Category: Uncategorized

Delivery of the first installment of 110 of the order of 525 buses has commenced.

 

On Feburary 22nd 2017, DART will have an open house at ___ for the proposed changes to an wide selection of bus routes. These proposed changes are begin with the next schedule change effective Sunday, May 21, 2017.

For more infomation on these changes –

http://dartfirststate.com/information/getting_there/public_hearings/PHWPassengerNoticeMay2017.pdf

Due to the Silverliner Vs being taken out of service, SEPTA has reached out for help from neighboring railroads.  MARC, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak have responded to the call.

From MARC, SEPTA obtained 5 single-level Sumitomo railcars. These cars have yet to be seen in SEPTA service. Update: These cars are now running on the Wilmington/Newark Line, train #1297, the 4:55 PM Express from Suburban Station to Newark.

From Amtrak, SEPTA is leasing 2 ACS-64s and 5 Amfleets, including a Cab Car. So far, this train has been confirmed to run on the Paoli-Thorndale Line as the 6:31 AM train from Bryn Mawr (#1580), the 8:31 AM train from Bryn Mawr (#1582), the 4:25 PM train from Suburban Station (#1581) and the 5:50 PM train from Suburban Station (#1583). Yes, all trains are Bryn Mawr Locals!

From New Jersey Transit, SEPTA is leasing 8 Comets and an ALP-46. So far, this train was spotted on the Trenton Line on train #1794 (6:53 AM Express from Trenton) and train #1763 (4:35 PM Express from Suburban Station).

The MARC cars will be maintained by SEPTA, while the NJT and Amtrak cars will be maintained by their respective operators each day. SEPTA crews are operating all cars.

Starting today, SEPTA was able to modifty its Interim Weekday Schedule to include these trains, which frees up some Silverliner IVs so they can enhance service between Glenside and Center City on the SEPTA Main, the source of a number of pass-ups last week.  The Cynwyd line is still using shuttle buses instead of trains. As more information comes out about where the leased trains are running, we’ll be sure to update this site with the latest info.

Click the link for more details about the leased cars and how much this is costing SEPTA: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/SEPTA-spending-750000-on-leased-fleet.html

 

Due to an recent inspection conducted by SEPTA. It was discovered the entire fleet of Silverliner Vs train cars were taken out of Sevice due to a Defective part.  It has been speculated part is a part of the truck which holds the axles in place – perhaps a part of the suspension housing. More infomation is to come.

 

http://6abc.com/traffic/septa-1-3-of-regional-rail-fleet-going-out-of-service-/1411365/

Starting Tuesday, May 31st, 60 foot Novabus Artics started serving route 17 to deal with overcrowding on the line. The service still runs at its regular headways.  This is the only Southern line to use articulated buses.

Due to the longer buses, the route 17 will be extended to the Penn’s Landing Viaduct during the day, as there isn’t enough room at the Front & Market Terminal for both the 48 and 17’s articulated buses to layover. In fact, route 5 is now laying over on Front Street.

The new schedule comes out on Sunday, June 19th.

SEPTA and Uber have reached an agreement where over the summer time, Uber rides to/from certain SEPTA stations will be discounted by 40% (up to $10). This is an effort to see if encouraging commuters to “Uber” to the station, rather than drive, will help increase ridership and help to solve parking issues. SEPTA has been having a long time problem of not having enough space at many of its stations to accomodate those who wish to park and ride; many of these lots are often full by 7:30 AM!

The stations that are part of this trial program are:

Doylestown	Lansdale/Doylestown Line
Lansdale	Lansdale/Doylestown Line
Warminster	Warminster Line
Woodbourne	West Trenton Line
Glenside	Lansdale/Doylestown Line Warminster Line
Jenkintown-Wyncote	Lansdale/Doylestown Line Warminster Line West Trenton Line
Elkins Park	Lansdale/Doylestown Line Warminster Line West Trenton Line
Melrose Park	Lansdale/Doylestown Line Warminster Line West Trenton Line
Exton	Paoli-Thorndale Line
Wayne	Paoli-Thorndale Line
Swarthmore	Media/Elwyn Line

To take advantage of this offer, just download the Uber App from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. If it is your first ride, enter Promo Code – w6945 – to get a free ride worth up to $15.

http://planphilly.com/articles/2016/05/25/septa-announces-discount-program-with-uber-for-rides-to-from-11-regional-rail-stations

The SEPTA board approved a contract for 525 New Flyer (Xceslsior) Hybrid-Electric buses to be delivered over the next 5 years. These XDE40s, the first that SEPTA has ordered, will replace all of the standard diesel D40LFs that SEPTA operates, from 5401 to 8119. This order will bring the bus fleet to being 95% Diesel-Electric Hybrid when the it is finished. The only buses that won’t be hybrids will be the all-electric Proterra buses that are coming next year along with the New Flyer MiDis that should start to arrive later this year for contract operations.

http://www.septa.org/media/releases/2016/05-26-16b.html

Thanks to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) No or Low Emission Vehicle Deployment Program, SEPTA received $2.6 million to order 25 battery-electric buses from Proterra along with 5 overhead charging stations. Not only are these buses wireless and 100% electric, but they also can recharge at an overhead charging station while the operator is laying over.  

This is Proterra’s first order from a major city on the East Coast, and one of its largest orders from a major transit agency.

These 40ft buses will run on routes 29 and 79, both of which are former Trackless Trolley lines, since the lines are short and relatively flat. SEPTA expects to receive the buses some time next year.

For more details: http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/04/20/septa-grant-electric-buses/

The fourth batch of the Novabus order (7455-7484) has begun the arrive several weeks ago. These buses are slated to be assigned at Southern depot where they would operate on the route 17. This would be the first time in history where the route 17 has have artic/bendy buses to operate on it. Currently two buses (7338 and 7400) are at Southern depot for the purpose to train operators on the route 17.

SEPTA has released their plans for the weekend when the Pope will arrive in Philadelphia. There are numerious of routes which are not running or have some drastic changes being made to them for the September 26th and September 27th. Be sure to check these changes out

 

http://septa.org/fares/special-papal-visit.html