COVID-19 Effects on SEPTA

SEPTA doesn't do themselves any favors w/ the way they handle SEPTA keys on the regional rail. Riders have to swipe at the onboarding station, on the train, and at the departure station: it's two more steps than the prior system. Isn't a big part of swiping at both stations to free up the conductors from checking every ticket / pass?

Conductors checking has nothing to do with processing the trip correctly unless it is an intermediate trip. Checking everyone was/is intended to be a courtesy while people were/are learning the system. I would assume at some point they'll stop being so forceful about it.

ryan92084 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:15 am Conductors checking has nothing to do with processing the trip correctly unless it is an intermediate trip. Checking everyone was/is intended to be a courtesy while people were/are learning the system. I would assume at some point they'll stop being so forceful about it.

I have started seeing some curtailing of the courtesy tapping over the last month or two.

Biggest issue from a rider perspective is the lack of conductors at doors.

Glad to hear they are cutting back on the "courtesy" tapping. Cutting back on that doesn't produce more conductors to open doors and panels for low-level stations, but gives the already shortage of conductors one less thing to worry about and opportunity to focus more on customer service.

SEPTA not investing in more in high-level stations strikes me as classic SEPTA: keep a large work force and invest less in capital improvements such as high-level stations. Maybe the current situation will be a motivation to move $$$$ to the capital budget for things such as upgrading stations to high-level. As they say in the tech world: it is cheaper to throw more hardware at the problem than hire more people.

This topic has drifted away from COVID altogether.. please create another thread if you'd like or use the existing Key thread.

septa-npt-card-will-be-quot-septa-key-q ... 3-885.html

Well, it's been four long years since the initial shutdowns of March of 2020. I found a news article today that SEPTA has reached 71% ridership recovery of May of 2019 https://iseptaphilly.com/blog/may2024ridership. I'm sitting here pondering what major changes have occurred on the system over the past couple of years from the mask mandates to the vaccines to current day. Looking at the statsitcs from the article:

Regional Rail ridership recovery is at 67% as of May 2024 when compared to pre-COVID May 2019. Total ridership increased 20% relative to May 2023 (an increase of 13,282 unlinked trips per day). Ridership peaks at 7AM and 4PM. Highest ridership day is Wednesday.

Ridership on the Broad Street Line and Market-Frankford Line Ridership has increased 33% compared to May 2023. Subway/elevated ridership is at 63% of pre-pandemic levels. Ridership peaks at 7AM and 4PM. Highest ridership day is Wednesday.

Full work from home doesn't seem to have really been as widespread as initially thought post pandemic, most companies have appeared to have adopted a hybrid schedule of 3-4 days in the office, with the option of Mondays/Fridays at home, that appears to be reflected in the statistics looking at how bad it is on Wednesday. I still remember the day Comcast announced the Return to office order, my nice commute increased by 20% on the highways. Wednesday have been the worst, though for the summer shore traffic really ramps up Thursday evenings

Safety on the system has become a critical issue, I have gotten several surveys about safety from SEPTA and as of recent SEPTA has actually received an award for it's decrease in crime on the system https://wwww.septa.org/news/septa-recei ... fe-secure/. I personally never felt unsafe of all the times I took Rail and Busses, but I have heard of stories of people having problems on the Market-Frankford line. Frankly I've had more issues with frequency

Free regional rail parking was nice, I knew it wouldn't last. Sometimes I do wonder if SEPTA wouldn't be better served making those lots into apartments or something but that's for another thread

On the issue of frequency, SEPTA is running at 77% service levels and weekend service on the R5 is just...bad. There have been times I've either taken the bus or the NHSL just to get back from center city, it's at least hourly but during the pandemic it was bad at 2 hr headways on weekends. Ive even had to adjust my Amtrak trains from how bad Uber pricing gets when service stops running at 10:55. It gets hard to convince people to take the R5 into the city when service stops running at 11 on a Saturday night.

As for usage and utilization, Philadelphia still has a strong urban core in Center City, foot traffic is still down but has recovered to about 70% Occupancy rates and office work has been changed by the pandemic, I do also wonder how much skyrocketing housing costs are impacting SEPTA. People I've known who are looking at their first houses just out of college are looking at buying in the city instead of the burbs as it is unaffordable at their salary levels.

Looking at nearby agencies, MBTA is at 96% recovery for commuter rail as of June 2024 (Don't ask about the slow zones on the T), NJT is at about 70% for commuter rail according to the latest newsclip I could find from 2023, Metro-North is at 75% of 2019 as of April of 2024 I can't seem to find supporting documentation for MARC/LIRR, I'm probably looking in the wrong spots

I'm sure there are some things I've missed or glossed over, I know multiple transit agencies are grappling with budget shortfalls and surging inflation impacting operations along with operator shortages from retirements to low pay, SEPTA being no exception, granted that has impacted the Bus division more than Regional rail that I know of. I can speak to my company having problems with the retirement of older employees, the lack of midlevels and a whole bunch of green personnel impacting operations. Granted, the companies models indicated the boomers retiring later with Covid throwing a wrench into those plans. I also don't think anyone expected the US to rebound as quickly and as fiercely as it has, even with a vaccine fully deployed. Frankly I am still in awe of how fast the United States moved to create, trial and deploy an effective and safe vaccine. It sure helps when the tech to do it was developed at Penn in the 90s with tens of billions of dollars everything clicked into place but I digress

Where does SEPTA go from here?

On the issue of funding, After Federal rescue from Covid has run out, all transit agencies have to go back to state and local funding. We at least aren't facing as bad of a budget crisis as the NY subways with their recent congestion tax kurfuffle , the MBTA impending 700 million dollar hole , or NJT's Fare hike with Josh Shapiro proposing an additional 161 million. Again, that comes with a caveat of a proposal, who knows what comes out in the wash once Harrisburg is done their wrangling.

The statistics in the article sound about right. On the Paoli Thorndale Line trains seem pretty crowded during morning and evening rush hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but are really quiet on Monday and Friday (maybe half of rest of the work week).