street - Norristown T.C.
Walked to Elm Street
R6 Elm Street - Market East
R3 Market East - Langhorne.

I started in Levittown because I was visiting my grandma and she lives in Levittown...so naturally I had to take R7.

 #1043  by JeffK
 
Wow! That's quite an itinerary - sounds extra enjoyable. About the only major mode you missed was the subway-surface lines in West Philly. If and when the trackless trolleys return you should add them to your destinations as well.

It's a shame you had to put up with a certain degree of SEPTA INEPTA-tude, though. It's about par for the course that they never informed the transit operators about the Bouquet Pass. Nothing like confusion and misinformation when SEPTA should instead be welcoming new riders.

BTW, was the walk to Elm St. in Norristown intentional, so you could ride the entire length of the R6? The TC handles both the R6 and 100 so you could make the connection much more directly.

 #1100  by Matthew Mitchell
 
JeffK wrote:It's a shame you had to put up with a certain degree of SEPTA INEPTA-tude, though. It's about par for the course that they never informed the transit operators about the Bouquet Pass.
Unless procedures have changed, the CTD operators and cashiers should have been informed about the Bouquet Pass. When there is a new or temporary fare instrument such as this, notices go up on employee bulletin boards with a picture of the instrument and instructions on how it is to be accepted and validated if necessary.

 #1460  by blueduck577
 
JeffK wrote:If and when the trackless trolleys return you should add them to your destinations as well.
Route 75 is an ex-trackless route.
JeffK wrote: BTW, was the walk to Elm St. in Norristown intentional, so you could ride the entire length of the R6? The TC handles both the R6 and 100 so you could make the connection much more directly.
Yeah, there was about a 40 minute connection between the 100 and R6 so we decided to walk up to Elm street to kill time and to ride the full R6.

 #1479  by chuchubob
 
"...every vehicle operator except for regional rail guys didnt know what it was!!"

When we rode on Wednesday, the Route 100 operaton carefully read the instructions on the back, then punched out the date. A couple Regional Rail conductors checked the punched-out date.

 #1808  by JeffK
 
Matthew Mitchell wrote: Unless procedures have changed, the CTD operators and cashiers should have been informed about the Bouquet Pass. When there is a new or temporary fare instrument such as this, notices go up on employee bulletin boards with a picture of the instrument and instructions on how it is to be accepted and validated if necessary.
That's supposedly still the case, but it may not always be adhered to carefully. About a year ago when SEPTA offered paper coupons good for a free weekend ride, I took a number of different lines and every one of the operators handled the coupons smoothly. But there was also a TrolleyFest where perhaps half of the drivers on the routes I rode claimed to be unaware of the special pass SEPTA issued.

With nearly 5 dozen different fare instruments in regular use, it's somewhat understandable there will be occasional confusion if there's a special pass for a one-time event. I was just surprised to see a report that so many operators were unfamiliar with the Bouquet Pass since the Flower Show is one of the largest tourist draws all year.

 #1887  by queenlnr8
 
Don't Day Passes do essentially the same thing as the Bouquet Pass? Unlimited one day use of the entire system?
 #1899  by roverinexile
 
I can answer this since I have one sitting in front of me (courtesy of Ms Moore in response to a complaint).

"This DayPass is good for:

1. A trip one way on Regional Rail to/from Center City Philadelphia. Not valid for via Center City Travel.

2. for a day's unlimited travel on SEPTA's transit services within the city of Philadelphia, including:

All bus routes within the City limits
Market-Frankford line
Broad Street line
Subway-Surface lines
All Streetcar lines"

So, it is fairly restrictive in what you can do.

Hope that helps,
rich

 #1908  by chuchubob
 
"We rode MFSE from 11th to 69th, P&W (Route 100) to Radnor, R5 to Thorndale, R5 to 30th Street, R3 to Media, Media trolley (Route 101) to 69th Street, P&W to Norristown, R6 to Temple U, R8 to Chestnut Hill West. " - initial post

A Day Pass covers 1 one-way Regional Rail trip, not to pass through Center City (it can start or end at Market East, suburban Station or 30th Street, but can't go through.

So on my trek, the trips covered by the bouquet pass that a day pass would not have covered are bolded in the quote above. The return from Chestnut Hill West also would not have been covered.

 #1977  by Matthew Mitchell
 
JeffK wrote:
Matthew Mitchell wrote: When there is a new or temporary fare instrument such as this, notices go up on employee bulletin boards with a picture of the instrument and instructions on how it is to be accepted and validated if necessary.
That's supposedly still the case, but it may not always be adhered to carefully.
Problems with employees following procedures? On SEPTA? Perish the thought...