| SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Info | |||
| Locale | Delaware Valley | ||
| Transit type | |||
| Number of lines | 196 | ||
| Number of stations | 280 | ||
| Annual ridership | 320,984,300 [1] | ||
| Chief executive | Joseph M. Casey | ||
| Headquarters | 1234 Market Street, Philadelphia | ||
| Website | http://www.septa.org/ | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 1965 | ||
| Operator(s) | SEPTA (some routes in Chester Co. contracted) |
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| Reporting marks | SEPA SPAX |
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| Number of vehicles | 2,295 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1,588 mm) |
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The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a metropolitan transportation authority [2] that operates various forms of public transit—bus, subway and elevated rail, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolley bus—that serve 3.9 million people in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. SEPTA also manages construction projects that repair, replace, and expand infrastructure and rolling stock.
SEPTA serves the combined city and county of Philadelphia, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, and Chester County. SEPTA also serves New Castle County in Delaware, and Mercer County in New Jersey.
SEPTA has the 6th-largest U.S. rapid transit system by ridership, and the 5th largest overall transit system, with about 306.9 million annual unlinked trips. It controls 280 active stations, over 450 miles (720 km) of track, 2,295 revenue vehicles, and 196 routes. SEPTA also manages Shared-Ride services in Philadelphia and ADA services across the region. These services are operated by third-party contractors. SEPTA is the only transportation authority in the U.S. that does not contract any railroads services out to third-party (and usually, better qualified) contractors; all other transporation authorities contract out at least one service for operations (Metra utilizes BNSF Railway, New Jersey Transit utilizes Bombardier and URS Corporation, Shore Line East utilizes Amtrak, etc.).
SEPTA is one of only two U.S. transit authorities that operates all of the five major types of transit vehicles: regional (commuter) rail trains, "heavy" rapid transit (subway/elevated) trains, light rail vehicles (trolleys), electric trolleybuses, and motor buses. The other is Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (which runs ferryboat service as well).[3] SEPTA's headquarters are located at 1234 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia.
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SEPTA was created by the Pennsylvania legislature on August 17, 1963, to coordinate government subsidies to various transit and railroad companies in southeastern Pennsylvania. It commenced on February 18, 1964.[4]
On November 1, 1965, SEPTA absorbed two predecessor agencies:
By 1966, the Reading Company and Pennsylvania Railroad commuter railroad lines were operated under contract to SEPTA. On February 1, 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with the New York Central railroad to become Penn Central, only to file for bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. Penn Central continued to operate in bankruptcy until 1976, when Conrail took over its assets along with those of several other bankrupt railroads, including the Reading Company. Conrail operated commuter services under contract to SEPTA until January 1, 1983, when SEPTA took over operations and acquired track, rolling stock, and other assets to form the Railroad Division.
SEPTA acquired the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) on September 30, 1968, which included bus, trolley, and trackless trolley routes, and the Market–Frankford Line and Broad Street Line in the City of Philadelphia. This became the City Transit Division. (Established as the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company in 1907 by the merger of a group of then independent transit companies operating within the city and its environs, the system became the PTC in 1940.)
On January 30, 1970, SEPTA acquired the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, also known as the Red Arrow Lines, which included the Philadelphia and Western Railroad (P&W) route now called the Norristown High Speed Line (Route 100), the Media and Sharon Hill Lines (Routes 101 and 102), and several suburban bus routes in Delaware County. Today, this is the Victory Division, though it is sometimes referred to as the Red Arrow Division.
On March 1, 1976, SEPTA acquired the transit operations of Schuylkill Valley Lines, which is today the Frontier Division.
SEPTA is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors:
The members of the SEPTA Board as of August 2010[update] are:[5]
The day-to-day operations of SEPTA are handled by the General Manager, who is appointed and hired by the Board of Directors. The General Manager is assisted by nine department heads called Assistant General Managers.
The present General Manager is Joseph M. Casey, who had served as the authority's Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer until his appointment as General Manager in 2008. Past General Managers include Faye L. M. Moore, Joseph T. Mack, John "Jack" Leary, Lou Gambaccini, and David L. Gunn. Past acting General Managers include James Kilcur and Bill Stead.
Trackless trolleys (as they are called by SEPTA) operate on routes 59, 66, and 75. Service resumed in spring 2008 after a nearly five-year suspension.[7] Until June 2002, five SEPTA routes were operated with trackless trolleys, using AM General vehicles built in 1978–79. Routes 29, 59, 66, 75, and 79 used trackless trolleys, but were converted to diesel buses for an indefinite period starting in 2002 (routes 59, 66, 75) and 2003 (routes 29, 79). The aging AM General trackless trolleys were never returned to service, but in February 2006 SEPTA placed an order for 38 new low-floor trackless trolleys from New Flyer Industries—enough for routes 59, 66, and 75 only—and the pilot trackless trolley arrived in June 2007, for testing.[8] The production-series vehicles were delivered between February and August 2008. Trackless trolley service resumed on Routes 66 and 75 on April 14, 2008, and on Route 59 the following day, but was initially limited to just one or two vehicles on each route, as new trolley buses gradually replaced the motorbuses serving the routes over a period of several weeks.[9] The SEPTA board voted in October 2006 not to order additional vehicles for Routes 29 and 79, and those routes permanently became non-electric.[7][10]
SEPTA lists 121 bus routes, not including over 50 school trips, with most routes in the City of Philadelphia proper. SEPTA generally employs lettered, one and two-digit route numbering for its City Division routes, 90-series and 100-series routes for its Victory Division (Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties) and its Frontier Division (Montgomery and Bucks Counties), 200-series routes for its Regional Rail connector routes (Routes 201, 204, 205, and 206 in Montgomery & Chester Counties), 300-series routes for other specialized or third-party contract routes, and 400-series routes for limited service buses to schools within Philadelphia.
SEPTA began operating its commuter rail division (as SEPTA Regional Rail) on January 1, 1983. This division operates 13 lines serving more than 150 stations covering most of the five-county southeastern Pennsylvania region. It also runs trains to Newark, Delaware, Trenton, New Jersey, and West Trenton, New Jersey. Daily ridership averaged over 121,000 in 2010,[6] with 29% of ridership on the Paoli/Thorndale and Lansdale/Doylestown lines.
Most of the cars used on the lines range in vintage from 1963 to 1976.[11] New Silverliner V cars were introduced into service on October 29, 2010, the first piece of rolling stock purchase by SEPTA since assuming operations in 1983;[12] initially, only 3 of the 120 new Silverliner V cars were operated. Due to mismanagement and labor issues, the cars are being introduced gradually and are currently limited to several daily departures.[13]
SEPTA has three major operating divisions: City Transit, Suburban, and Regional Rail. These divisions reflect the different transit and railroad operations that SEPTA has assumed.
The City Transit Division operates routes mostly within the City of Philadelphia, including buses, subway–surface trolleys, the Market–Frankford Line, and the Broad Street Line. SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes include bus and trackless trolley lines. Light rail routes consist of the subway–surface trolleys and Route 15. Some city division routes extend into Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks counties. This division is the descendant of the PTC. There are eight operating depots in this division: five of these depots only operate buses, one is a mixed bus/trackless trolley depot, one is a mixed bus/streetcar depot, and one is a streetcar-only facility.
The Victory District operates suburban bus and trolley (or light rail) routes that are based at 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby in Delaware County. Its light rail routes comprise the Norristown High Speed Line (Route 100) that runs from 69th Street Terminal to Norristown and the SEPTA Surface Media and Sharon Hill Trolley Lines (Routes 101 and 102). This district is the descendant of the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, also known as the Red Arrow Lines. Most residents of the Victory District operating area still refer to this district as the "Red Arrow Division."
The Frontier District operates suburban bus routes that are based at the Norristown Transportation Center in Montgomery County and bus lines that serve eastern Bucks County. This district is the descendant of the Schuylkill Valley Lines in the Norristown area and the Trenton-Philadelphia Coach Lines in eastern Bucks County. SEPTA took over Schuylkill Valley Lines operation on March 1, 1976. SEPTA turned over the Bucks County routes (formerly: Trenton-Philadelphia Coach Line Routes a subsidiary of SEPTA) to Frontier Division in November 1983.
Krapf's Coaches operate four bus lines under contract to SEPTA in Chester County. These routes are operated from Krapf's own garage, located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Krapf's has operated three other bus routes for SEPTA in the past. Routes 202 (West Chester to Wilmington), Route 207 (The Whiteland WHIRL), and Route 208 (Strafford Train Station to Chesterbrook) are no longer operating. SEPTA contracted bus operations before in Chester County. SEPTA and Reeder's Inc. joined forces in 1977 to operate three bus routes out of West Chester. These routes were the Route 120 (West Chester to Coatesville), Route 121 (West Chester to Paoli), and Route 122 (West Chester to Oxford). Bus service between West Chester and Coatesville was a replacement for the previous trolley service operated by West Chester Traction. SEPTA did replace two of the routes with their own bus service. Route 122 service was replaced by SEPTA's Route 91 on July 6, 1982 after only one year of service Route 91 was eliminated due to lack of ridership. Route 121 was replaced by SEPTA's Route 92 on October 11, 1982 this service continues to operate today. Since ridership on the Route 120 was strong it continued to operate under the operations of Reeder's Inc. even after SEPTA pulled the funding source. Krapf's purchased the Reeder's operation in 1992 and designated the remaining (West Chester to Coatesville) bus route as Krapf's Transit "Route A".
The Railroad Division[14] operates 13 commuter railroad routes that begin in Central Philadelphia and radiate outwards, terminating in intra-city, suburban, and out-of-state locations.
This division is the descendant of the six electrified commuter lines of the Reading Company (RDG), the six electrified commuter lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR, later Penn Central: PC), and the new Airport line constructed by the City of Philadelphia between 1974 and 1984.
With the construction and opening of the Center City Commuter Connection Tunnel in 1984, lines were paired such that a former Pennsylvania Railroad line was coupled with a former Reading line. Seven such pairings were created and given route designations numbered R1 through R8 (with R4 not used). As a result, the routes were originally designed so that trains would proceed from one outlying terminal to Center City, stopping at 30th Street Station, Suburban Station, and Market East Station, then proceed out to the other outlying terminal assigned to the route. Since ridership patterns have changed since the implementation of this plan, SEPTA removed the R-numbers from the lines in July 2010, and instead refers to the lines by the names of their termini.
The out-of-state terminals offer connections with other transit agencies. The Trenton Line offers connections in Trenton, New Jersey to NJ Transit (NJT) or Amtrak for travel to New York City. Plans exist to restore NJT service to West Trenton, New Jersey, thus offering a future alternate to New York via the West Trenton Line and NJT. Another plan offers a connection for travel to Baltimore and Washington DC via MARC, involving extensions of the SEPTA Wilmington/Newark Line from Newark, Delaware, an extension of MARC's Penn service from Perryville, Maryland, or both. It has also been proposed for the line- which currently does not run late nights, nor on Sundays beyond Marcus Hook- to have additional runs at those times to Wilmington and Newark.
In 1982, SEPTA's bus order from Neoplan USA was the largest for Neoplan at the time and SEPTA's largest to date. These buses were used throughout the SEPTA service area. SEPTA changed its specifications on new bus orders each year. The Neoplan AK's (numbered 8285–8410), which was SEPTA's first Neoplan order, had longitudinal seating: all of the seats face towards the aisle. However, their suburban counterparts (8411–8434) had longitudinal seating only in the rear of the bus. The back door has a wheelchair ramp, which forced SEPTA to limit its use and specify wheelchair lifts for the authority's next order of coaches. These buses included a nine-liter 6v92 engine and Allison HT-740 transmission.
In 1983 SEPTA, along with other transit operators in Pennsylvania, ordered 1000 buses from Neoplan of various lengths.[15] SEPTA ultimately received 450 buses from this order: 425 were 40-foot (12 m) buses (8435–8584 and 8601–8875), which came without wheelchair lifts, and 25 buses that were 35-foot (11 m) buses (1301–1325).
SEPTA bought more Neoplans on its own in 1986, and these began to arrive in early 1987. The first two groups (3000–3131 and 3132–3251) came without wheelchair lifts, but the last two groups, one in late 1987 (3252–3371) and another in 1989 (3372–3491), included rear wheelchair lifts. All Neoplans built between 1986 and 1989 were equipped with a ZF 5HP-590 transmission.
By the early 1990s, SEPTA had 1,092 Neoplan AN440 coaches in active service, making it the largest North American transportation authority with a fleet primarily manufactured by Neoplan USA. These buses dominated the streets of Philadelphia through late 1997, when the earlier fleet of AK and BD Neoplans (8285–8581) was replaced by a series of 400 buses built by North American Bus Industries (NABI).[16] More replacements occurred when SEPTA received its low-floor fleet, with the last An440 buses removed from service in June 2008.
The Neoplan model has not entirely vanished from Philadelphia's streets, since SEPTA contracted with Neoplan in 1998 to build a fleet of 155 articulated buses, the first of which began to arrive in late 1999. By the summer of 2000, all were in service.[17]
SEPTA also purchased smaller buses along with the articulated bus contract. The smaller bus order consisted of 80 buses from National-Eldorado (4501–4580), the first of which began to arrive in late 2000. Most of these buses are on suburban routes, but a group of them is in use in the "LUCY" service in the University City section of West Philadelphia, in a special paint scheme, and a number of them are on lighter lines within Philadelphia.
Also, a group of buses called "cutaways" was purchased. These buses were built on Ford van chassis, with bodies similar to those seen on car rental shuttles at various airports. These buses were retired around 2003 and replaced with slightly larger cutaway buses on a Freightliner truck chassis.
The next bus type, which has steered SEPTA into a new era, was the low-floor bus. After evaluating sample buses in the 1995–96 period from New Flyer and NovaBus, SEPTA placed an order with New Flyer for 100 low-floor buses (5401–5500). A pilot bus arrived in January 2001, and production models followed in the autumn of 2001. More purchases arrived from 2002 to 2005, with the 2002–04 buses numbered 5501–5600, 5613–5830, and 5851–5950. The 2005 arrivals were numbered 8000–8119, these numbers presumably chosen so as not to run into the 6000's, which had been reserved for an order of commuter coaches from Motor Coach Industries that SEPTA did not pursue.
Trackless trolley (trolley bus) service was suspended in 2003, and the 110 AM General vehicles that had provided service on SEPTA's then-five trackless trolley routes never returned to service.[18] However, the authority placed an order in early 2006 for 38 new low-floor trackless trolleys from New Flyer, and these entered service in 2008, restoring trackless service on three of the five routes (routes 59, 66, and 75).[9]
SEPTA placed an order with delivery starting in 2008 for 400 New Flyer hybrid buses—with options for up to 80 additional buses—to replace the NABI Ikarus buses at the end of their 12-year life span.[19] These will not be the first hybrid buses, since SEPTA purchased two small groups of hybrids, 5601H–5612H, which arrived in 2003, and 5831H–5850H in 2004. Before the 2008 purchase, SEPTA borrowed an MTA New York City Transit Orion hybrid to evaluate it in service. While in use for SEPTA, the bus bore the number 3999; after evaluation, it resumed its New York identity. From the 2008 purchase, the first hybrids arrived in late 2008, and by early spring 2009, all were in service. SEPTA was the first to purchase New Flyer DE40LFs equipped with rooftop HVAC units. Recently it had been confirmed by different sources that the next batch of hybrids for SEPTA will be New Flyer DE40LFRs due to New Flyer discontinuing the LF series in 2009.
Although transit authorities earn revenue from advertisements placed on buses, SEPTA earns more advertising revenue from advertisements placed on the back of its buses. As a result, SEPTA buses are mainly equipped with a rooftop HVAC and with their rear route-number sign mounted close to the roof, which provides space for rear advertisements—especially on the 2008–2009 New Flyer DE40LFs and future orders.[20]
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The Broad Street Line uses cars built by Kawasaki between 1981 and 1983. These cars, known as B-IV as they are the fourth generation used on the line, are stainless steel and include some cars with operating cabs at both ends, as well as some with only a single cab.
The Market-Frankford Line uses a class of car known as M-4, as they, like the Broad Street B-IV's, represent the line's fourth generation of cars, and were built from 1996 to 1999 by Adtranz. These cars are built to the unusual broad gauge of 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1,588 mm), known as "Pennsylvania trolley gauge".
The vehicles used on SEPTA's Subway-Surface trolleys were built by Kawasaki in 1981. Known as "K-cars", they use the Pennsylvania trolley gauge of 5 ft 2 1⁄2 in (1,588 mm).
Uniquely, the Girard Street Line uses "PCC II" trolleys, originally built in 1947 by the St. Louis Car Company, which were rebuilt for the line's reopening in 2003 to include air conditioning. The line, like the Subway-Surface lines, is Pennsylvania trolley gauge.
The suburban trolley lines use Kawasaki-built vehicles similar to, but larger than, the Subway-Surface trolleys. They too are Pennsylvania trolley gauge. Notably, they are double ended, unlike the Subway-Surface trolleys, as the suburban lines lack any loops to turn the vehicles.
The Norristown High Speed Line uses a class of cars known as N-5s. They were delivered in 1993 by ABB after significant production delays. Unlike the rest of SEPTA's trolley lines, they are standard gauge.
SEPTA uses a mixed fleet of Budd Company, General Electric, and St. Louis Car Company "Silverliner" electric multiple unit self-operated cars. SEPTA also uses push-pull equipment consisting of coaches built by Bombardier and hauled by AEM-7 or ALP-44 electric locomotives, identical to those used by Amtrak and NJT on its electrified rail services, for express and rush-hour service. SEPTA is currently undergoing the process of retiring the Budd and St. Louis Silverliner cars and replacing them with a model built by Hyundai Rotem.
The PATCO Speedline is a rapid transit line that runs from Center City Philadelphia to Camden, New Jersey and terminates in Lindenwold, New Jersey. At the 8th Street station, one can transfer to the Market–Frankford Line and Broad–Ridge Spur with an additional transfer fare. Paid transfers are also available at PATCO's 12th–13th Street station and 15th–16th Street station with SEPTA's Broad Street Line Walnut–Locust station. The PATCO Speedline crosses over the Delaware River via the Ben Franklin Bridge. It is owned by the Delaware River Port Authority.
In the western Philadelphia suburbs, Krapf's Transit runs regularly scheduled buses between Coatesville, Downingtown, Exton, and West Chester. SEPTA Routes 92 and 104 connect with this service in West Chester, and route 92 also connects with this service at the Exton Square Mall. Krapf's also provide contract services to SEPTA on four routes (204, 205, 306, and 314).
In King of Prussia, the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association runs a community shuttle, the Rambler, which connects with SEPTA at the King of Prussia Mall Transportation Center.
In the northwestern Philadelphia suburbs, Pottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART, formerly known as Pottstown Urban Transit) operates six daytime bus routes and three nighttime bus routes within Pottstown Borough and the neighboring townships of Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove, Upper Pottsgrove, and West Pottsgrove in Montgomery County and North Coventry Township in Chester County. PART and SEPTA have an agreement allowing transfers between PART service and SEPTA Route 93 buses in Pottstown.
NJ Transit runs buses from Philadelphia to New Jersey points. Many NJT buses stop at the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal, which is immediately north of Market East Station, or at other locations in Center City Philadelphia. NJT also operates the River Line light rail line between Camden and Trenton, the Northeast Corridor Line between Trenton and New York, and the Atlantic City Line between 30th Street Station and Atlantic City. Both the Northeast Corridor Line and River Line connect with SEPTA's Regional Rail Trenton Line at the Trenton train station. Additionally, SEPTA Route 127 connects with NJT bus and rail services at Trenton.
DART First State provides bus service in Delaware. This service connects with SEPTA's Wilmington/Newark Line Regional Rail service in Wilmington and Newark. In 2007, SEPTA bus Route 306 began service, connecting the Great Valley Corporate Center and West Chester with the Brandywine Town Center; service between West Chester and Brandywine Town Center was discontinued in 2010 due to low ridership. In February 2009, SEPTA bus Route 113 commenced connecting bus service with DART at the Tri-State Mall, allowing service between Delaware County and the State of Delaware on Sundays as the Wilmington/Newark Line does not operate beyond Marcus Hook on Sundays.
Amtrak provides rail service between Philadelphia (at 30th Street Station) and points beyond SEPTA's range, including Lancaster, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Chicago to the west, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to the southwest, and New York, Boston, and Montreal to the northeast. Amtrak's service overlaps to some degree with the Wilmington/Newark Line, Paoli/Thorndale Line, and Trenton Line. In addition to 30th Street Station, shared Amtrak/SEPTA Regional Rail stations include Wilmington and Newark on the Wilmington/Newark Line, Ardmore, Paoli, Exton, and Downingtown on the Paoli/Thorndale Line, and North Philadelphia, Cornwells Heights, and Trenton on the Trenton Line. Amtrak is faster than SEPTA, but significantly more expensive, particularly for services along the Northeast Corridor.
Greyhound and a variety of interregional bus operators, most of which are part of the Trailways system, stop at the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal. In addition to being adjacent to Market East Station, the terminal is one block from the Market–Frankford Line 11th Street station and various SEPTA bus routes. Major destinations served with one seat rides to/from the terminal include Allentown, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Newark (New Jersey), New York, Pittsburgh, Reading, Scranton, Washington, and Wilmington. In addition, six NJ Transit bus routes (313, 315, 316, 317, 318, and 551) originate and terminate from this terminal.
Philadelphia International Airport is served by many airlines with flights to various national and international points. SEPTA serves the airport with local bus service and with the Airport Line from Center City.
