Passenger Trains > SEPTA to riders: Everybody likes a little ____

Could you imagine going to buy a car and not being able to fit in the seat......

SEPTA can

http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2002/01/20/front_page/SSEATS20.htm

You know, If SEPTA needs space so bad, why not get double deck cars? If they'll fit on MARC and the Long Island they'll surely fit on SEPTA's system.

Yet another example of how SEPTA is the worst run big city transit agency. Can't we get some folks from VRE, Metra or even NJ Transit in to run things?

It is so easy to second-guess public transit in everything it does. When the specs are written for capital purchases like buses or railcars, the finished product is usually numbered in the hundreds of pages (8.5 x 11) and can fill two 3" binders. Every little detail must be specified and that includes the seats down to the size of the bolts that anchor them to the floor to the length of armrests (you get the picture).

The article was well-written and humorous, but it fails to look at the facts: The cars can be only so wide; The aisles must be wide enough to allow wheelchair access (ADA, of course); if the seats are wider, there is only room for 2-and-2 seating, therefore fewer seats for those rush-hour crush loads. Believe it--funding for public transit is very tight in the US and the only way additional "wide" seats can be made available is to order more cars.

All of the above must then be weighed against possible lost ridership due to uncomfortable seats. Bi-Level cars cost far more than single-level cars, but this is an alternative, if there is clearance for those cars in SEPTA's vast system.

The "bottom line" (no pun intended) is when the cost vs. funding available issue is looked at, we end up with tight-assed seats! It is not an easy decision to make.

Even the airlines face this issue inasmuch as the newest Delta B767's seat belts aren't long enough to fit around my um, large girth. What would it have cost to spend 50 cents extra for another six inches of belt material for those 270+ seats weighed against a friggin $50 million dollar aircraft? No matter, I suppose, since I had to shoehorn my way into the seat and I only fly when I absolutely have to and then at the lowest fare possible. Hmmm, is there a connection there?

The worst run transit agency?

What do you expect from a City with the worst run government!!!!

Big saleries for know nothing, but well connected, top level, but surely not top notch, administrative bosses.

After reading about rearend width, I had to measure my own! Oh, the delights of passenger railroading........

And our tracks are the widths of two horses rear ends!

Covering my rearend.

To add to Altoid's comments: They have the highest paid managers and the lowest paid rank and file in the country. Oh, and did I mention they also have the highest base fare in the nation?

Reason why you won't ever see bilevels on Septa: The only bilevel MU cars ever made are the Metra Electric fleet in Chicago, which won't fit in the Center City tunnel as they are the only such cars with enough room underneath for electrical equipment. Push/pull bilevels are out as Septa (as rumor has it) will be replacing the Budd, St. Louis, and push/pull equipment with these new Silverliners when they arrive, as they are supposedly not happy with having equipment that can only run during rush hour and that have too slow acceleration for their very short stretches between stops.