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Pages tagged "Transit"


Roosevelt Boulevard Subway Town Hall

Let's get this train moving on the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway! Come hear from community members, elected officials and activists to help turn this vision into a reality. The 1-hour presentation will be followed by a Q&A session with the panelists.

We will have Doughnuts & Coffee.

We will be updating this event page with guests as they confirm their attendance.

Speaker List:

  • Rep. Jared Solomon, serving the 202nd Legislative District in the PA House of Representatives
  • Jay Arzu, 5th Square Transit Committee Member & Doctoral student of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design
  • Will Tung, 5th Square Organizer

Want to read more on this issue? Check out these recent articles:

  • Streetsblog USA / Opinion: President Biden — Let’s Get Philadelphia Moving Already
  • WHYY / Opinion: Can we afford the Roosevelt Blvd. subway? Maybe now is the time
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer / Philadelphians have waited over a century for the Roosevelt Boulevard subway | Opinion
  • Philadelphia Magazine / The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway is Dead … Unless It Isn't

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:

  • Accessible via bus routes 59, 70, and 77.
WHEN
August 27, 2022 at 9:00am
WHERE
PATH Center Community Room
1919 Cottman Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19111
United States
Google map and directions
23 rsvps
rsvp

Tell City Council: Philly Needs Bus Only Lanes!

It’s time the City paints the streets red for buses. 


Bus Only Lanes improve frequency and speed of service. There are key parts of the city that need dedicated bus lanes. Seeing a bus stand still in a sea of cars during rush hour is a pitiful sight. Being on that bus stuck in traffic is unpleasant and impacts riders’ ability to get to work or appointments on time.

279 signatures

In 2021, the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (oTIS) released the Philadelphia Transit Plan, declaring that the first crucial step towards implementing the plan was a network of high-quality, high-frequency bus corridors with dedicated lanes.

SEPTA’s Bus Revolution findings also show that many of the routes that have high ridership and slow speeds would benefit from having a dedicated lane. oTIS selected the following streets for bus only lanes:

Tier 1 (Highest priority):

  1. East Market Street
  2. Chestnut St. / Walnut St.
  3. Market Street & JFK Boulevard
  4. 20th Street
  5. Erie Avenue
  6. Olney Avenue
  7. Roosevelt Boulevard
  8. 52nd Street
  9. Lehigh Avenue

Tier 2 (Secondary priority):

  1. 19th Street
  2. 7th & 8th Street
  3. Spruce Street (from 33rd to 40th)
  4. 56th Street
  5. 29th Street
  6. Germantown Avenue
  7. Chelten Avenue
  8. Arrott Street
  9. Old York Road
  10. Oregon Avenue
  11. Castor Avenue
  12. Hunting Park Avenue

This is not a new concept. Other cities have started rolling out bus only lanes with much success. Toronto, San Francisco, Boston, and New York all have demonstrated the enormous benefits of dedicating road space to buses.

If Philadelphia wants to decrease congestion and help decelerate climate change in a cost effective way, putting down bus-only lanes is a great solution. This is also the best way to make our buses faster and more efficient, which will encourage commuters to switch from driving. With these lanes, we believe that Philadelphia can lead the way in having an efficient bus system that benefits everyone.

We ask Philadelphia’s City Council to support SEPTA and the Philadelphia Transit Plan by dedicating the priority bus corridors in their neighborhoods for the use of bus-only lanes.  We also ask State Legislators to legalize automated bus lane enforcement to ensure these lanes are clear of personal vehicles.

 

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WIN: Free SEPTA for Children Under 12!

We at 5th Square are thrilled to see SEPTA’s Budget, Planning, and Information Technology Committee recommend changes to their fare restructuring plan that move substantially in the direction of our Fair Fares advocacy platform. We thank all the volunteers who made calls, gave testimony before SEPTA, and spoke about these issues with their elected officials. 

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Petition: SEPTA, Fix the Route 15 Trolleys!


UPDATE: SEPTA spokespeople have said that SEPTA is committed to restoring the Route 15 trolleys after some planned construction projects finish next year. We've been down this road before with other trolley routes though, so it's important to keep the pressure on and keep contacting your elected officials.

Read SEPTA's comments to Philly Mag, and WHYY's coverage of this issue. Original petition with updates is after the jump.

500 signatures

SEPTA is planning to pull the Route 15 trolleys from service at the end of January for planned construction projects, and due to deferred maintenance issues with 78% of the fleet. They now say they'll be bringing the PCCs back when construction is over—a very positive sign!—but there are still big questions that need to be answered.

Please sign and share this petition calling on SEPTA and local officials to commit to high-quality trolley service on Girard Ave!


Background


5th Square has learned that a bridge replacement project on West Girard will require the trolleys to be replaced with buses for at least a year. But SEPTA’s maintenance crews have also been directed for years to defer maintenance on the trolleys, and with as much as 78% of the fleet
 expected to fail inspection, they’ll all be pulled off the road as of Sunday.

In the best-case scenario, SEPTA must repair the PCC trolleys and have them ready to go when the construction projects tying up trolley service are over.

SEPTA should also use this time to begin the long-awaited but unfunded
Trolley Modernization project, which could bring modern, brand-new trolleys with full accessibility to Girard Ave. However, given the coincidental timing of these issues, it’s also easy for management to justify “temporarily suspending” trolley service indefinitely. This happened back in 1992 with the original Routes 15, 23, and 56, and it took 13 years and over $100 million for the Route 15 trolleys to come back. Routes 23 and 56 are still waiting.

While trolley modernization is a great idea on paper, it can’t go anywhere without a firm plan to buy new trolleys. Otherwise, the only option left is to gradually scrap the rest of them as they break down, including those in West Philly, leaving riders with slower and more crowded buses. 

We need SEPTA, Mayor Kenney, and City Council members with Route 15 service (Darrell Clarke, Mark Squilla, Jamie Gauthier, Curtis Jones, and Bobby Henon) to support world-class trolley service that is fast, accessible, and environmentally sustainable. We also need our elected officials to leverage their control of City streets by putting transit riders first.

Demands

After you sign and share this petition, make sure to contact SEPTA and City Hall and demand (politely!) that they:

- Fix the PCC trolleys and perform the needed maintenance

- Immediately resume and maintain existing Route 15 trolleys after bridge replacement

- Support SEPTA’s trolley modernization project to the fullest extent

- Ensure frequent, uncrowded, and reliable bus service during substitution with active monitoring

If done right, SEPTA’s trolley modernization program can dramatically improve conditions for 2.5 million yearly Route 15 riders, and set the standard for future transit improvements in Philadelphia. Transit riders need your help! Contact SEPTA/City Hall and tell them you want them to fix the Route 15 trolleys!

Route 15 trolley supporters who are able to attend should also come to SEPTA's next Board meeting on January 23rd at 3 PM at the 1234 Market office, and call on the Board to commit to bringing back trolley service on Girard Ave. RSVP here and you'll receive an email with talking points and instructions for Thursday's meeting.

RSVP for Thursday's Board meeting: https://www.5thsq.org/save_our_route_15_trolleys_at_the_septa_board_meeting

Contact your representatives:

SEPTA | http://www3.septa.org/customerservice/ | Twitter @SEPTA_SOCIAL

Mayor Kenney | https://www.phila.gov/departments/mayor/ | (215) 686-2181

Council District 5 | http://phlcouncil.com/darrellclarke/ | (215) 686-3442

Council District 1 | http://phlcouncil.com/MarkSquilla/ | (215) 686-3458

Council District 3 | http://phlcouncil.com/JamieGauthier/ | (215) 686-0459

Council District 4 | http://phlcouncil.com/CurtisJonesJr/ | (215) 686-3416

Council District 6 | http://phlcouncil.com/BobbyHenon/ | (215) 686-3444

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5th Square's Response to oTIS Route for Change (Roosevelt Boulevard) November 2018 Workshops

The Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability has released their first long-term vision for a major Philadelphia corridor, Roosevelt Boulevard! Read all about 5th Square's response here...

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Petition: Mayor Kenney, Make SEPTA Free on Election Day!

Photo: Jeff Fusco / Philly Mag

Mayor Kenney, City Council, and SEPTA:

Let's join other major cities including Dallas, Houston, Tampa, and the Twin Cities and offer complimentary public transit on election day. Let's help Philadelphians make a voting plan that includes SEPTA. 

500 signatures

We know that not only getting to the polls can be challenging in Philadelphia, but many people also have long and expensive commutes on SEPTA to work and/or to drop their children off to daycare and schools, and getting to the polls may require an extra trip or two.

One poll showed thirty-eight percent of youth of color said that lacking transportation played a minor or major role in their choice not to vote, whereas just 27 percent of young white non-voters said the same.

By making SEPTA free to riders for the day, we can help ease the burden to make voting more convenient, create a culture that values voting from the highest levels of City government on down, and make sure Philadelphians get to the polls in a critical midterm election year when the city's interests are on the line in Harrisburg and Washington. 

This November 6th, let's make it easier than ever to vote by funding free SEPTA for all on Election Day!

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5th Square calls for action from City, SEPTA as ridership plummets 7% in 2016

SEPTA_Bus_Philly_Mag.jpg

Ridership on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) fell 7.1% in 2016, driven by a sharp decline in bus ridership, according to data from the Federal Transit Administration’s National Transit Database (NTD). SEPTA bus ridership is at its lowest level in five years, falling 13 million trips last year, roughly 14 fewer trips per bus rider. The city’s rail and trolley lines also fell by 8 million trips. 

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