Philadelphia Transportation Thread

[William Van Alen]

https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...?query=trolley

Looks like 6 PCC's will be returning to the 15 on 9/10. I've seen a lot of them being tested, but it's nice to have an actual date as to when they'll return.

[Mr Saturn64]

American Airlines adding three new international routes out of Philadelphia

https://whyy.org/articles/american-a...t-nice-france/

American will be adding three new seasonal flights to Europe next summer; Copenhagen, Naples, and Nice next summer. They will also be adding a flight to San Antonio.

[thoughtcriminal]

Refurbished Girard Ave trolleys will be in operation Sept. 10. Here's a look inside:
Behind Paywall: https://www.inquirer.com/transportat..._rid=432490060

[Busy Bee]

I was really hoping that rooftop A/C equipment would have advanced enough in the last couple decades that they could have somehow relocated/hidden it and returned the roofline profile to the intended look of the originals. I would have also liked to see a couple cars painted in vintage Septa livery instead of the PTC green like the gold and red stripe and the bold red and blue stripes of the 70s. Oh well, glad to see this refurb wrapping up and a return of the PCC's!

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I was really hoping that rooftop A/C equipment would have advanced enough in the last couple decades that they could have somehow relocated/hidden it and returned the roofline profile to the intended look of the originals. I would have also liked to see a couple cars painted in vintage Septa livery instead of the PTC green like the gold and red stripe and the bold red and blue stripes of the 70s. Oh well, glad to see this refurb wrapping up and a return of the PCC's!

Air Conditioning is one of the few technologies that hasn't really seen any major advances in transportation or buildings.

[TonyTone]

Originally Posted by UrbanImpact

Air Conditioning is one of the few technologies that hasn't really seen any major advances in transportation or buildings.

You know the quote, if it aint broke don't fix it.

And there has been changes to HVAC in recent years with the ductless system that you can install in any room, this could technically be done in the PCC III but at what expense and cost, also what's the benefit of bringing the unit inside the cab other then esthetics ?

[jrdizzy]

New renderings for the Glassboro Camden Line

https://www.glassborocamdenline.com/

[thoughtcriminal]

PHL still ranks last among large airports in customer satisfaction:
Philadelphia International Airport ranks last in its size category for airport satisfaction for the third year in a row, according to J.D. Power's 2023 North America Airport Satisfaction Study.

The study, released Wednesday, shows that among the 27 airports in the large size category, which report anywhere from 10 million to 32.9 million passengers per year, PHL came in last, scoring a 750 on the 1,000-point scale.

Although the airport has been at the bottom in its size group every year since 2021, PHL's score did increase 21 points this year from 729 in 2022. This year's score is still below 2021, however, when PHL scored 758.
Behind paywall:https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=3#cxrecs_s

[EastSideHBG]

Jenkintown resident shares photos of Jenkintown-Wyncote Train Station’s interior
https://glensidelocal.com/jenkintown...ions-interior/

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by thoughtcriminal

PHL still ranks last among large airports in customer satisfaction:
Philadelphia International Airport ranks last in its size category for airport satisfaction for the third year in a row, according to J.D. Power's 2023 North America Airport Satisfaction Study.

The study, released Wednesday, shows that among the 27 airports in the large size category, which report anywhere from 10 million to 32.9 million passengers per year, PHL came in last, scoring a 750 on the 1,000-point scale.

Although the airport has been at the bottom in its size group every year since 2021, PHL's score did increase 21 points this year from 729 in 2022. This year's score is still below 2021, however, when PHL scored 758.
Behind paywall:https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...Pos=3#cxrecs_s

I think the people surveyed just like to pile on because they can.

I don't fly often but the last few times I did, the airport I traveled to from PHL was worse than PHL. Most American airports are just bus stations on steriods anyway...

[KDD]

I don't fly a lot but PHL has always been perfectly fine. I just don't get it.

Meanwhile I just flew back from San Deigo, now that is a crowded dump if there ever was one.

[summersm343]

Refrigerated cargo building coming to PHL in 2025

Read/view more here:
https://www.inquirer.com/business/ph...-20230921.html

[New2Fishtown]

https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20230927.html

I did not expect SEPTA to roll out Apple Pay so quickly*!

*quickly relative to the initial announcement of starting a pilot program. I feel like SEPTA's pilot programs have often stretched over months if not years. If we're being real, SEPTA Key was discussed more than a decade ago as being a fully open payment system which should've theoretically allowed this type of payment from the jump, but...we all know what happened there.

So, given that unfortunate history, so thrilled to see us jumping to the head of the line and joining the other major systems in lowering this barrier to entry. Not necessarily a gamechanger for pass holders or those on fixed incomes, but for casual/occasional/unfamiliar/cautious riders, this is a HUGE change. It makes defaulting to SEPTA a much easier sell if you're out with a couple friends or if you're visiting from out of town. In the current setup, if anyone in your party doesn't have a Key card ready to go, opting for SEPTA over an Uber or Lyft is an arduous process (the machines take forever even to dispense a single ride, and people who hardly ever ride always seem resistant to buying and loading a Key card even though it's a totally reasonable thing to do). This removes all the complexity from the decision.

[UrbanRevival]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Jenkintown resident shares photos of Jenkintown-Wyncote Train Station’s interior
https://glensidelocal.com/jenkintown...ions-interior/

So cool, thanks for sharing. It's amazing how much effort (and money!) was put into public transit facilities in the past. There's no reason why that can't be the case now, but I digress.

[aprice1828]

IMO this makes the biggest difference for bus and trolley occasional riders and visitors that don't usually have access to vending machines. Yes, you can board the BSL and MFL using a credit card much faster now, but it wasn't a complete barrier to entry like the bus and trolley situation was. If you didn't have exact change, you couldn't board.

[phishtown]

I’m new to this thread so I might be behind on transportation news, but does anyone know of any Septa initiatives to improve safety and cleanliness? I was back in Philly last week, (currently live in San Francisco), and rode the MFL with my SO. Man, I love Philly but the state of the MFL is terrible. Every station and train smelled terrible, trash and needles in the tracks, water puddles in the elevator, people hanging out on the steps and sometimes blocking them, some guy in a scary mask covering his face. It was truly embarrassing. My SO also told me she wouldn’t feel safe riding it alone, and I don’t blame her.

SF has drug and homeless problems but Bart and Muni are not nearly as bad in my opinion. Is money stopping Septa or just lack of willpower or something else? I’m not saying these to hate on anyone or start a flame war. I just want it to be better. Septa can improve the card system or service schedules but many people will still avoid it if they feel unsafe.

[Skintreesnail]

I think I've heard that septa is vastly underfunded compared to peer cities. Not sure if that's based on state subsidies or regional (i don't think the suburbs contribute much). I'm sure septa could do better, and to fair it seems that they're trying, bit I'm sure funds are a big part of it.

Found a chart that shows it pretty well:

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger...get-proposals/


Sounds like it's been significantly less in previous years. Would be interested to see the breakdown of funding sources in these other cities to compare.

A newer article that shows regional funding is at least part of the issue:

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger...-septa-rogers/

Tried to find a similar comparison for operating budget but couldn't.

[EastSideHBG]

New train station in Conshohocken to begin service on November 6th
https://morethanthecurve.com/new-tra...-november-6th/

[EastSideHBG]

New train station in Conshohocken won’t have ticket office or SEPTA Key kiosk
https://morethanthecurve.com/new-tra...pta-key-kiosk/

[summersm343]

30 new flights to and from Philadelphia and Wilmington in 2023-2024

Article behind paywall here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...-airports.html