There have been two ideas rotating through my head so I wanted to share them here and see what you folks thought:
A) The alignment for the Waterfront Light Rail.
Since virtually the whole of Center City falls within PATCO's study area for expanding transit options, I figured why not kill two birds with one stone.
Since many agree that the alignment along Market Street is disruptive and redundant, I figured why not put that alignment on Arch Street until LOVE Park and then along The Parkway to 20th or 21st Street and then along the City Branch tunnel to at least the Art Museum. A transit tunnel is expensive, of course, so suppose that option were to operate WB on Arch and EB on Race?
This is, of course, pretending the resources to do this are available. The problems with the Market Street routing are dealt with, a new transit option is opened on The Parkway and, as a side benefit, this does travel to or near several tourist corridors.
B) 15th/JFK Bus station
The alignment of the major bus stop at 15th/JFK in front of the MSB has always bothered me. There is no "direct" access to the stop from the SEPTA concourse underground, the station can be disruptive for traffic and requires crossing a busy intersection to access from the west and south.
I've wondered if a bus station, exclusive for buses with access to the concouse, would be a sensible solution. The layout would be similar to bus stands at Olney Terminal, for instance, which have stairs to access the subway station below.
I've drawn the current alignment and what I've envisioned:
This is the current alignment. The X's denote direct access to either subway station fare lines or regularly used portions of the underground concourse. Circled X's denote access to relatively unused/indirectly accessed portions of the concourse.
This denotes a new alignment. The island would double the current capacity of the curbside station by allowing two buses to load simultaneously, reducing dwell time (some buses load on the green side, some on the red - ignore my note there). The yellow dots denote stairs/elevator to the concourse. Improved/altered signage and striping could ensure drivers are in the proper lane for making turns from Broad Street.
Several cities, such as Cleveland, have a similar set-up for their major city bus stops/terminals downtown. As 15th/JFK is most likely the busiest stop downtown as well as a major transfer point, I thought this idea made some sense, particularly if it employs modern shelters with message boards.
Any issues that I'm neglecting here? These are simply thoughts on paper.
Prev
Linear Mode
