Bus situaysh

I stayed up all night a few weeks ago awaiting a 22 bus route that had been terminated. My fault for not picking up a new schedule! How about the operator notifying us all the week before that his line was ending due to low ridership?

Now the 4-hour gap on the 22 overnights, where there used to be only several 75 minute gaps overnight, has caused me to get my own transportation. It's understandable that they had to cut an underridden overnight route.
However I wish they would:
1) announce the change on the buses in the weeks leading up and
2) In so doing, don't print on the new sched. "Revised Owl Service," when what you mean to write is "Killed Owl" or "Terminated Overnight Service."

SEPTA seems to have a propensity for cutting long- existing services or routes. Elwyn- West Chester is a prime example, but back in 1997, the portion of city Route 46 from Angora to Darby was eliminated. This section was the major portion of the former Route 78 which had run from Darby to 52nd and Baltimore Ave in West Philadelphia, providing service to much of Yeadon, and which was my "gateway" route into the then PTC system. Without that service residents of Yeadon, particularly the West End ( where I grew up), have a longer walk to reach the 113 on Lansdowne Ave. which for a rapidly aging community is not as easy as it may seem at first. Subway Surface Routes 11 and 13 are not really that convenient for older West Yeadon residents without the existence of the former Route 78/46 service on Wycombe and Union Aves.---- Typical Septa.

Expect more cuts. There are alot of late night runs that carry a handful of people in which case it would be cheaper to buy them all their own taxi than it would be to send the bus out there.

SEPTA has long been known for choosing its words carefully when referring to service reductions. One of the biggest tricks that they use is referring to elimination of OWL service (as was the case on the 22) or reducing peak and/or off-peak service as "Revised" service (P&W is another fine example). Notice how they never say "reduced" service. To me, that's borderline deception, but par for the course for SEPTA.

Then, there's the promises that reduced express or peak service are "temporary" or short-term. R5 Paoli, R6 Norristown, and R8 Fox Chase riders found out the hard way last year when peak service was reduced as part of the Rail Power Project; SEPTA then used that as a cover to make the reductions permanent as part of it's budget crisis last year. The remaining cuts on the RRD were implemented a few months later.

AFA the P&W express elimination, that service was promised to have been restored in September; didn't happen. However, if these rumors are true, then a new 3-tier service would be implemented either in November or February, depending on how well a signal upgrade goes (this was discussed in more detail in a previous thread).

LAUNCHman wrote:Now the 4-hour gap on the 22 overnights, where there used to be only several 75 minute gaps overnight, has caused me to get my own transportation. It's understandable that they had to cut an underridden overnight route.

I could dig up old timetables and check, but I think they hadn't been running the all-night service on the 22 for more than a few years.

In so doing, don't print on the new sched. "Revised Owl Service," when what you mean to write is "Killed Owl" or "Terminated Overnight Service."

Yep. Kinda ironic to have one side of SEPTA making as much noise as it can about service cuts resulting from financial problems, and the other trying to bury the news.