public transportation
Sleek, Modern Trolleys Coming to Philly
Philadelphia has the largest trolley system in the nation, a title it’s held since the 1970s. But the old-school tanks climbing up and down city streets look like […]
POLL: Would You Use Franklin Square Station If It Reopened?
On Monday the Inquirer’s Paul Nussbaum reported that it would cost about $18.5 million for PATCO to reopen Franklin Square Station, a stop on PATCO’s High Speed Line that […]
SEPTA Ridership Was Down in 2014—Are Millennials to Blame?
After record-breaking ridership on SEPTA in 2013, fewer Philadelphians took public transit last year, according to a new report from the American Public Transportation Association […]
SEPTA Key: Will Students Ride For “Free”?
SEPTA Key—the transit agency’s next-gen fare payment system—is still in its pilot stage, two years after the transition away from tokens and cash was supposed to […]
MAP: This Is What Philly Would Look Like With Full 24-Hour SEPTA Service
If you read my first commentary on all-night SEPTA subway service — in which I asked if SEPTA might better spend its money providing 24-hour bus service […]
Commuter Alert: Market-Frankford Line Interrupted for Medical Emergency
[UPDATE] The Daily News reports that the struck worker is in stable condition. “A veteran SEPTA electrical worker is recovering tonight after a close call on […]
SEPTA 50: A Prehistory of our Much Beloved/Maligned Transit Agency
This year marks SEPTA’s golden anniversary, and this month, the agency will formally celebrate a half-century of keeping Philly moving. It’s done a pretty good […]
VIDEOS: 10 Cool Old British Newsreels of Philadelphia
From 1910 until 1970, the U.K.-based Pathé News produced newsreels and documentaries on events all over the world. Recently, a collection of 85,000 videos was […]
Willie Brown Is a Changed Man
An observation: The Willie Brown of 2014 is not the Willie Brown of 2009. Don’t misunderstand: They’re similar enough that it won’t really be a […]
Race and the Roots
of Philly Transit Strikes
As this is being typed, the news reports about contract negotiations between SEPTA and Transport Workers Union Local 234 sound increasingly optimistic. One of the […]
Union Rejects SEPTA Contract Offer, Wants Binding Arbitration
The last of several union contracts with SEPTA expires on April 6, and the head of the Transit Workers Union told the Daily News Thursday […]
Six Design Ideas SEPTA Should Steal Now
A recent article on The Atlantic Cities website made a point that is at once obvious and rarely made: Good design and strong imagery can attract […]
As Friday Deadline Looms, SEPTA and Union Are Talking
Dun dun dun. We are just over a day away from the day when the largest contract that Transport Workers Union Local 234 has with […]
#SEPTAResidency, Or: Writing the Market Frankford Line
I am in the last El car on the way to Upper Darby. I am in the last seat, too, watching the Philadelphia skyline disappear […]
3 Ways Willie Brown Can Make the Public Less Angry About the Coming SEPTA Strike
Even in a union-dominated town like Philly, it’s hard to generate a lot of enthusiasm or sympathy for Transport Workers Local 234. The union — which […]