July 20: Estimating SEPTA’s ridership loss | Complete Streets Commissioner interviews begin | Turnpike toll increase

SEPTA will replace, not repair, the broken equalizer beams on the Silverliner V cars, CBS reports. “There are too many cracks and you really cannot be sure about how long a life you would get out of the repair,” says SEPTA general manager Jeff Kneuppel.

Matt Mitchell of the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers tells Jason Laughlin it could be four years before SEPTA regains all the regional rail ridership lost during the Silverliner mess. 

The City is taking the owners of the Supreme Shop n Bag property in West Philly to court for over $158,000 in unpaid property taxes, Mike Lyons reports. If the suit is successful, it “will likely result in the garnishing of rental income – so Supreme will pay the city its rent instead of the landowner – until the back taxes are paid.”

The Kenney administration is already making hires based on expected soda tax revenues, says Tricia Nadolny. Among the outstanding hires: the long-awaited Complete Streets Commissioner. “[Kenney spokesman Mike] Dunn said staff in the office of transportation and infrastructure systems are reviewing resumés and plan to begin interviews next week, with the hope of making a hire by the end of the summer.”

Home sales in the Philly metro were up almost 10% in the second quarter of 2016, reports Sandy Smith. “Within Philadelphia, sales volume rose the most in North Philadelphia (up 22.9 percent, from 402 to 494 units), the River Wards (from 324 to 383, an 18.2 percent rise) and the Northeast (a 14.5 percent rise from 1,121 to 1,284 units, the highest total sales volume for any city region).”

Turnpike tolls are going up 6% this year, as they have for the past eight consecutive years, Tony Raap reports. “Based on traffic and revenue forecasts, Compton estimates annual increases of up to 6 percent will be necessary until 2044.”