Citizens Agenda on Transportation

Philadelphians love to complain. They’re quick with rueful rundowns of the sins of SEPTA, Philadelphia International Airport, the “Sure-kill” Expressway.

They rarely get around to admitting that, for a big, busy region, this one isn’t that hard to get around. Commute times aren’t great, but they’re better than in other big East Coast regions. Philly is second to the Big Apple in the number of people who walk to work. When those pedestrians need wheels, they use the car-for-a-day services like the booming Philly CarShare.

The region’s interstate system is nearly complete, except for that pesky Turnpike-Interstate 95 interchange. The airport is less dreary than it was and cheaper to use thanks to Southwest Airlines. (If only US Airways weren’t such a basket case.) The region is well served by passenger rail.

Then there’s SEPTA, dear old SEPTA, the Rodney Dangerfield of public agencies.  It don’t get no respect. But its sprawling network is something many other cities would die for. The lumbering giant will spend $1 billion this year to move millions of riders on its fleet of trains, buses and trolleys. SEPTA’s on-time performance is getting better. It has spent billions spiffing up its infrastructure.

So, what’s the problem?

For one thing, SEPTA gets 47 cents out of every dollar it spends from government subsidies that are perpetually iffy. Who among us is unfamiliar with the annual SEPTA drama over service cutbacks? These showdowns absorb much of its managers’ energy, which would be better spent improving service and studying how to respond to new commuting patterns.

But this year, progress. The state came up with a way to provide more stable aid to transit agencies. These measures promise to spare SEPTA its annual near-death experiences. Now, after years of pleading poverty, it is time for the cranky giant to deliver.

Here are a few ideas on to make the region’s transportation system more of a linked, functioning system:

The No. 1 Priority

Customer service.  Why not give it a try, SEPTA?

Why it matters: Because this is why SEPTA exists. The agency has gotten away with offering less by pleading that less is the best it can do. Now it can do more, and more is overdue.

What to do: Ask riders what they want. SEPTA’s service, its value, its strengths and weakness were hot topics at citizen forums. Riders had a slew of ideas. Get out of the bunker and go talk to people. Some of those ideas are below.

Near-term actions

User, meet friendly: More places to buy SEPTA tokens, please (at least for as long as the agency uses those outmoded items).  Break out the mops more often. (If the experiment with having the Center City District clean the City Hall concourse works, put more maintenance contracts out to private bid.) Put out newspaper recycling bins. Create more readable schedules, on paper and on the Web. And how about teaching bus drivers to smile, to treat all customers with respect, and to share the road? 

Kindness to strangers: Stop treating tourists like lepers, SEPTA. Tourism is an engine of the regional economy. But if you don’t have a monthly Transpass, SEPTA doesn’t want to deal with you. Fix that attitude. Work with tourism officials to make transit the visitors’ friend.

Know parking: Create a Center City parking strategy beyond “more garages.” It’s a downtown made for walking and loved by tourists. It needs a parking plan that sets prices so as to encourage commuters to take transit, without wholesale fleecing of visitors, shoppers and diners. While we’re at it, get the ticket-happy, patronage-crazy Philadelphia Parking Authority under control – as a city-run agency preferably.

Unload that baggage: Stop using the airport as a patronage pit. Run it professionally. The airport is too important to the region’s economy and has too many problems, from runway shortages to US Airways’ woes, to be treated by City Hall as a contract “cookie jar.”

Sharing is good: Create incentives for employers and developers to fit car-sharing services into their plans.

Sing transit’s glories: City officials and SEPTA board members should be more active in promoting use of transit, including making a point of using it themselves a la New York City’s Michael Bloomberg.

Long-term efforts

’Burbs Ho! Move beyond SEPTA’s 20th century hub-and-spokes configuration, which doesn’t fit newer commuting patterns: suburb to suburb, and the city to suburb “reverse commute.” Federal aid to build transit likely will grow again in an era of costly oil. Revive SEPTA’s moribund planning department, spur this regional agency to actually think regionally, and get ready with some bold plans for new lines. If not light-rail, then ….

BRT, ASAP: Experiment with this acronym. It stands for bus rapid transit, and cities around the world are trying it as an interim step, or permanent substitute, where light-rail is hard to get done. These buses run in dedicated lanes, get priority through traffic lights, and spend little time at stops. They’re designed for quick access with riders paying fares at the bus stop. Atlanta’s trying it. So should we. (But don’t abandon long-term planning for expanded light-rail; it’s not an either/or proposition.)

Hello, SmartCards: Catch up to the world. SEPTA’s one of the last big systems where riders still fumble with tokens and transfers. SmartCards are like E-Z Pass for mass transit; your digital card (either preloaded or debit) gets read automatically. Ideally, this region’s SmartCard would work on PATCO and bridges, too. Yes, this could take some time to achieve – but start work now to get it done as soon as possible. Better coordination among the transit agencies on a host of issues would be helpful.

Repair the gash: Make a bold plan to sink or cap Interstate 95 through Center City, to help link the city back to its river and create valuable real estate. It would take billions and decades, but in the federal highway lottery, luck favors the prepared. The time to dream and plan is now.

Ideas from citizen forums

Give me shelter: Put better signs at bus stops and shelters so riders can see where the bus goes and when it’s coming. This suggestion was as common at forums as cheesesteaks in South Philly. Other cities pay for nice shelters through smart advertising contracts.

Youth be served: Recognize that mass transit isn’t just for the working class and a few pinstriped suburbanites. The young people flocking to urban areas regard mass transit as a key amenity, one that helps determine where they’ll live. SEPTA needs to get to know this customer base of tomorrow. Start by expanding night-owl service for 20-somethings out enjoying the city’s club scene.

Waving for a taxi: Use water taxis to link destinations up and down the Delaware. item//

Bicycles for more than two: Continue and expand efforts to make this a bicycle-friendly city: bike lanes, safe storage at public facilities and workplaces, etc.

Onboard citizenship: Do public education about courtesy to other transit riders re: food, drink, cell phones, loud conversation, litter, using up multiple seats.