SEPTA Railroad misses the reverse commute boat

An interesting article in the inquirer points out how the growing reverse commute trend of urbanites commuting to the suburbs poses commuting difficulties for these people. Link courtesy of DVARP.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/busi ... 034526.htm

The first thing that struck me is that the person interviewed in the article commutes from Olney to Trevose by bus. One might think that a better and faster way to do this would be Fern Rock to Trevose via the former Reading Trenton Branch (R3). From my own experiences, the trains either don't run often enough or early enough in the early morning hours, or there is no connection at the destination to get you from the train to your job.

I always thought with SEPTA's unified rail system which was put in place in 1984 when Reading Terminal was closed, that the biggest problem was that during rush hour, trains went into the city full, and out of the city empty. Part of our balloning defecit problem is running empty equipment half the day, be it trains, buses or subways. Some of it is unavoidable.

One way to fix this would be for SEPTA to have their own shuttle or bus service that got people from rural train stations, which in most cases are not within walking distance of jobs in those areas, to their jobs. Some frontier routes do intersect these stations, but they are not timed with the trains. In fact, most of these routes barely move enough people to pay for the gas on a given trip. I think the current frontier bus system needs to be revisited, and broken down into smaller routes whose primary purpose is to get people from rail stations to jobs. It hardly seems reasonable to keep these routes operating for the benefit of a few riders. Isn't that why the Newtown line was closed?

And it is a disgrace that with all of the money invested in the 'brain trust' down at 1234, they haven't figured out that the suburbs have been experiencing a surge in population over the last two decades. I doubt that the higher ups at SEPTA can see their feet when they look down, let alone the big picture when it comes to operating a transit service. The Philadelphia area has a unique opportunity to claim a first class transit system; unfortunately, we have more out-of-service ROW and Freight lines than we do in-service passenger routes.
I would have liked to have seen SEPTA use the CSX Trenton subdivision for express service to Neshaminy station, at least during the rush hours only. How many diesels and coaches would they need for that! Instead of having an express train folllow a lot of locals through Center City all the way to Jenkintown, they could have diverted at Newtown Jct and operated on the former No. 2 track Fox Chase line and came out at Neshaminy station. Instead, we have a single track trolley line called the R-8 Fox Chase. Didn't the Reading have more passenger service in the 70's with less people to carry than SEPTA does now along the same route?
Also, I notice that there are no express reverse commute trains on the RRD schedules anywhere. It shouldn't be a 1 and 1/2 hour commute from Doylestown to Philadelphia, that is sheer nonsense.
I think that we need a change of the guard in regards to SEPTA's leadership, from the SEPTA Board and General Manager on down. The administration currently in charge now is on a one way course down hill right now. SEPTA has no clout whatsoever politically, and Philadelphia is the largest city in the state with the smallest input in its affairs. Talk about taxation without representation! It really is a joke. I would like to see some leadership at SEPTA with some rock solid agendas and the stones to get their agengas implemented in a timely and efficient manner, which is contrary to what we currently have now.
As long as we have the folks at 1234 that we have now, and the political situation stays the same as it is now, nothing will change for the better any time soon.

There are two separate examples that SEPTA can follow.

First is the Route 100 line. It has reverse commute express and limited service

Second is GO Transit, which uses buses as feeders to their rail lines, and to provide service to the rail stations at times when there isn't enough riders to justify running a train.

jfrey40535 wrote:The first thing that struck me is that the person interviewed in the article commutes from Olney to Trevose by bus. One might think that a better and faster way to do this would be Fern Rock to Trevose via the former Reading Trenton Branch (R3).

Yep. There's still a significant problem of perception--that the railroad is for people in the suburbs, not people in the city. Regrettably, the TWU has sometimes fanned those flames.

From my own experiences, the trains either don't run often enough or early enough in the early morning hours, or there is no connection at the destination to get you from the train to your job.

Knowing of the transportation challenges, some employers are tailoring work schedules around the availability of transportation for their workers, and/or providing those connecting services (see below).

I always thought with SEPTA's unified rail system which was put in place in 1984 when Reading Terminal was closed, that the biggest problem was that during rush hour, trains went into the city full, and out of the city empty. Part of our balloning deficit problem is running empty equipment half the day, be it trains, buses or subways. Some of it is unavoidable.

Yes, some of it is unavoidable, but for the most part, running so many off-peak trains at times they're not running full is a policy decision, in part to benefit those reverse commuters.

The tunnel doesn't really have much to do with it. Before the tunnel, peak trains would come in to Suburban or Reading Terminal, then either go out to provide off-peak service or go to the yards at Powelton or Roberts, respectively. Now the choices are the same, only the yards are switched.

One way to fix this would be for SEPTA to have their own shuttle or bus service that got people from rural train stations, which in most cases are not within walking distance of jobs in those areas, to their jobs.

SEPTA has done this with the 200-series routes, and in fact has been out ahead of their peers in this respect. The problem is that SEPTA's cost and route structures are not flexible enough for this kind of market, and so most (but not all) of the 200-series routes have been unsuccessful (someone could follow up with a complete list of those current and former routes).

The various transportation management associations (TMAs) in the region are better able to provide these services: take for example the Warminster RUSH (http://www.rushbus.org). Since the employers are actively involved in the management of the TMAs, and the TMAs are smaller and more responsive, their services are thriving (though not profitable--all these services rely on federal and state grants[*] just as SEPTA's reverse-commute services do).

Some frontier routes do intersect these stations, but they are not timed with the trains. In fact, most of these routes barely move enough people to pay for the gas on a given trip. I think the current frontier bus system needs to be revisited, and broken down into smaller routes whose primary purpose is to get people from rail stations to jobs.

Frontier does serve a growing reverse-commute market, but like most of the other small-city and rural public transit providers, its primary function is to give senior citizens mobility. In a lot of respects (operationally as well as in markets), Frontier has more in common with the Class 3 transit systems in Pennsylvania than it does with the rest of SEPTA.


*--FTA has a specific line item for these grants: Job Access and Reverse Commute (you'll see it in the SEPTA operating budget), and other funds come from welfare reform programs.

jfrey40535

I always thought with SEPTA's unified rail system which was put in place in 1984 when Reading Terminal was closed, that the biggest problem was that during rush hour, trains went into the city full, and out of the city empty.

The problems faced by reverse commuters using RRD are real and not always easily solved.

I picked your quote above for this reason: What RRD does (or does not do) is part of an unresolved philosophical battle over exacltly what it is that RRD should be. In certain quarters, the tunnel was the first element toward an "S-Bahn-ization" of RRD. This philosphical viewpoint has manifested itself most recently as the MetroRail concept for Schuylkill Valley Metro.

MetroRail represented S-Bahn standards in the Berlin/Hamburg sense: High levels of grade seperation,seperate track for exclusive by transit, high level platforms, and nearly urban transit frequencies. In the USA, we have this little agency called the FRA which makes possibility of obtaining such standards very unlikely and very, very expensive.

The political leadership has to hold SEPTA management accountable for running an efficient railroad, something about which it has no idea. Until priorities are appropriately set, the peak rush commuter won't be adequately served, let alone the reverse direction commuter.