PHILADELPHIA | Lowrise/General Developments Thread

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by reparcsyks

The mayor we desperately need, but most likely the mayor we won't get.

Lack of ranked choice voting may really screw us if a few more pragmatic candidates split votes.

I cannot believe we don't have this in 2022, thanks 2 party system!

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

Philly desperately needs a ranked voting system. There's so many candidates running for the Dem primary which will ultimately produce the next mayor. Someone will win with probably 25% of the votes.



I have no hope for Septa. I get they are underfunded but they are just so inept and insist and re-inventing the wheel when existing technology works well elsewhere. The beta testers for the tap to pay system say the QR code is cumbersome and slow. Why not just use what NYC, SF, Chicago etc. already use? Why did they have to develop their own Septa Key app? Their own slow/confusing kiosks? Their own turnstiles? It's like they are trying to waste money and produce a poor product.

https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20221024.html

I posted my 'ranked choice' post before seeing yours. 1000% with you.

[PHLtoNYC]

Originally Posted by jaysb

I posted my 'ranked choice' post before seeing yours. 1000% with you.

What would the process be to implement ranked choice voting here? A resolution by Council?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

What would the process be to implement ranked choice voting here? A resolution by Council?

Probably something at the Harrisburg level.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

I have no hope for Septa. I get they are underfunded but they are just so inept and insist and re-inventing the wheel when existing technology works well elsewhere. The beta testers for the tap to pay system say the QR code is cumbersome and slow. Why not just use what NYC, SF, Chicago etc. already use? Why did they have to develop their own Septa Key app? Their own slow/confusing kiosks? Their own turnstiles? It's like they are trying to waste money and produce a poor product.

https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20221024.html

This fiasco pisses me off to no end. I wish I could tell you why we’re doubling down on a system that clearly DOES NOT WORK. I can’t. It’s infuriating.

[jaysb]

Originally Posted by PHLtoNYC

What would the process be to implement ranked choice voting here? A resolution by Council?

sadly not that well versed in local procedures. But happy to start a letter writing campaign!

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

This fiasco pisses me off to no end. I wish I could tell you why we’re doubling down on a system that clearly DOES NOT WORK. I can’t. It’s infuriating.

Can you elaborate on what's not working with it? As a center city Key user, it seems to work perfectly fine for my bus/trolley/subway uses?

To me the biggest failure is not letting people use Apple Pay/Wallet to use whatever card they want to tap in and pay for a fare?

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by Londonee

Can you elaborate on what's not working with it? As a center city Key user, it seems to work perfectly fine for my bus/trolley/subway uses?

To me the biggest failure is not letting people use Apple Pay/Wallet to use whatever card they want to tap in and pay for a fare?

That is indeed the biggest failure. Beyond that, the Key itself tends to not work; I have several friends whose keys have just stopped tapping. It doesn’t allow for double-tapping friends in either (which SEPTA has said is to allow for discounted transfers, which is dubious at best).

The app is clunky, inelegant, and difficult to navigate and use. The new mobile ticketing feature uses QR Codes instead of NFC chips… despite almost all phones commercially available currently having NFC chips.

[BroadandMarket]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

That is indeed the biggest failure. Beyond that, the Key itself tends to not work; I have several friends whose keys have just stopped tapping. It doesn’t allow for double-tapping friends in either (which SEPTA has said is to allow for discounted transfers, which is dubious at best).

The app is clunky, inelegant, and difficult to navigate and use. The new mobile ticketing feature uses QR Codes instead of NFC chips… despite almost all phones commercially available currently having NFC chips.

It's such a mess. The kiosks have always been laggy and confusing. The language is so unnecessarily cumbersome. In what is America's poorest big city, Septa has a $5 Key card compared to $1 for Metro card in NYC. The quick trip card is basically useless since it's only valid for 1 trip from that station you buy it on that same day. When I have friends in town to go to an Eagles game, I can't pass back my Key Card (13 minutes between taps) so they have to buy a Quick Trip card from City Hall to NRG and then they have to buy another card when leaving NRG which has thousands of other people doing the same thing. To add to the rush, Septa still does not have real time train arrival/departures displayed anywhere in the subway system so hundreds of drunk Eagles fans sprint down the platform steps to get a train that could leave in 1 minute or could leave in 15 minutes.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just so tired of Septa wasting money when they could be making the subway system safer and more logical.

I mean just look at the OMNY system in NYC and think about trying to scan a fucking QR code at the turnstile that you have to pre download before you get to the turnstile to tap it...

OMNY: https://youtu.be/1Mu2kZo3R4k

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

It's such a mess. The kiosks have always been laggy and confusing. The language is so unnecessarily cumbersome. In what is America's poorest big city, Septa has a $5 Key card compared to $1 for Metro card in NYC. The quick trip card is basically useless since it's only valid for 1 trip from that station you buy it on that same day. When I have friends in town to go to an Eagles game, I can't pass back my Key Card (13 minutes between taps) so they have to buy a Quick Trip card from City Hall to NRG and then they have to buy another card when leaving NRG which has thousands of other people doing the same thing. To add to the rush, Septa still does not have real time train arrival/departures displayed anywhere in the subway system so hundreds of drunk Eagles fans sprint down the platform steps to get a train that could leave in 1 minute or could leave in 15 minutes.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just so tired of Septa wasting money when they could be making the subway system safer and more logical.

I mean just look at the OMNY system in NYC and think about trying to scan a fucking QR code at the turnstile that you have to pre download before you get to the turnstile to tap it...

OMNY: https://youtu.be/1Mu2kZo3R4k

The metro card system is superior in every way.

Septa failed on this one fantastically. The Token system was more technologically advanced than Septa key.

[Justin7]

Septa is run by the wrong people and it is going to be a shitshow until that is fixed.

[BroadandMarket]

mcgrath618 how do we voice our opinion to Septa? This just feels like another avoidable disaster in the making for a system that has already lost a drastic amount of riders since 2020.

To Jared Cohen, the problem is that SEPTA has insisted on building everything on its own in-house app instead of interfacing with third-party apps people are already using, such as Transit App, Google Maps, and Apple Maps.
“The end result has been a complete mess of an app that crashes frequently, logs you out randomly, gives inaccurate or difficult-to-understand information, and just generally feels like a chore to use,” said Cohen, a junior at Temple University majoring in geography and urban studies. “Now add a mobile ticketing system on top of that, and you get a mess of an experience.”

This quote is coming from someone who is a transit enthusiast too, imagine a tourist trying to use their shit software.
https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20221024.html

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by BroadandMarket

mcgrath618 how do we voice our opinion to Septa? This just feels like another avoidable disaster in the making for a system that has already lost a drastic amount of riders since 2020.

To Jared Cohen, the problem is that SEPTA has insisted on building everything on its own in-house app instead of interfacing with third-party apps people are already using, such as Transit App, Google Maps, and Apple Maps.
“The end result has been a complete mess of an app that crashes frequently, logs you out randomly, gives inaccurate or difficult-to-understand information, and just generally feels like a chore to use,” said Cohen, a junior at Temple University majoring in geography and urban studies. “Now add a mobile ticketing system on top of that, and you get a mess of an experience.”

This quote is coming from someone who is a transit enthusiast too, imagine a tourist trying to use their shit software.
https://www.inquirer.com/transportat...-20221024.html

Submit comments through the app feedback section. It opens a veritas ticket which SEPTA is required to respond to.

[badthingshappen]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Massive 6th & Fairmount project update from Naked Philly



https://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phil...federal-donuts

This project intrigues me because I used to live right at that corner but I can't quite figure out what is going on with it. It seems to be saying that the businesses next to Federal Donuts (went to that pizza place many times, pretty solid grilled chicken salad) are getting torn down but that render is showing the new apartments on the other side of Fairmount Ave, which as far as I know is still public housing.

I assume it's just a case of the rendering being done a little sloppy because everything else in the article is pointing towards the other lot being the one in question.

[cardeza]

Originally Posted by Justin7

Septa is run by the wrong people and it is going to be a shitshow until that is fixed.

you may be on to something.

[Londonee]

I was under the impression that multi-tap and apple wallet functionality were both in the works?

[3rd&Brown]

Originally Posted by Londonee

I was under the impression that multi-tap and apple wallet functionality were both in the works?

It sounds like they are but they're doing it with internal resources and perhaps a vendor who is building from scratch, and thus making it unnecessarily complicated and "heavy". This would also make rollout take longer than it would otherwise.

[TonyTone]

All say Aye for Septa to be taken over by it's new leaders of Delaware River Transit Authority which oversees all 4 states in the Metro area and runs way better then any of its predecessors.

[iheartphilly]

Building from scratch sounds like a boondoggle product. Septa needs to buy an off-the-shelf product and get on with it.

[Raja]

Originally Posted by mcgrath618

That is indeed the biggest failure. Beyond that, the Key itself tends to not work; I have several friends whose keys have just stopped tapping. ....

Add me to the list. My key card just stopped tapping one day on the sub and el. I called customer service and they told me the only solution was to physically show up at one of several designated customer service counters. The closest one to me was Jefferson Station, so I walked up and explained the problem, and they looked at me like I was stupid. So I explained it again, then they looked up my account and told me my key card must be working just fine because I had used it to tap onto the bus route. So I explained for a third time that the card would not tap into the el or subway turnstiles. After some more incredulous stares, I walked over to the regional rail turnstiles, demonstrated that they key card was not tapping, and then walked back to the customer service counter. Only then would they give me a new card.

I mean... you have to laugh. High key dysfunction, y'all.