When Will SEPTA Change Their Maps?

we're talking about different maps here. I have no quibble, actually, if SEPTA uses a big sticker to update the maps prominantly displayed at subway/el stops and railroad stations. The map that I am talking about is on the back of the schedule of the 15 that shows a bus route that hasn't existed for years.

http://www.septa.com/service/sub_trol/pdffiles/015.pdf shows this map...

jsc wrote:Well, I communicated with some of the philly reps (of whom there ain't enough) and their big concern right now is that the mayors office for whatever reason isn't interested in making more appointments to the CAC. I've asked several times to be appointed but the mayors office ain't interested and only he can make the appointments.

Yep. And it's been like that since the Goode administration, if not before that. Street has been worse than his predecessors, but the city has always been well short of filling all the seats it's entitled to, let alone clearing out the deadwood and making sure their appointees actually are doing something to fulfill their duties. They made a show of trying to fix it after the Inquirer ran an embarrassing story, but the Inquirer didn't follow up, and it was back to business as usual pretty quickly.

And if you're serious about applying, railfan credentials are probably going to be a negative rather than a positive in the eyes of the politicians who make the appointments. What matters most to the city is being a representative of some neighborhood or ethnic or other vocal constituency they feel they need to throw some bone to. Independent thinking is not an asset in the city's eyes.

I told them about the map on the 15 and they said they'd bring it up in their meeting, but that was last month I think. Since there's a meeting tomorrow, you can be the hero and bring it up. Those meetings seem more like love-ins to me, where everyone talks about how wonderful a job SEPTA is doing and nobody talks about things like how the subways smell like p1$$ or how the trains are the slowest of any major comuter railroad and can't even make that lesurely schedule or any of the things that keep riders away. Frankly, I don't think that topics covered in those CAC meetings are the things that keep riders away. Riders want more frequent trains, faster trains and subways that don't turn their stomachs. [snip]

CAC is not in a position to address the big issues, since the big issues require money. Nor is CAC given the resources to have a larger impact. The PCAC in New York is a good example of how a statutory riders' panel can make a difference (see some of their reports on www.pcac.org), but even they are working on nuts and bolts customer service issues rather than bigger issues like major increases in service levels.

Also, since they're more or less dependent on SEPTA for everything, they're less inclined to be as ... uh ... forceful in their advocacy as DVARP can be.

Matt Mitchell
[whose big accomplishment on CAC was the whistles that Market-Frankford conductors used]

The map on "J" shows "Logan Station" center, where you can connect to the R1,R2,R3, and R5. Nice! All it would take is for someone who actually works for SEPTA to ride some of these routes and then photoshop the maps to reflect actual service.

Or simple make the mpa changes as the service changes are announced in press releases, rather than waiting for the stenographers to catch up with history. When they announce a route change, it would be so simple for the surrounding routes to be updated as well.

This is a map from circa 1985, found at the unused Lenni station.



Notice that the CC tunnel is depicted, as well as service to Ivy Ridge, West Chester, and Newtown, although the map notes that Newtown service is "temporarily" substituted with a bus to Fox Chase.

This next map is pre-1984, found at the Exton station.



The Penn Central and the Reading lines are completely separate since the CC tunnel didn't exist. There are also new maps at the Exton station, so SEPTA has done some updating here and there.

What I noticed while at the currently active stations was that their parking lots were more than full (with some cars parked where they weren't supposed to).

They need to make the maps permanent instead of a sticker. But they don't need to change them every time they close a station. The reason that stations are closed are because nobody uses them... So who will notice if they're on the map after closing? Besides, a black permanent marker will do the job. SEPTA has better things to spend its money on.

Black marker will be too noticeable. White-out the closed stations instead.

Please, PLEASE do NOT go from station to station blacking out or whiteing out stations on the maps!

These maps are private property of SEPTA and you can be fined for defacing them! Not to mention, it makes them look even more unprofessional when there are marks all over them.

I'll remember that comment about the maps looking unprofessional the next time I'm on the El looking out the window with the window etchings obstructing my view....