SEPTA (Pennsylvania)

[Thomasw]

10 hours ago, 2044 said:

You sure that wasn't one of the ex-Barrie or ex-Hamilton buses used for film productions?

I am confident as (although faded from sitting in the sun) it still had its Septa orange and blue paint job.

Is there any Barrie or Hamilton D40LFs that have been painted in a Septa livery for filming though?

[Orion6025]

On 7/15/2019 at 10:59 PM, Thomasw said:

Spotted 8013 rotting behind a warehouse near Toronto. Wasn’t able to grab a pic because I was on the train and my phone was at the bottom of my backpack at the time.

Septa 8013 is very much alive in philadelphia still. It was on the G and 37 today, and had pulled in off the G for the day about 5 and a half hours before you posted that. Whatever you saw was something else

20 minutes ago, Thomasw said:

there any Barrie or Hamilton D40LFs that have been painted in a Septa livery for filming though?

There was an hsr d40lf done up very poorly in septa-like colors. I’m not sure if it was a 2004 or 2005 flyer, i’m pretty sure it was a 2005

21 minutes ago, Thomasw said:

Septa orange and blue paint job.

Septa buses don’t have any orange paint. It’s red in the front changing to blue at the end and red cheatlines that change to blue on the top.

[Thomasw]

8 hours ago, Orion6025 said:

Septa 8013 is very much alive in philadelphia still. It was on the G and 37 today, and had pulled in off the G for the day about 5 and a half hours before you posted that. Whatever you saw was something else

There was an hsr d40lf done up very poorly in septa-like colors. I’m not sure if it was a 2004 or 2005 flyer, i’m pretty sure it was a 2005

Septa buses don’t have any orange paint. It’s red in the front changing to blue at the end and red cheatlines that change to blue on the top.

Well then it is most likely the hsr d40lf

My apologie, false alarm. Sorry for stirring up fake new and any trouble I may have caused.

Does anyone have a pic the hsr d40lf painted in Septa colours 

[Orion6025]

5 hours ago, Thomasw said:

Does anyone have a pic the hsr d40lf painted in Septa colours 

Taken by cptdb user leylandvictory2. I wasn’t able to link the page correctly so this is the best i can do

[Border City Transit]

On 7/17/2019 at 1:18 PM, Orion6025 said:

Taken by cptdb user leylandvictory2. I wasn’t able to link the page correctly so this is the best i can do

Ha! That's like the best "bad" replica I've ever seen!

It got just enough right to look kinda accurate... yet just enough wrong where the trained eye can readily spot the "errors".

I could see where a non-bus-geek Philadelphian would think it's authentic SEPTA... while anyone from this board could nitpick all the details they missed.

Even with the odd paint scheme, what strikes me as the most un-SEPTA feature is lack of roof-mounted a/c. Obviously, they weren't going for such extreme detail -- and I'd never expect a casual observer to notice that. Still, when I think SEPTA, I instantly think of highly visible roof-mounted a/c -- which is conspicuously absent on this impostor!

Intriguing!

[Catharine]

Also, note the difference in the sign at the front, and how the words 2 Pulaski-Hunting Prk are thinner than they usually are. However, those who haven't seen many SEPTA buses don't know that.

[DCTransitFilms]

Septa has suspended its service as of 6 pm today until 6 am tomorrow 

[Chris H]

Where in Philly can I fan for Nova LFSes, both the 40ft and artic? Outside which stations on the subway or transit centers can they be seen at?

[GojiMet86]

SEPTA is starting a bus network redesign:

https://whyy.org/articles/we-need-to-adapt-septa-launches-25-million-bus-system-redesign/

 

Quote

 

‘We need to adapt’: SEPTA launches $25 million bus system redesign

By Darryl C. Murphy     April 28, 2021

 

SEPTA is gearing up for a revolution — a Bus Revolution.

The transit authority, Wednesday, launched its long-awaited comprehensive bus network redesign with a name to reflect the grand ambitions of the $25 million overhaul.

“We’re taking a complete blank-slate look at SEPTA’s bus network, making sure that the bus routes are going to the right places at the right time and carrying and operating as efficiently and effectively as possible,” said Bethany Whitaker, project manager and principal at Nelson/Nygaard, the consulting firm contracted to lead SEPTA Forward: Bus Revolution.

The authority will release a web and phone survey on Thursday to begin gathering insight from riders to inform the three-year overhaul of its bus network. It’s likely some riders will encounter consultants asking about their experience commuting as early as Monday. SEPTA signed a $3 million contract with Nelson/Nygaard for the plan last December.

“I think one of the really important things for us to do is to get to know Philadelphia really well,” said Geoff Slater, another principal at Nelson/Nygaard’s Boston office. “I think if you try to ask us questions, detailed questions about Philadelphia today, you can probably trip us up a lot. But six months from now, we hope that you wouldn’t be able to trip us up.”

The first year of the three-year project will be dedicated to gathering data, evaluating transit needs, analyzing individual bus routes, and engaging the public. After that, the plan is to develop options for service improvements, gather public input, and issue a final set of recommendations. Implementation is expected to take place in the third year of the project.

SEPTA’s legacy transit infrastructure goes back more than a century, long before its own beginnings in 1963. The fairly new transportation authority purchased its city transit division in 1968 from then-owner Philadelphia Transportation Company, reportedly the world’s largest privately-owned transit system at the time.

Since then, changes in neighborhood race and class dynamics, work schedules, and even technology have changed the city, creating a mismatch between the routes and riders’ needs. The comprehensive redesign project promises changes to bring SEPTA up to speed.

A 2018 study included suggestions such as eliminating duplicative route segments, wider distances between stops to quicken rides, all-door boarding, focused service on transportation centers, and elimination of the transfer fee. Many of the recommendations aim to speed up bus service.

Initially, SEPTA sought to address sagging bus ridership and competition with ride-hailing services, but the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a whole new set of challenges as more would-be commuters work from home and many remain reluctant to return to the service.

Officials report that the authority loses about $1 million per day at the farebox. For months, SEPTA reports had transit ridership at 35% of pre-pandemic levels, but last month that number inched up to 38%.

“Ridership has started to rebuild,” Whitaker said. “Through that process, we are learning a lot, including who needs the bus the most, who the reliable riders are when they’re traveling, where they need to go. That is really the road map to the core of the network.”

The pandemic also brought new travel patterns and more attention to racial justice has highlighted the importance of an equitable network, the Nelson/Nygaard planner said.

“I think we tended to have a little bit of a one-size-fits-all approach to transit service planning,” Whitaker said, noting the mistakes of the past. As more people find work in service industry jobs and the nature of work shifts, transit needs to shift too, she said, pointing to increased demand for service on Saturdays.

“We need to respond and adjust and adapt to that,” she said

Slater said the firm is likely to recommend permanent changes to peak service to provide more service during the midday, weekends, and evenings and “a greater focus on the non-work trips.”

Pending approval from the board in June, the bus network redesign will guide the $25 million capital investment in bus infrastructure. The authority plans to make improvements that include right-of-way enhancements, bus wayfinding, end of line bus facilities, and enhanced stops.

The authority also plans to purchase 220 new buses between FY2022 and FY2024. The goal is to retire the last of its diesel fleet and is looking to move toward a zero-emission fleet with battery-electric buses.

The authority rolled out the buses on select routes in June 2019 then took them out of service in February 2020. The sidelining was due to a defect in the plastic chassis of the vehicles that leads to cracking, according to agency sources.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said the buses are still under warranty and the authority has had some “some productive discussions” with the buses’ manufacturer Proterra about “making the fixes that can be made to get them out in service.”

In the meantime, Whitaker said such technology is not much of a factor in the redesign. The current focus is “service planning and understanding the service demands and needs.”

“We’re a little bit less worried about the vehicle technology,” Whitaker said. “But when we circle back and talk about implementation, then we’ll take that into consideration.”

 

 

[orionbuslover]

The 2018 study was very in depth about how to restructure the network. Even though this new study is taking into consideration the pandemic, it seems wasteful. The impacts of the pandemic seem to be overstated because at some point in the near future things will be back to how they were before the pandemic. At that point I would think the 2018 findings would suffice.

[RailBus63]

On 4/30/2021 at 4:40 PM, orionbuslover said:

The 2018 study was very in depth about how to restructure the network. Even though this new study is taking into consideration the pandemic, it seems wasteful. The impacts of the pandemic seem to be overstated because at some point in the near future things will be back to how they were before the pandemic. At that point I would think the 2018 findings would suffice.

I think ridership on suburban bus routes will not return to previous levels, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, unless there is a major trip generator like the KOP mall. 

[orionbuslover]

2 hours ago, RailBus63 said:

I think ridership on suburban bus routes will not return to previous levels, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, unless there is a major trip generator like the KOP mall. 

Every city will have a unique path forward, but overall I think ridership will return to pre-pandemic levels across all service types. Ridership declined solely because people were staying home during the pandemic. Not because of permanent service cuts and the ensuing downward spiral or stagnation in ridership those cuts bring. Students no doubt want to be in school full time. Office workers are over being isolated from colleagues, bouncing to multiple Zoom meetings per day/week. And the service industry is desperately seeking more workers as restrictions loosen. Public transit will always be there as the most economical form of transportation, ready to serve the masses.

 

 

[Border City Transit]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:53 AM, RailBus63 said:

I think ridership on suburban bus routes will not return to previous levels, in Philadelphia and elsewhere, unless there is a major trip generator like the KOP mall

Suburban bus routes never had high ridership to begin with.

It's especially pronounced in the Philly area -- where "transit in the suburbs" effectively means Regional Rail (or the Norristown line.)

Aside from KOP routes (as you mention!) and long-established routes in Delaware County (113, a handful of others), I can't remember ever encountering a SEPTA bus in the suburbs more than half full.

Suburban bus service is certainly worth running and sustaining and improving -- but it will be important to remember... it didn't have great ridership pre-Covid. So we can keep the expectations in check!

[Orion6025]

Off topic from the route redesign discussion above but krapfs should be getting 5 former SEPTA 2004 d40LF for their route A rover transit contract service instead of brand new 2020 xde40 per the original plan.

[ctrabs74]

On 5/8/2021 at 8:31 PM, Orion6025 said:

Off topic from the route redesign discussion above but krapfs should be getting 5 former SEPTA 2004 d40LF for their route A rover transit contract service instead of brand new 2020 xde40 per the original plan.

That might end up being moot, as there are reports (at least on some of the SEPTA-related FB pages) that SEPTA might be taking over the "A" bus from Krapf's as soon as July 1. From that I had been hearing, SEPTA's Route 135 would replace the "A" with a few minor modifications and be operated out of Frontier.

[Orion6025]

On 6/17/2021 at 1:26 PM, ctrabs74 said:

That might end up being moot, as there are reports (at least on some of the SEPTA-related FB pages) that SEPTA might be taking over the "A" bus from Krapf's as soon as July 1. From that I had been hearing, SEPTA's Route 135 would replace the "A" with a few minor modifications and be operated out of Frontier.

Yeah I heard the same thing as well. I guess this will be another one of the "what-ifs" consigned to transit history.

[Chris.A]

So what's going to replace Septa's Proterra fleet?

[septa105R5/seClip9]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:41 PM, Orion6025 said:

Yeah I heard the same thing as well. I guess this will be another one of the "what-ifs" consigned to transit history.

From this news report, looks like SEPTA will officially take over Krapf's Route A (West Chester to Coatesville line) on August 1, 2021 after 39 years of operating that route. They paid to Krapf $68,000 for the operating rights. Looks like Krapf's can't continue the A Route without additional funding following Pandemic Financial loss and at 25% of prepandemeic passenger ridership. 

 

https://whyy.org/articles/septa-moves-to-take-over-chester-county-bus-route/

[H4 5600]

SEPTA is selling a 1980 GMC RTS bus on govdeals. Bus number 4462.

https://www.govdeals.ca/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=83&acctid=10293

[Chris.A]

3 hours ago, H4 5600 said:

SEPTA is selling a 1980 GMC RTS bus on govdeals. Bus number 4462.

https://www.govdeals.ca/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=83&acctid=10293

For scrap??

[Transit Apologist]

SEPTA #5852 is working the MBTA Orange Line shuttle.

[DCTransitFilms]

2 hours ago, JK-from-YYC said:

SEPTA #5852 is working the MBTA Orange Line shuttle.

Yup it is right here!

[RailBus63]

To be clear, 5852 is an ex-SEPTA bus, apparently owned by someone in Tennessee. 

[DCTransitFilms]

SEPTA Proterra 912 caught fire it seems. Major damage.

Photo is from internet but idk author as my friend sent me this. Does SEPTA not use their Proterras anymore?

[MVTArider]

8 hours ago, DCTransitFilms said:

SEPTA Proterra 912 caught fire it seems. Major damage.

Photo is from internet but idk author as my friend sent me this. Does SEPTA not use their Proterras anymore?

Baked Protato...

I hope no one was injured

I heard previously SEPTA was having issues with them structurally and was in a back and forth with Proterra over whether they were fit for service or not.