SEPTA announced this week that it is expanding wireless service to many more stations, including most along the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines. Today SEPTA launched free WiFi access at the 69th Street Transportation Center used by thousands of people every day.

SEPTA is partnering with Comcast on this thing (in exchange for some free advertising), so the WiFi is Xfinity. People who already subscribe to Xfinity just need to log in as usual. Non-subscribers should click on the Xfinity network on their device and follow the prompts.

Other stations where you can use WiFi include Market East, Suburban, 30th Street, Temple University, and University City. The rollout of free WiFi at all the stations on the El and Broad Street lines will take up to two years, according to a press release. WiFi will also be expanded to regional rail and airport train stations. It seems like it won’t, unfortunately, be onboard trains and buses. That’s OK, SEPTA has bigger fish to fry – like making sure it actually stays in business.

SEPTA also announced the release of a new app. It is pretty good, but it doesn’t go much further than the better third-party transit apps available (though it looks better). The app includes current schedules for all trains, trolleys and buses and up-to-the-minute info on regional rail. Using GPS, it will also list the closest stops etc. One not-so-intuitive thing is that when you want to return to the main menu of transit options, click the transit symbol (the trolley, bus, or train) in the upper left part of the screen (see screen shot).

The app is only available for the iPhone as of today, but we’re told that an Android version is in the works.

– Mike Lyons

The University Avenue Drawbridge over the Schuylkill River will be closed for maintenance work to all traffic from approximately 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, according to an announcement by the Philadelphia Streets Department. Motorists are advised to use alternate Schuylkill River crossings, including Gray’s Ferry Avenue to the south and the Schuylkill Expressway and South Street Bridge to the north. Since this is a short-term closure, no detours will be posted in the area.

Here’s what you should expect during this temporary closure:

Northbound traffic on University Avenue will be stopped at Gray’s Ferry Avenue. Southbound traffic will be stopped at the entrance to the westbound Schuylkill Expressway. The eastbound Schuylkill Expressway ramp will remain open – but traffic exiting on this ramp will not be permitted to travel southbound on University Avenue. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic will also be impacted by this closure.

The four-lane bridge links University Avenue in West Philly with South 34th Street in the Grays Ferry section of South Philadelphia.

As West Philly Local reported earlier this year, a new form of public transportation in Philly – a bike share program – is scheduled to launch in 2014. The program will bring hundreds of bikes to the city for everyone to share (between 1,000 and 1,500 bikes will be included in Zone 1; see map). Currently, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities is looking for property and business owners interested in hosting or sponsoring a bike share station. The City of Philadelphia requests letters of interest from interested business and property owners and institutions. The deadline to express this non-binding interest is Monday, Oct 7.

Here’s some more info if you want to be part of this exciting new program:

The City is looking for two types of partners:

Station hosts: Property owners willing to locate bike sharing stations on or near their property will be among the first round of sites considered for the system launch. Bike share stations require a minimum space of approximately 7 feet by 35 feet (235 sq. ft.)

Station sponsors: Businesses, property owners and institutions who would like to assure their participation in bike sharing from the outset are invited to become Station Sponsors. Sponsors will be at the top of the list for location siting, given the opportunity to host one or more stations at or near their location, and given the opportunity to underwrite their station(s).

Please note that your letter of interest will be used for planning purposes only. It does not commit the City of Philadelphia or interested businesses, property owners and institutions to any further obligations. You can view the full document with information about what is involved here.

To express your interest or if you have questions, address them to:

Aaron Ritz
Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs Planner
Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities
1401 JFK Blvd, Suite 1430, 19102
Phone: 215-686-9000
aaron.ritz@phila.gov

The City has a website with information about Philly’s bike share program, set to launch around this time next year.

This in from reader Joel DeGrands:

“Pine Street is closed today until 4pm between 47th and 48th as a crane replaces two cell phone cabinets.  The crane is extended to 237 feet, quite a distance above the 14 stories because the cabinets are 60 feet from the edge of the building.  The replacement cabinets are en route and are scheduled to arrive around 10:30. The sidewalk and businesses are open.”

Photo by Joel DeGrands

SEPTA announced today that the trolley tunnel to and from Center City will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2 until midnight on Monday Aug. 12. The 11, 13, 34 and 36 trollies will reroute to 40th and Market Streets where passengers can connect with the Market-Frankford Line, which will not be impacted by the tunnel work.

Shuttle buses that are currently being used along the Route 10 line will run to 40th and Filbert Streets during the repairs instead of 33rd and Market.

SEPTA crews will spend that week replacing overhead wire and doing ceiling work in the tunnel, according to a statement.

“We use the tunnel almost 24 hours a day, which means we have very limited opportunities to obtain track outages for extensive repair work,” SEPTA’s deputy general manager Jeff Knueppel said.

Editor’s Note: The trolley tunnel shutdown starts at 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2., not at 10 a.m. as originally stated in the post.

Beginning Monday, July 1, SEPTA’s fares are going up. The new price plan includes the first increase to the cash fare since 2001, from $2 to $2.25. The discounted single trip fare (token) will be $1.80. Transfers will remain $1.

As you may already know, SEPTA is working on the New Payment Technology (NPT) program, which will come into effect next year. NPT will eliminate tokens and introduce a SEPTA-branded card that will be available for purchase at all transit stations. In anticipation of the program SEPTA is also simplifying fares by eliminating extrafare zone charges on dozens of transit routes and consolidating zones on Regional Rail. In addition, gender stickers will be eliminated on all passes for transit and Regional Rail. The gender sticker system was highly criticized for its discrimination against transgender passengers.

The cash fare will go up to $2.50 in 2014 when the switch to NPT is complete. The next scheduled fare increase will be in July 2016.

For more information about the fare changes, including a breakdown of all fares and related modifications that will go into effect July 1, visit this special section on SEPTA’s website.