Most people that commute on SEPTA—even if they like the service, even if they defend SEPTA every step of the way—know that its website is a joke. It’s bulky to navigate, the schedules are hard to read, and advisories are sometimes out-of-date. Oh and forget about maps!

Many other transit agencies have been sending their information to Google to participate in the Google Transit site, but SEPTA is not one of them. Also, while other transit websites are upgrading their online experiences swith interactive maps (like the MBTA in Boston, oh what a website!), we get stuck with the Trip Planner. Seriously, have you ever tried to use that thing?

Based on the awesomeness that is the NYC Subways Map, for the past year or so I’ve been working on my own version of a SEPTA transit map between my full-time and freelance jobs; however, it’s mostly been just a programming lesson in using the Google maps API with PHP and Javascript. I’ve got the BSL, MFL, and the Patco Speedline, but I haven’t even finished all the regional rail routes yet!

But the other day I ran across PhillyMap.com’s Transit Maps! Not only does it have everything I’ve been working on, it also has bus routes. Yes, bus routes. All bus routes. On a Google map.

It’s the most amazing thing I’ve seen in a while. I almost cried.

For various reasons, I’ve been having a tough time sleeping lately. During the work week I feel I’m at a constant deficit and hence make up the time snoozing on the train. One day last week I was settling in for my nap when a mom with two young children boarded. I unabashedly snatched my trailpass, bag and made haste to the next car. Sure enough, within two minutes of sitting down the high-pitched child ruckus began. Fortunately, I could barely hear it safely ensconced in my new nap spot.

I understand the rails are public and anyone is allowed to ride them. I’m not going to complain about parents bringing children on the train. Sometimes they are charming and fun. More often they are cranky, screaming, arguing and crying. I’ve seen kids yank on the hair of passengers in front of them, grab tickets and passes and not once did their parents reprimand them.
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Whoa! Did you hear? It seems that Septa is raising the prices of tokens effective Monday. I had heard rumors that this was going to happen, but it seems like the sort of thing that should take longer to go into effect. Tokens are my fare paying method of choice, so it seems that I’m going to need to get myself over to a vending machine sometime before Monday to get a few more tokens in at the old price.

A friend and I were standing at the NW corner of 19th and Chestnut today just before 11 am, waiting for the light to change so that we could cross Chestnut Street, when we realized that traffic wasn’t actually moving. As we crossed, we realized why traffic was at a standstill. A large panel truck had tried to squeeze through the space between a paused Septa bus and a parked delivery van and hadn’t made it. The bus had gouged a hole in the side of the truck and had stopped, unable to continue to drive forward or move backwards. We didn’t wait around to see how the situation resolved, but an hour later when we passed by again, the bus and the truck were gone, so it had sorted itself out somehow.

What if there was an emergency on or around the Parkway while an event was happening? Amost every weekend something is going on in and around the Parkway, Art Museum, or Drives. The city in an attempt to be prepared is having an emergency drill tonight.

This Monday night drill will impact driving, Septa lines, and give you cause to wonder, “What’s going on?”

The following is from the READY PHILADELPHIA site about tonights exercise.

Road Closures and Detours
Road closures and detours will be in effect from approximately 6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. The Police Department will barricade these locations:

Fairmount Avenue and Kelly Drive (inbound only)
Traffic will be detoured onto Fairmount Avenue. Right onto Pennsylvania to 21st Street, right onto 21st Street back to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

25th Street and Kelly Drive (inbound)
No traffic permitted into Eakins Oval.

25th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
Access to the Art Museum and Spring Garden Street Bridge will be through the Spring Garden Street Tunnel ONLY.

Spring Garden Street and Pennsylvania Avenue
Spring Garden Street traffic will access the tunnel for travel to West Philadelphia.

Eakins Oval at the outbound Kelly Drive entrance
No traffic permitted into Eakins Oval. This closure will allow outbound Parkway traffic to go north onto Kelly Drive.

Monday, August 6, 2007
Road Closures:
6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Exercise: 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Eakins Oval, Benjamin Franklin Parkway

This is only a drill - there is no impending threat to the citizens of Philadelphia or the region.

During this exercise, residents should expect to see a large number of Fire and Emergency Medical vehicles, as well as private ambulances, responding to Eakins Oval, Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Residents should understand that there is no actual emergency.

Yee-haw, it’s a SEPTA roundup.

First, scariness at 30th Street Station yesterday, right around rush hour. My train was already late, then looked like it was going to a different track. Myself and my fellow R8ers milled between tracks 3 and 4 and then *SNAP*! The overhead cables on track 3 made a horrifying noise, followed by wobbling, clanging and general unease among passengers.

We boarded very late, and sat for a while. Conductors’ radios were abuzz with indiscernible but emergency-sounding chatter. Then our train moved extremely slowly out of the station. On the way out we passed the R7 Trenton Express train, and it didn’t look good. It barely made it out of the station and was sitting at a very odd angle.
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I am not happy about the SEPTA increase. I already pay far too much for my Zone 2 pass. I would love to know exactly how they ended up in a hole this deep and why no one is holding them accountable for trimming fat off the top instead of screwing customers harder. With their budget deficit you’d expect their corporate offices to be a few cubicles with a single buzzing, flickering light bulb in a cheap rent district. I have a feeling things at 1234 Market Street are quite cozy. Have they slashed their management? Have the top tiers taken pay cuts? Why the heck did they open a transit museum instead of saving money? I’m baffled. They need to get an Office Space style consulting firm in there to slash and burn.
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Yeah Government!

This week legislators in sunny Harrisburg proposed an idea to install tolls on the mighty Schuylkill Expressway. The move was largely in protest to tolls being proposed to I 80, which runs across northern PA.

“If they put tolls on the (expletive deleted) Schuylkill, I’ll (expletive deleted) move,” Big White said in disgust.

So the next time you’re sitting in traffic on the Expressway, which will likely be the next time you’re driving on it, just think, pretty soon you could be paying a toll to do so. Hmmm…tolls…Hmmm…frustration….Hmmm….Kelly Drive?

On a side note, a crane appeared during the night down on Spring Garden. I’m not sure what the point of it is, but Big’s opinion of it was firm…

“If that (expletive deleted) crane ruins my kite-flying, I’m not going to be happy,” Big said.

“The crane?” Jon said. “I haven’t seen it yet. It doesn’t warrant a quote.”

I have a new favorite Philly blog that I’ve been meaning to post about for a couple of weeks now, but it has continued to slip my mind when I actually sit down to blog. But no more, I say. You must know and enjoy this blog as I have come to. So, may I present to you…Septa Watch!

That’s right, one enterprising soul has devoted much time and many words to document our messy, slow-moving, under-funded public transportation agency. The first post on the blog responds to the question many of you might be asking yourself, which is why would someone invest so much time in this?

I want to love you and encourage my friends to ride you, but you drive me crazy. Why does the rain cause you to give up and practically come to a grinding stop? Why must your buses stop at every. Darn. Block. The entire way into the City instead of, say, every other block? Why did you stop selling regional rail tickets from machines but still charge us $2 for buying a ticket on board? Why don’t you ever have any schedules in the schedule holders on the bus? Why do you stop the Market Frankfort El shortly after midnight? (Would another two hours kill you?) Why after every rider has complained about this–do most of the ticket booth attendants still not sell tokens or even give you change?

To read answers to some of these questions (or just more questions about why Septa continues to be so mediocre) you must check out this blog.

I often see some weird and interesting things on the bus, but the past few weeks have been fairly humdrum. Until this past Thursday, that is. I was sitting at the back of the Rt 12, quietly reading my book, when the bus stopped at 15th and Locust. A pretty blonde in sixties-style mod white ran on the bus, passing out gum to all the passengers. That’s when I noticed there was a bevy of pretty blondes in sixties-style mod white all around: on the bus, on the corner, on the street. They were handing out sample packs of new Orbit “Mint Mojito”, and as quickly as she got on the bus she was gone again, and I was left with a single piece of gum in my hand and a “What the…?” on the tip of my tongue.