Amid Ridership Surge, SEPTA Trains Are Packed

English: personal photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SEPTA is shuffling equipment and workers to try to deal with chronic crowding problems on Regional Rail trains, as ridership rises and old cars and locomotives break down more frequently.

Even the 120 new Silverliner V cars that have arrived since 2010 to replace 73 old cars have not solved the overcrowding issue.

About 15 percent of SEPTA’s rail cars are out of service on any given day, while passenger counts are up 4 percent from last year and 50 percent from 15 years ago.

“The trains are so full that it’s even hard to find room to stand,” said Katrina Claghorn, a dietitian who commutes daily from Wayne to 30th Street Station. “It started getting bad over the summer, and now the trains are packed when they pull into 30th Street Station on the Paoli line.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20141009_Amid_ridership_surge__SEPTA_shuffles_workers__trains_to_ease_crowding.html#WCQjedUsbj5PMw5Y.99

SEPTA Ridership At All-Time High

SEPTA logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SEPTA commuter trains had more passengers than ever in the year that ended June 30, carrying just over 36 million riders, SEPTA officials said Monday.

The trend was mirrored nationwide, as public transit in general and trains in particular have been gaining riders in recent years.

High gas prices, congested highways, relatively low fares, and a growing preference among young people for transit have all contributed to the rising number of passengers, transportation officials said Monday.

SEPTA Regional Rail trains carried 36.0 million riders, up from 35.3 million in fiscal 2012 and above the previous record of 35.5 million in 2008.  As recently as 1993, SEPTA carried just 19.2 million riders.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20130723_SEPTA_ridership_at_all-time_high.html#IwbTqaSRLXv0KHyh.99

Graziano Reviews Scranton Police Department’s Goals For 2013

Editor’s note:  Imagine that.  Goals, leadership, a positive attitude from the top down AND a concern for the quality of life of city residents.  Hmmmmm… is this too good to be true?  Does this actually happen in the real world?   I can think of a borough that could use an infusion of Chief Graziano’s I love my job attitude.  It’s obvious that everybody doesn’t love their job, especially when they make really awful comments about they town they work in.  Just sayin….

Acting Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano has a plan in mind for the city Police Department in 2013.  Some ideas build upon a foundation laid by previous programs and chiefs; others completely new.

The mentality he is bringing during his first full year as police chief is simple: help his officers do their job by getting them the best community support and equipment possible.

“I believe we have a lot of good quality officers here,” Chief Graziano said.  “One of my main goals is you’ve got to give the people below you the tools to do their jobs.”

The first goal is to continue and improve upon the community partnership by offering more proactive neighborhood policing with two new beat cop positions created solely for patrolling and addressing quality-of-life issues for residents.