Proposed Route 49 (Click to enlarge).

On Thursday, the SEPTA Board approved the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Service Plan, which includes the launch of some new bus routes in the city. The widely discussed Route 49 that would connect the city’s Fairmount and Brewerytown neighborhoods with Grays Ferry via University City hasn’t been approved for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2017.

The new bus service, which was part of the initial plan, has been deferred for further study and analysis after a series of open houses and public meetings held since March 2016.

The proposed route made many West Philly residents excited as it would also create a direct transit option between 30th Street Station and the attractions located along the Ben Franklin Parkway.  Continue Reading

New Indego bike-share station near 40th and Woodland.

Indego, Philadelphia’s bike share program, recently turned two years old and has just announced more docking stations around the city, including several in West Philly/University City.

Here are the new Indego station locations in the area:

• 40th and Woodland
• 38th and Spruce
• 38th and Market
• 30th Street Station East

One of the main criticisms of the Philadelphia bike-share program when it launched in 2015 was its availability in more socially and racially diverse neighborhoods and accessibility to lower-income riders. Last year, the program introduced a new equitable pricing plan and more ways for low-income residents to pay for the service, such as Pennsylvania ACCESS cards.

Over the past year, the program added new docking stations in such neighborhoods as Spruce Hill – at 43rd and Chester, Walnut Hill – at 48th and Spruce and 46th and Market – and West Parkside – at 1575 N. 52nd Street (see Indego station map here).

To read more about Indego and how it works, go here.

We have compiled a few important announcements released by SEPTA in the past week:

SEPTA Fares to Increase July 1, 2017

The SEPTA Board approved fare changes for Fiscal Year 2018, including modest increases across all modes of travel and methods of payment. SEPTA’s Fiscal Year 2018 begins July 1, 2017, and here is a summary of changes to some of the most widely used fare payment methods (full details can be found here):

• Cash Fare/Quick Trip: Increase from $2.25 to $2.50
• Discounted single ride with SEPTA Key Travel Wallet/Token: From $1.80 to $2
• Disabled Fare: From $1 to $1.25
• Paratransit/Shared Ride: $4 to $4.25
• Weekly TransPass: From $24 to $25.50 (up to 56 trips for one customer)  Continue Reading

Penn students will be moving out of their dorms on Tuesday, May 9 and Wednesday, May 10, so Spruce Street between 34th and 40th Streets will be closed on these days to all traffic, with a few exceptions, from 6:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Here are some important reminders in relation to the street closure:

• Emergency vehicles and hospital patient transport vehicles will be permitted access.
• Access will be provided to the Ryan Vet Hospital.
• Bikes will need to be walked on Spruce Street while the streets are closed to traffic.
• SEPTA buses will be re-routed (check septa.org for more information).

The Penn Relays will be held April 27-29 on Franklin Field.

Two big events are happening this weekend in Philadelphia that will cause road closures and traffic changes. The annual Penn Relays will be held on the Franklin Field, and the NFL Draft will take place for the first time since 1960 in the city – on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Both events will be held for three days – April 27 through April 29.

The NFL Draft Experience will take place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, between 20th St. and Eakins Oval, and a number of road closures will be in place for this event. Until Monday, May 1, 5 a.m., Ben Franklin Parkway from 20th St. to the Art Museum will be closed. Kelly Drive will be closed at Fairmount Ave., and all traffic will be diverted.  Continue Reading

Have you, or someone you know, ever gotten into a traffic accident as a cyclist or pedestrian? Perhaps, you or someone you know was on the other side, behind the driver’s wheel? Either way, you’re certainly not alone. A driver hits a pedestrian every five hours in Philadelphia, according to the website of Vision Zero, an initiative of The City of Philadelphia’s Managing Director’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure System (oTIS). In 2016, there were 369 deaths and serious injuries as a result of automotive crashes.

oTIS wants to drastically reduce and ultimately eliminate traffic-related deaths (of including but not limited to bikers and pedestrians) throughout the city. Their initiative, Vision Zero, hopes to accomplish this ambitious goal by 2030.

Using municipal data of traffic crashes by neighborhood, the oTIS produces some alarming and urgent statistics. In our previous post, we wrote about Vision Zero’s report that deemed 52nd Street and Baltimore Avenue and 40th and Market streets as the most dangerous intersections in the entire city.  Continue Reading