Ah, yes... It makes so much sense to raise prices and cut service. It really makes people want to take public transit even more!
I had a job as a Nutrition Services Director in Germantown about a year after we moved to Strafford where I had to drive to because there was not even semi-direct public transit. I quit after 3 weeks because I hated the commute - and the job sucked. I simply do not have a commuter mentality. I always took public transit to work before moving to PA. I read a lot of books!
We rode the R-5 constantly in our 20 years on The Main Line. (And not being from the area originally, R-5 made much more sense to me that Paoli/Thorndale!)
The Schuylkill totally sucks trying to get into the city - at any time of the day or night. And the brilliant minds who are cutting public transit and promoting fossil fuels are also denying funds to improve streets, bridges, highways, bike lanes... any sort of transit path. You can't work from home and you can't get to your job in Center City. Brilliant!
It's obvious that the senate is punishing Philadelphia and Pittsburgh because they vote blue and it's really easy to convince the Pennsyltuckians that their hard-earned over-taxed dollars shouldn't be sent to the freeloaders and welfare queens in Philly or Pittsburgh.
The simple fact is ALL public transit systems need to INCREASE service and make it CONVENIENT for people to use. In my perfect world, it would be fully funded by taxes and be free.
Here in Sarasota, Florida, all of us are acutely aware of the value of Rapid (or even not so rapid transit but better than battling over crowded street traffic): simply because we don't have any subways or even overhead rail facilities. The result is a constant war between developers and citizens complaining of further development including desperately needed affordable housing.
I always took train to Phila for events, easier than driving & parking. Back in the 50s took Paoli local (Strafford-Bryn Mawr) to school as did many kids who lived in the
“Country” we didn’t have buses to private schools like now. And what will happen to the events planned around our birthday. My daughter takes train to town to Jefferson; she’d have to drive if no Septa . Major catastrophe in more ways than one as you pointed out.
Well, just in time for the 250th USA birthday celebrations, and in time to start using my SEPTA senior rail pass.
Seems to me that the Paoli to Philadelphia line, aka the Paoli Local, may be axed because of the maximum tick-off value. It is a popular commuter route for work AND school. I've used it for both -- commuted to Villanova U. one year from West Philly, and the next year I moved to within a quick walk of the Haverford train station, 3 stops away from class. I feel bad for the folks who specifically bought or rented homes near a Main Line train station expecting to be convenient to SEPTA.
And Coatesville is in the process of building a $70 million train station to get back on the SEPTA schedule. So now what? People in an economically depressed area pay the big bucks and take AMTRAK?
Btw, we actually can take AMTRAK from Ardmore, Paoli, Malvern, and a few stops west, so we are not being left totally without trains. Just not with inexpensive, nearby trains.
The Main Line was so named because it was the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The towns were settled by railroad executives who started building their summer homes out this way.
I am least concerned about the R-5. People out here have money, and as you said, access to Amtrak which lands at 30th street. I am most concerned about travel within Philly (esp down Market street, which will now be buses, along with the closure of all mass transit after 9m - hard for people who work third shift, or get off work after 9 pm. It's the biggest hit to those with the fewest options.
Not everyone on the R-5 have money, as you noted in the text. For many out that way (where I'm from) the R5 is the ONLY way to get to work/school/ doctor appts in the city without expensive ride sharing services or impossibly slow I-could-crawl-faster bus service. My question is: what is the MAGA endgame here? Who benefits?
Always remember - cruelty is a feature not a bug. For the Rethuglicans, if they could demolish all of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, it would make Pennsylvania a ruby red state - poor, uneducated, dependent, with few pockets of Democrats sprinkled in Pittsburgh, Lehigh and State College. And for them, that's enough.
Sophie is right about the folks who live along the R5/Paoli line. Not everyone has money. Look at Berwyn and Paoli. Drive west of Route 100 through Downingtown, Thorndale, Coatesville, Sadsburyville, and Parkesburg sometime. And, again, Coatesville is just trying to survive, and the train figures prominently in their plans.
But do not forget the city residents. Folks are not all trying to get TO the city. In SEPA, people commute in all different directions, i.e. reverse commutes are popular. Many work at great Valley Corporate Center, and there is a bus from the Paoli train station. There are lots of people commuting to the burbs from downtown. I think the ridership of the Paoli Line is more diverse than we think.
I didn't forget about the people who don't have money on the R-5, and I did talk about the need for people to commute out of the city. It's in the article.
Sorry -- I am operating on little sleep this week. I saw your comment about not being worried about the Paoli-Thorndale line because they're all wealthy, so that's what I responded to. I forgot that you mentioned reverse commuting which, actually, our region is famous for.
Btw, for most of my life that particular train line was called the Paoli Local, and then it became the R-5. But recently it was decided to rename it the Paoli-Thorndale line, aka PAO. Fine with me! I can still recite all the stops in order. :-)
Anyone who has used SEPTA in Philly knows it is integral to life there. I lived in Philly for 40 years and took transit twice daily. For most of that time I didn't even need a car. Fast forward to 2016: after several months of treatment for breast cancer -- 2 surgeries, chemo, radiation -- my partner was ready to go back to work. Companies like Comcast were hiring, but without health benefits. She found a job in Lancaster. I worked in Center City. We decided to house-hunt in an area no more than a few miles from the Paoli train station, which provided easy and flexible transit for me and the option of Amtrak for her. We would NOT have moved here without the SEPTA access.
Ah, yes... It makes so much sense to raise prices and cut service. It really makes people want to take public transit even more!
I had a job as a Nutrition Services Director in Germantown about a year after we moved to Strafford where I had to drive to because there was not even semi-direct public transit. I quit after 3 weeks because I hated the commute - and the job sucked. I simply do not have a commuter mentality. I always took public transit to work before moving to PA. I read a lot of books!
We rode the R-5 constantly in our 20 years on The Main Line. (And not being from the area originally, R-5 made much more sense to me that Paoli/Thorndale!)
The Schuylkill totally sucks trying to get into the city - at any time of the day or night. And the brilliant minds who are cutting public transit and promoting fossil fuels are also denying funds to improve streets, bridges, highways, bike lanes... any sort of transit path. You can't work from home and you can't get to your job in Center City. Brilliant!
It's obvious that the senate is punishing Philadelphia and Pittsburgh because they vote blue and it's really easy to convince the Pennsyltuckians that their hard-earned over-taxed dollars shouldn't be sent to the freeloaders and welfare queens in Philly or Pittsburgh.
The simple fact is ALL public transit systems need to INCREASE service and make it CONVENIENT for people to use. In my perfect world, it would be fully funded by taxes and be free.
Your last line is 100% true.
More, not less, public transportation is needed!!!
Here in Sarasota, Florida, all of us are acutely aware of the value of Rapid (or even not so rapid transit but better than battling over crowded street traffic): simply because we don't have any subways or even overhead rail facilities. The result is a constant war between developers and citizens complaining of further development including desperately needed affordable housing.
I always took train to Phila for events, easier than driving & parking. Back in the 50s took Paoli local (Strafford-Bryn Mawr) to school as did many kids who lived in the
“Country” we didn’t have buses to private schools like now. And what will happen to the events planned around our birthday. My daughter takes train to town to Jefferson; she’d have to drive if no Septa . Major catastrophe in more ways than one as you pointed out.
Well, just in time for the 250th USA birthday celebrations, and in time to start using my SEPTA senior rail pass.
Seems to me that the Paoli to Philadelphia line, aka the Paoli Local, may be axed because of the maximum tick-off value. It is a popular commuter route for work AND school. I've used it for both -- commuted to Villanova U. one year from West Philly, and the next year I moved to within a quick walk of the Haverford train station, 3 stops away from class. I feel bad for the folks who specifically bought or rented homes near a Main Line train station expecting to be convenient to SEPTA.
And Coatesville is in the process of building a $70 million train station to get back on the SEPTA schedule. So now what? People in an economically depressed area pay the big bucks and take AMTRAK?
Btw, we actually can take AMTRAK from Ardmore, Paoli, Malvern, and a few stops west, so we are not being left totally without trains. Just not with inexpensive, nearby trains.
The Main Line was so named because it was the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The towns were settled by railroad executives who started building their summer homes out this way.
I am least concerned about the R-5. People out here have money, and as you said, access to Amtrak which lands at 30th street. I am most concerned about travel within Philly (esp down Market street, which will now be buses, along with the closure of all mass transit after 9m - hard for people who work third shift, or get off work after 9 pm. It's the biggest hit to those with the fewest options.
Not everyone on the R-5 have money, as you noted in the text. For many out that way (where I'm from) the R5 is the ONLY way to get to work/school/ doctor appts in the city without expensive ride sharing services or impossibly slow I-could-crawl-faster bus service. My question is: what is the MAGA endgame here? Who benefits?
Always remember - cruelty is a feature not a bug. For the Rethuglicans, if they could demolish all of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, it would make Pennsylvania a ruby red state - poor, uneducated, dependent, with few pockets of Democrats sprinkled in Pittsburgh, Lehigh and State College. And for them, that's enough.
A state of loyal serfs
Sadly, yes
Sophie is right about the folks who live along the R5/Paoli line. Not everyone has money. Look at Berwyn and Paoli. Drive west of Route 100 through Downingtown, Thorndale, Coatesville, Sadsburyville, and Parkesburg sometime. And, again, Coatesville is just trying to survive, and the train figures prominently in their plans.
But do not forget the city residents. Folks are not all trying to get TO the city. In SEPA, people commute in all different directions, i.e. reverse commutes are popular. Many work at great Valley Corporate Center, and there is a bus from the Paoli train station. There are lots of people commuting to the burbs from downtown. I think the ridership of the Paoli Line is more diverse than we think.
I didn't forget about the people who don't have money on the R-5, and I did talk about the need for people to commute out of the city. It's in the article.
Sorry -- I am operating on little sleep this week. I saw your comment about not being worried about the Paoli-Thorndale line because they're all wealthy, so that's what I responded to. I forgot that you mentioned reverse commuting which, actually, our region is famous for.
Btw, for most of my life that particular train line was called the Paoli Local, and then it became the R-5. But recently it was decided to rename it the Paoli-Thorndale line, aka PAO. Fine with me! I can still recite all the stops in order. :-)
Anyone who has used SEPTA in Philly knows it is integral to life there. I lived in Philly for 40 years and took transit twice daily. For most of that time I didn't even need a car. Fast forward to 2016: after several months of treatment for breast cancer -- 2 surgeries, chemo, radiation -- my partner was ready to go back to work. Companies like Comcast were hiring, but without health benefits. She found a job in Lancaster. I worked in Center City. We decided to house-hunt in an area no more than a few miles from the Paoli train station, which provided easy and flexible transit for me and the option of Amtrak for her. We would NOT have moved here without the SEPTA access.