Shanaia Rivera's List: Philadelphia Transportation

• SEPTA serves the combined city and county of Philadelphia, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, and Chester County. SEPTA also serves New Castle County in Delaware, and Mercer County in New Jersey.

   

  SEPTA has the 6th-largest U.S. transit system by ridership, with about 306.9 million annual unlinked trips. It controls 280 active stations, over 450 miles of track, 2,295 revenue vehicles, and 196 routes. SEPTA also manages Shared-Ride services in Philadelphia and ADA services across the region. These services are operated by third-party contractors.

   

  SEPTA is one of only two U.S. transit agencies that operates all of the five major types of transit vehicles: regional (commuter) rail trains, "heavy" rapid transit (subway/elevated) trains, light rail vehicles (trolleys), electric trolleybuses and motor buses. The other is Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (which runs ferryboat service as well).^[2]

   

  SEPTA employs more than 9,000 people. Its headquarters is located at 1234 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia.
• By 1966, the Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad commuter railroad lines were operated under contract to SEPTA. On February 1, 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with the New York Central railroad to become Penn Central, only to file for bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. Penn Central continued to operate in bankruptcy until 1976, when Conrail took over its assets along with those of several other bankrupt railroads, including the Reading Company. Conrail operated commuter services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA took over operations and acquired track, rolling stock, and other assets to form the Railroad Division.

• SEPTA's contracts with its transportation employees in the City, Victory and Frontier Divisions expired in March and April 2009. On October 25, 2009, the Transport Workers Union Local 234 voted for SEPTA to go on strike at 12:01 AM by October 31, 2009, if no new contract deal was made. The strike was initially averted after Governor Ed Rendell threatened to cut state funding should the strike occur. Another reason the strike was postponed was due to the 2009 World Series games being hosted by the Philadelphia Phillies.

   

  However, at 3:00 AM on November 3, 2009, TWU 234 surprised the public by officially going on strike without notice. On the subject of the hardships imposed by the surprise strike on Philadelphians, Willie Brown, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, said "I understand I'm the most hated man in Philadelphia right now. I have no problem with that"^[4]. Victory Division service is not affected by the SEPTA 2009 Strike, but buses are operating on temporary changes, including the temporary discontinuation of route 116. On, November 4, 2009, TWU 234 strikers blocked buses from leaving Victory Depot and SEPTA's 69th St Terminal, letting one out every 40 minutes.

   

  SEPTA was offering an 11.5-percent increase over five years. That included no raise in the first year, although workers would have received a $1,250 signing bonus. ^[5]

   

  This strike ended on November 9, 2009 at 12:45 am, with service gradually restored beginning 4am.^[6]

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• The Broad Street Line (BSL), also known as the Broad Street Subway (BSS) or Orange Line, is a rapid transit line operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority that runs from Fern Rock Transportation Center in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia. The latter station provides access to the stadiums and arenas for the city's major professional sports teams, about a quarter mile away. It is named for Broad Street, the street under which it runs for almost its entire length. The line, which is entirely underground except for the northern terminus at Fern Rock, has four tracks in a local/express configuration from Fern Rock to Walnut-Locust and two tracks from Lombard-South to the southern terminus at Pattison. The line and its trains are owned by the City of Philadelphia and were leased to SEPTA in 1968^[2] after it assumed operation of the city transit systems.^[3] Broad Street Line subway cars bear both the SEPTA logo and the seal of the City of Philadelphia to reflect the split ownership-operation arrangement.
• Service on the northern half of the Broad Street Line, between City Hall and Olney Avenue, opened on September 1, 1928. While the original subway tunnel had been finished to just north of the present-day Lombard-South station, service to the Walnut-Locust station did not begin until 1930; the Lombard-South station entered service in 1932. Service from that point south to Snyder Avenue began on September 18, 1938. Service to a new park-and-ride station built next to the Fern Rock shops began in 1956, and the line was extended further south to Pattison Avenue in 1973 to serve the recently completed Sports Complex.^[4]
• From Lombard-South station south to Snyder, the tunnel was constructed differently - only the eastern half of the line was built. The track currently used for southbound trains is actually the northbound express track. The extension to Pattison in 1973 continued this arrangement. Space exists under the western half of Broad Street for the construction of the western half of the tunnel, which would include the remaining 2 tracks and additional island platforms for southbound local and express trains. The resulting infrastructure would match the configuration built in the northern half of the line.

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• The Roosevelt Boulevard Extension, also known as the Roosevelt Expressway, begins at the Schuylkill Expressway in Fairmount Park adjacent to the Philadelphia city line, as an expressway also known as the Roosevelt Boulevard Expressway U.S. Route 1 . It crosses the Schuylkill River and runs eastward through the neighborhoods of East Falls and Hunting Park. East of Broad Street (Pennsylvania Route 611), U.S. Route 13 merges in from the south, and it transitions into Roosevelt Boulevard proper, a 12-lane surface arterial with local and express lanes and at-grade intersections.^[6]
• Proposed in 1903 by Mayor Samuel H. Ashbridge as part of the City Beautiful movement, the 300-foot-wide thoroughfare originally extended from Broad Street to the Torresdale neighborhood, and was first named Torresdale Boulevard, then Northeast Boulevard in 1914 when the road was completed. On its extension to Pennypack Creek in 1918, it was finally renamed to Roosevelt Boulevard, in honor of Theodore Roosevelt. The road was designated U.S. 1 in 1926, and was extended through Philadelphia to neighboring Bucks County in the post-World War II years.
• Today, Roosevelt Boulevard is among the most congested arteries in the country. According to a 2001 report by State Farm Insurance, the second- and third-worst intersections in the country are both found on the Boulevard, at Red Lion Road and Grant Avenue, respectively, only a mile apart from each other. Red-light enforcement cameras have been installed at these intersections, as well as Cottman Avenue, and have been operational since June 1, 2005. New cameras installed at the intersections with Southampton Road, Welsh Road, Rhawn Street, Levick Street, Rising Sun Avenue, and Mascher Street became operational in summer 2007. Additional plans include adding cameras at Tyson Avenue and Devereaux Avenue.

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