I really like the SEPTA One Day Convenience Pass, or as us public transit folks call it, a “day pass”.

You pay $6 and get to use it on the bus, subways, trolleys, and the El up to 8 times in one day. So, if you’re takin’ the bus, then the train, then the El, then the bus again to your destination and the bus, the El, the train, and the bus (third base!), it’s pretty damn useful. Really awesome if you wanna see the historical sights of the greatest City in the land and save some gas money/parking stress.

Just watch out for inept SEPTA ticket window people or the “One Day Convenience Pass” will become the “Half Hour Pain In The Ass”.

To save time the other day, I bought the day pass at the Marcus Hook R2 station instead of up in Center City. The chick there sold me a pass that said “2007″ on it instead of “2008-09″. This is very important because the bus drivers and El ticket window peeps punch a whole into the date of the ride.

I asked her if using it was ok – I didn’t want other bus drivers to think I was trying to scam them with using a 2007 pass. She said she was all out of 2008 passes and that it was totally ok to use. I didn’t buy it.

As soon as I got to the 30th Street El Station, I told the dude at the El ticket window. Obviously, he thought I was scamming him – so he called down to the Marcus Hook station where the lady confirmed she sold me a 2007 day pass.

Then, I had to walk back over to 30th Street Station and fill out a form and tell them my situation all over again. They almost told me I had to re-buy a new one and mail the old pass back in for a refund but finally just traded my 2007 pass in for a 2008 pass. Plus, I found out from the very nice lady at 30th Street – that this isn’t the first time the chick in Marcus Hook has done this and they’ve been bugging her to mail in her 2007 passes for new ones.

All of that took about a half hour out of my commute and I was almost late to my destination. Then I had French toast and bacon. So I was ok.

Just be careful out there on SEPTA. 99% of the drivers and conductors and staff I’ve dealt with ovre the years are awesome – but once in a while, there’s an idiot out there selling old passes that will screw up your commute.

- AP

Oh, SEPTA. How I missed thee. Sure, people here may complain but – come on – could it get any better than riding a bus or a train or a subway and actually see OTHER people riding it, too?

Was on my personal favorite line today – the Market-Frankford Line. Boy that thing is fast. And reliable. And really, really convenient. Looks like they’re running every 6 minutes instead of every 10 or so like they used to during the weekday off-peak-or-am-I-just-playing-hooky-from-work hours.

What I love best though, is the Magic Voice. You know – that computerized chick that tells you “Next Stop. Fifth Street. Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.” or “Next Stop. Second Street. Wheelchair Accessible.”

Sometimes I add stuff to what she’s saying in my head like “Next Stop. Spring Garden. For Bus 25 and A Way Safer Way To Get To Aramingo & Allegheny.” Or “Next Stop. Millbourne. Where The Fuck Is Millbourne?”

Anyhow, yeah, give it up for the El.

Could you awesome Philadelphians do me and my fellow Delaware Countarians a favor?

Go to this part of the SEPTA website and fill out the form. Let them know that they should expand not only the hours of the R2 – particularly on the weekends – but the damn 119 bus line as well.

Ever seen the R5? It has ridiculously convenient, expanded hours and it’s because people take it to go party at night. How come I either have to stay in the City until 5 in the morning OR cut out of events super early just so I can get the R2 to Delaware County in time to take the 119 home from Chester, whose last bus leaves at like 9:30 p.m.?

Not cool. People in my area like to go to the city, too. And SEPTA has done an excellent job expanding the hours of the 113. Too bad the closest 113 stop to my house is about a 60 to 90 minute walk from my house. That wouldn’t be so bad when it’s not negative 9 degrees outside.

Just like with the R5 running late, people will tell their friends: “Hey, friend! Don’t drive into the City..the R2 runs till 2 in the morning and you can take the 119 home after that!”

If people who live in the northern part of the County – like in Upper Darby – have the luxury of taking an overnight El shuttle to 69th street and late runing buses – why can’t us closer-to-actual-Delaware Delaware County peeps have that luxury?

It sure would be a damn good idea.

I’m just sayin’.

- AP

Have you seen the new SEPTA signs? I noticed this a few weeks ago; the signs in the photo here are located at Broad and Walnut Streets (the first one I spotted) but there are also posted at 13th & Market, 15th & Market, 18th & JFK, 19th & Market, and 15th & Locust.

The first thing I thought when I saw the sign was “T? Like in Boston?” but the lines of the T do look a bit like rail lines, so I guess it’s an interesting design choice.

What I like more than the huge posts are the signs on the stairwells, explaining the lines and connections that can be made at the station, and the exit orientation signs, giving directions and street intersections. Have you ever come up from the subway feeling disoriented? Well, maybe not if you’ve been riding for years, but occasional riders and tourists probably don’t know which is the northeast corner of Broad and Walnut just standing around in the concourse.

If you’ve seen the signs and have any comments about them, there is a survey for SEPTA and PATCO users to submit.

Do you think these signs will be useful? What would you do differently, or do you think the city’s had a good idea with these?

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.

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.

The absolute worst, though, are those who feel they and their children are exempt from the rules. They let their kids stand on the seats, climb over them and run in the aisle. The conductor inevitably comes by to ask them to control their kids, if only for safety’s sake. They make excuses and have them sit until the conductor goes into the next car. As soon as the coast is clear, so to speak, it’s back to dangerous and annoying business as usual.

A few weeks ago a mom and her small daughter were at the front of the car during my morning commute. This woman went beyond anything I’ve seen. Before the train even left the station, she was arguing with the conductor that her daughter “can’t” sit down. Said daughter was jumping on the seats screeching. Eventually, the conductor had to leave to make rounds, at which point the kid took off running down the aisle while the train was in motion, and the mother followed.

One might expect a reprimand at this point? Of course not, the mom caught her daughter and proceeded to walk her up and down the aisle, even while others were boarding and finding seats, until the conductor finally stepped in. As before, as soon as he left they started again. After three rounds of admonition, she finally decided to listen. They returned to their seat where the standing and jumping continued.

When I boarded that morning I noticed about half a dozen passengers leaving the car and wondered why. I myself didn’t see or hear the small child until I’d already settled in. At that point, I decided to stay and see just how bad this would get. I found that mother’s behavior appalling. Not only is she teaching her daughter rudeness and exemption from the rules, she had absolutely no regard for anyone’s safety.

After a year and half commuting via regional rail I have no qualms about very obviously jumping ship to a different car, right in front of the boarding parents and children. In rare cases, they prove me wrong and show me I didn’t need to move. In most cases, however, I’m much better off further away.

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.

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.

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.

I looked for news about this today but couldn’t find anything. Was anyone else there? I’m guessing the R7 either partially derailed or had a major cable malfunction. I’m sure all of the passengers on that train were oh so happy to be paying the recently jacked up fares.

I did find other SEPTA news, though. The EL will be shut down, yet again, between 40th and 60th until July 23rd. The usual shuttle bus replacement is in effect. There will be another similar shutdown August 10-27.

Then, there was a fire last night near the R6 Ivy Ridge station which shut down that particular regional rail line. It returned to normal operation this morning.

Finally, SEPTA made an agreement with PhillyCarShare where riders will be reimbursed for their fares as credits on their car share accounts. All of this was announced at a press conference that happened to take place at my home station, Chestnut Hill West. I saw the tents and flotilla of car share cars all set up yesterday morning and thought they were doing a promotion.

I joined PhillyCarShare myself a few months ago and it’s a great deal, especially with the reimbursement policy and lower rates about to go into effect. On Sunday I drove a funky little red and white Mini. Neat.