The Looming SEPTA Strike Apocalypse
Plus, Penn vending machines now give out Narcan, emergency birth control, and sleep masks.
SEPTA Route 59 image courtesy Visit Philly
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Not One SEPTA Strike But Two SEPTA Strikes Are On the Table
Those of us who take SEPTA are all holding our breath on Monday as negotiations continue between SEPTA and two local transit unions. SEPTA’s contract with TWU Local 234, the union representing bus, trolley, El and subway drivers in Philadelphia proper, already expired on November 7th, and those employees could strike at any moment. Meanwhile, SEPTA’s contract with SMART 1594 ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday. That union represents SEPTA workers who drive buses and trolleys in the suburbs as well as Norristown High Speed Line operators. If a deal isn’t struck on Monday, those SEPTA employees could strike on Tuesday. And if both unions go on strike simultaneously, which could very well happen, most SEPTA services would come to a grinding halt.
The good news is that if those unions strike, SEPTA Regional Rail service would continue. The bad news is that Regional Rail trains are more expensive, by at least two times, and those trains would very quickly become packed, completely overcrowded.
Think you’ll just take Uber or Lyft? Well, given how those services tend to handle pricing, it’s reasonable to expect some dramatic surge pricing.
Just how long could a SEPTA strike last? Hopefully not as long as the one way back in 1977. That SEPTA strike lasted for more than six weeks. Maybe an e-bike isn’t such a bad investment.
About Kamala Harris’s Weak Performance In Philadelphia …
The New Yorker has this fascinating piece by novelist Jennifer Egan, who offers some insight into what might have happened to the Philly vote, based on her experience canvassing for Harris in Northeast Philadelphia.
By the Numbers: The Zero Edition
0: Pennsylvania cities that landed in the top 30 of the brand new U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Places to Retire. This is a little weird because five Pennsylvania cities — Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster, Scranton and Allentown — were the top five cities on last year’s list. And, well, that was also weird. Maybe this is all just more evidence that U.S. News & World Report rankings of anything are complete and utter bullshit. (If you haven’t heard Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast episode about this very subject, here ya go.)
$0: What Penn students will pay for Narcan, fentanyl-testing strips, emergency contraceptives, and, because it is Penn, sleep masks that come with calm-inducing lavender spray, all thanks to these nifty new vending machines.
0 percent: Chances that the rain in the forecast for this week will end our drought. We need 10 inches or so to make that happen.
Local Talent
If you’re a fan of the Wyeth family of artists — N.C., Andrew, Jamie, etc. — you’ll want to know that a major collection of their art is going up for auction on Tuesday. The collection belonged to the late granddaughter of the even later L.L. Bean (gotta be honest: I never realized that was an actual person) and is valued at about $3 million. If you’ve got some extra bucks sitting around, you can bid online. Or, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, get yourself to the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chaddsford ASAP! It’s chock full of Wyeth family art.
