It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.Some “stimulating” transit expansion ideas
Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 7:39 am - by Dan Pohlig. Filed under: Transportation.
I know it may be a little “pie-in-the-sky” to be thinking this big, but I can’t help but agree with SEPTA Watch and Dan U-A at YPP who both wonder whether we can use the stimulus debate to effect some real, revolutionary change and expansion for SEPTA. Unfortunately, judging from the way the stimulus package got pared down folks like the senior senator from Pennsylvania, and desperation with which urbanists, transit fans and bicycle/pedestrian advocates are employing to protect a few crumbs of funding, we may be left with a couple of rebuilt exit ramps and a refinery tax cut by the time this whole thing gets passed.
But a subway rider can dream can’t he?
And where there are dreams, there are smart people with actual planning and research tools to put those dreams on paper and that paper into binders and those binders… alas… on shelves.
Well, via SEPTA Watch, who himself got the link from Greg Heller at Urban Direction, here is a recent report by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission that shows that somewhere, someone is thinking big when it comes to transit. Heller outlines the four major narratives of the report and gives examples for each:
1. “Service extension in the urban core:” including extension of the Broad Street Subway to the Navy Yard and north along Roosevelt Boulevard, with a bus-rapid-transit alternative for the latter project.
2. “Transit as an anchor for waterfront development:” including new rail along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, and connection with Transit First bus service.
3. “Reconnecting and reinforcing older suburbs:” including PATCO extension to Glassboro, with connections to other systems.
4. “Improving transitional, reverse, and intersuburb commutes:” including the construction of the Paoli Transportation Center, extension of the Route 100 High Speed Line to King of Prussia, an extension of the R6 Line to Phoenixville, and restoration of rail service to Quakertown.
Point 4 ties very closely into what I was talking about yesterday in my post about saving the suburbs. You can have all of the density and walkability you want in this new vision of a sustainable suburbia, but without a reliable and convenient form of transit to carry people to other destinations in the region, fewer people will want to live there. From the report, here’s a vision of what the “virtuous cycle” of transit expansion looks like:
Higher demand for transit service by new residents and employees at these new development centers, and by residents around them and throughout the region will require higher transit frequencies and levels of transit service throughout the regional transit network in the coming years. An ever increasing number of regional households will live their lives with fewer or no household automobiles, even in suburban development centers. These residents will rely on transit for regional trips, and higher ridership will lead to dramatic increases in transit capacity.
As Greg says in his original post about the report, such vision shows that the region is ready and has a plan if the opportunity ever comes along for that funding. One can only hope that this stimulus, or a future commitment to sustainable development at the federal level, makes that funding available.
February 12th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Transit out to some other suburbs would be great. I have been looking at buying a condo and have found some rather nice ones out in the Royersford/Phoenixville/Schwenksville areas but the commute down 422 into KofP to pick up the R5 line somewhere along Route 30 is crazy.
The 100 high speed line that travels out to Norristown, according to my mother, used to go all the way out Main Street up to, or just past Johnson Highway. THAT would be great to have it back again. A high speed line to KofP? I think I’d rather see the 100 go out into Blue Bell (Montgomery County Community College), than KofP. And, where’s the quiet cars they’re supposed to be implementing. Nothing would please me more than to sit down to read and know I can do so in silence!! 
February 12th, 2009 at 9:40 am
This episode of “E2″ about transportation in Bogata Columbia was very inspiring. Bogota experienced a dramatic decline in violent crime after they created a network of efficient public transportation and very convenient access to bike- and walk-ways, particularly in neighborhoods with high poverty and high crime. Bogota had a strong mayor who noticed that cars were creating a hostile environment, so he took heavy risks to initiate reforms. I was surprised to learn about the connection between crime reduction and efficient transportation. The bike/walk paths are parallel to the major roads and they succeed in bringing people outside to socialize as well as commute.
http://www.pbs.org/e2/episodes/209_bogota_building_sustainable_city_trailer.html
February 12th, 2009 at 10:00 am
I would love to see the Broad street line extended out to Roxborough. That would be Fabulous.
Making it easier and faster to get to center city than Having to trek down to the R6 and wait every 30-40 min for a train.
You can make that happen right?
February 12th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Does the report really go no further than extending the Broad Street line. I mean, why would anyone even want to go all the way to the Navy Yard?
If we want to better connect Urban Philadelphia, we need a subway that runs down from the Northwest to Francisville (maybe connecting with the Broad Street Line at Fairmount), over to the Penitentiary, West approximately along Girard and then down through West Philadelphia, where it would connect with the El and then carry on to the edge of Southwest Philadelphia. That would connect our currently desperately un-subwayed areas in a way that makes sense.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
@BradyDale
And that’s exactly why everyone in the region needs to pay more attention to the DVRPC. It is “the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Greater Philadelphia Region.” As I understand it (and anyone can jump in and correct me if I get this wrong), this means that when federal money is available for any kind of regionwide project, like a transit extension or creation, they handle the planning aspect. There’s a whole section on their website about public involvement. It probably explains how such ideas as yours could get on the table.