SEPTA FLEET NEWS ARCHIVES
August 2001
August 31, 2001
Yet another bizzare spotting on Red Arrow routes. This time, NABI 5318 was seen at 69 St Terminal on the 107 to Clifton Heights. Considering that the turn at Long Ln/Marshall Rd is difficult for NABIs to make, and that the 107 usually sees and ElDorado, I am convinced that whomever is assigning buses at Red Arrow is completely clueless.
- The new night owl service along the 108 and 113, as well as the expanded morning and Saturday service on the 110 and weekend service on the 112 is being funded by a grant provided by the Federal Transit Administration's Job Access and Reverse Commute Initiative.
August 30, 2001
Another interesting spotting on Midvale routes is reported. For the past two days, Route H/XH's 298 block has seen an Neo artic - 7224 yesterday and 7253 today. While ridership on the H/XH does get heavy enough to warrant artics on some runs, there are width restrictions on some parts of the line - namely Mt Pleasant Av - which generally require use of the 40-ft Neoplans. (This might explain why Midvale's starters are putting 30-ft ElDorados on the 18.)
- A couple of days ago (I wish I could remember exactly, but I think it was Tuesday), Red Arrow 3243 had an interesting reading on it's destination sign - "90 PHOENIXVILLE". Could another bus route serving Phoenixville be in the works, or was that an oversight on the people at SEPTA who program the destination signs? Even more interesting is that the 90 designator was the former University City to Grays Ferry route operated by Southern until 1997, when it was absorbed into the 12.
- New Jersey Transit is also changing some of their schedules this weekend. Among the South Jersey highlights:
- Routes 313/315: Minor time adjustments.
- Route 316: Service ends for the season September 3.
- Route 319: Serivce to Cape May City ends September 3.
- Route 403: Seasonal service to Clementon Amusement Park will end for the season.
- Route 405: Weekday service will be re-routed to serve the Camden City Housing Authority on Admiral Wilson Blvd.
- Route 409, 413, and 419: Weekend service between Burlington Center Mall and Burlington City will now be operated by Route 413; the 409 and 419 will now terminate in Burlington City.
- Route 452: Minor time adjustments.
- Route 459: Minor time adjustments; school service to Camden County Technical Institute resumes.
- Route 502: The weekday 8:20am trip from Atlantic City will serve the Social Security offices in Egg Harbor Twp; the 9:01am trip from Shore Mall to Atlantic City will depart at 9:14am and not serve Social Security.
- Route 505: The 7:56am from Atlantic Av/S Carolina Av will now originate in Venice Park at 7:38am.
- Route 553: Four trips will be adjusted to operate via 32 Av between Atlantic Av and US 40 to serve the Atlantic County Court House and Connectiv.
- Routes 606 and 609: Minor time adjustments.
August 29, 2001
Remember when I said it couldn't get any worse as it relates to bus assignments? (Part II) At least two ElDorados were spotted on 104 trips to and from West Chester. The first one was spotted on 11 block returning to 69 St Terminal along West Chester Pk in Havertown around 12:40pm, while the second one was spotted on layover at around 1:30pm in West Chester. Though 16 block is a pull-out for the 119, and ridership between West Chester and Granite Run Mall is almost non-existant, the 119 is interlined with the 117, which has a heavy ridership.
- Schedules for City, Red Arrow, and the R7 Trenton/Chestnut Hill East and R8 Chestnut Hill West/Fox Chase will change on September 2. The major changes include:
- R7: Service along the Chestnut Hill East branch will be adjusted due to track/right of way work; one through train between Trenton and Chestnut Hill East (#730) will be split, while others will arrive at CHE about 5 minutes later than usual
- R8: The mid-day half-hourly service to Chestnut Hill West has been restored, now that track work along that branch of the R8 has been completed
- Route 1: New mid-day service between 54 St/City Av and Northeast Philadelphia
- Route 10: Subway-surface streetcars will return to the 10 as the construction along Lancaster Av will be complete
- Route 17: Three added weekday PM peak trips between 15 St/JFK Blvd and 19 St/Moyamensing Av, departing at 3:23pm, 4:15pm, and 5:13pm
- Route 29: Saturday headways will be improved to every 20 minutes between 9:00am and 7:00pm.
- Route 31: A new weekday trip departs 76 St/City Av for City Hall at 10:20am
- Route 38: The weekday 4:32pm and 4:56pm trip from 5 St/Market St will terminate at City Av/Presidential Blvd.
- Route 104: Weekday operating times will be revised (which, if past history is any indication, might be an improvement for most riders, except those heading west of Newtown Square).
- Route 106: An added PM peak trip from 69 St Terminal to Overbrook Park will depart at 5:30pm; the 5:40pm trip to Ardmore will now leave at 5:50pm.
- Route 110: A 5:00am express departure from 69 St to Penn State will be added to the weekday schedule.
- Route 112: A Saturday evening trip departing Lawrence Park Shopping Center at 10:30pm is added; Sunday serivce will be introduced to Lawrence Park between 9:15am and 5:15pm.
- Route 122: Eliminated due to low ridership. Alternate service will involve new night owl service on the 108 (to 69 St) and 113 (to Chester/Marcus Hook) to replace this service.
- Most City Division routes and Red Arrow Route 115 will have extra trips during weekdays to accomodate school traffic.
- Night owl service will be introduced on Routes L, 22, 55, 65, 108, and 113, extended on the 14 from Roosevelt Blvd and the Philadelphia/Bucks County border to Neshaminy Mall (funny, I didn't know Neshaminy Mall was open 24 hours a day) and on Route L to Plymouth Meeting Mall (previously, Owl service on the L bus involved a hybrid of the L and the H/XH), while Route 20 will see improved Owl service to the Franklin Mills area.
August 28, 2001
Remember when I said it couldn't get any worse as it relates to bus assignments? Well, the 6 block on Route 113 to Marcus Hook had ElDorado 4538 for it's 11:30am trip. Pardon me while I laugh...
August 23, 2001
The bus replacement of Frankford Trackless routes 59, 66, and 75 are expected to continue after Labor Day. A portion of the wires along Pratt St, which is the non-revenue move back into Frankford Depot, has been removed due to the re-construction of Frankford Terminal. If this is the case, then expect a massive bus shortage at Frankford until the wires are reinstalled.
- The people who assign buses at Midvale never cease to amaze me. Last Friday, 4566 was spotted on an inbound 61 LOCAL run (727 block). Over the past few days during PM peak hours, there have been reports of ElDorados operating on the 18; the most recent of which was on Tuesday when 4579 was seen at Fox Chase Loop around 5:00pm. And you thought it couldn't get worse...
August 12, 2001
Route 128 will be re-routed starting tomorrow. Service along Street Rd (PA 132) will be replaced with a new experimental routing, starting at the intersection of PA 132 and US 13, then via US 13 and Hulmeville Rd to the intersection of Hulmeville and PA 132 at the Bensalem Shopping Center. The service will operate in both directions.
August 9, 2001
From the "see, I told you so" files: Yesterday's Philadelphia Daily News feautred a column by the Phantom Riderabout the inactivity of the trackless trolley fleet. So much for that line about "wire maintenance" in the Northeast.
- Construction of the New Flyers is finally underway. The first of the 100 D40LF low floor buses (actually the second bus, 5402, since pilot bus 5401 was already built) is presently on the assembly line at the New Flyer plant in Winnipeg.
- LANTA in Allentown is scheduled to get an additional 10 D40LF (0121-0130) and 10 D35LF (0131-0140) buses to their fleet soon.
- A rumor is circulating that several Red Arrow bus routes could see 24 hour service starting as early as the fall pick. Nothing has been confirmed, but candidates for the Red Arrow night owl service include the 104, 108, 109, and 113. I have yet to hear if the P&W or Media/Sharon Hill trolleys will also see night owl service as well, but considering the rail lines keep the same hours as the 104, 108, 109, and 113, that's entirely possible.
- The heat wave is having a major effect on several SEPTA suburban routes. Major delays have been reported on Frontier routes 96 and 128 and on Red Arrow routes 105, 113, 117, 119 and 123 due to overheating engines.
- Yesterday, several trips on the 113 were delayed, with the 4:30pm from 69 St to Marcus Hook (and it's 5:40pm return trip from Marcus Hook - I think this is 11 block) annulled due to a faulty fuel line on NABI 5136. 5136 was still disabled in the 113 berth at 10:00pm last night, due to a shortage of tow trucks systemwide. The Red Arrow tow truck is out of service due to repairs, forcing SEPTA to dispatch Callowhill's tow truck. The problems with the tow truck come down to one factor - age. Most of the tow trucks owned by SEPTA were built by the late lamented Autocar Industries (at it's old plant in Exton, which is now part of the Whiteland Business Campus on Old US 30, I might add) in the late 1970's and early 1980's. SEPTA, for whatever reason, simply hasn't gotten around to replacing these antiques.
(On an unrelated note, the reason I knew about that particular break down on the 113 was because my girlfriend and I were trying to get to the UA-69 St Theater to see Rush Hour 2. Instead of making the 7:10pm showing, we barely made it for the 7:40pm showing, because that 5:40pm 113 from Marcus Hook didn't show up. On an even more unrelated note, I would not recommend seeing a movie at 69 St if for no other reason than the employees at the consession stands weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer. In other words, they could easily be hired by SEPTA at the management level.)
- Downed wires on the ex-Reading main line between Wayne Jct and Jenkintown caused 30 minute delays on the R2 Wariminster/R1 Airport, R3 West Trenton/Elwyn, and R5 Lansdale/Paoli branches. In addition, the R6 Norristown line operated shuttle buses between DeKalb St (Norristown Terminal) and Elm St due to downed wires.
August 7, 2001
The trackless trolley routes based at Frankford (59, 66, and 75) are using diesel buses through the Labor Day weekend due to wire maintenance. Somehow, I have a feeling the real reason is the poor air conditioning of the trackless fleet, but that's just me. I haven't heard any word about the Southern trackless routes (29 and 79).
August 5, 2001
Over 2 dozen images have been added to the SEPTA Roadeo page.
- The purported detour of the 9, 27 and 124/125 service apparently is being utilized on a hit and miss basis. Some southbound trips are continuing to operate via the City Avenue Bridge to I-76, while other southbound trips are operating via Ridge Av. A few northbound trips were actually operating via the local routing even though the regular routing is still in effect (though that might have been due to an unrelated incident on I-76).
- The main reason for the lengthy delays on the West Chester Pk corridor services during PM peak periods is due to overflow delays related to the construction of PA 252 in Newtown Square. Apparently, the detoured traffic off of 252 onto West Chester Pike is causing heavier traffic delays between Providence and Media Line Rds.
August 1, 2001
At the July SEPTA Board Meeting, Keystone Quality Transport had been awarded the contract to manage and operate Route 314. This contract was to have taken effect today, however Krapf's operators are still running the service.
- Routes 9, 27, and 124/125 are operating over the southbound local routing off the Schuylkill Expressway due to the reconstruction of the City Avenue Bridge. Northbound service is still operating over I-76.
- SEPTA crews are rebuilding the 35-Allegheny loop; as a result, Route 60 buses are being detoured past 35 St & Allegheny Av to Ridge Av. The construction work is expected to be completed later this week.
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