SEPTA's rare 'joy': Huge service expansion

AFTER a decade of doomsday scenarios and bare-bones budgets, SEPTA - fully funded and financially stable at last - will reward long-suffering riders with its biggest service expansion ever.

If you've ever been sardine-canned into a rush-hour bus, or have stood in the freezing cold while those rolling sardine cans passed you by, this is your day.

Supported by a steady stream of state funding, SEPTA today is announcing sweeping systemwide changes to serve its riders, who take 300 million trips a year (plus the 38,000 daily trips that sky-high gas prices have added to SEPTA's buses and trains).

Targeting rush-hour overcrowding as a No. 1 priority, Charles Webb, the transit agency's chief officer of service planning, said that adding 40 new $500,000 hybrid buses and dozens of new drivers this fall should end the "shell game of rearranging existing vehicles and operators" to deal with buses too stuffed to stop.

Richard DiLullo, SEPTA marketing director, will alert riders to the epic upgrades with a million dollars in posters, coasters, coffee-cup sleeves and media ads.

Slogans include "One more hour of the babysitter eating all your food" to promote SEPTA's new wee-hour trains for urban/suburban social butterflies, and "One more standoff with the snooze button" to tout "more buses/more often" at rush hours.

There's a poster of a youth football game with the slogan "Ten more minutes of yelling 'That's my boy'" to ballyhoo more frequent weekend service.

"This is all really cool," said Kim Heinle, assistant general manager for customer service, who has worked at SEPTA for 24 lean years, when the transit agency lacked the funding to expand service on this scale.

"Usually, we bring you press guys in to show you the things that we're cutting because we don't have enough money," Heinle said. "But this? This is a joy."

SEPTA's massive makeover will touch riders on every city/suburban route, including:

RUSH-HOUR POWER:

MEGA-BUS BOOST: Route 14 (Frankford T.C. to Neshaminy and Oxford Valley malls), runs every two minutes during peak hours. That's not enough. SEPTA will add 60-foot articulated buses that seat 65 instead of 39, and will carry nearly 100 passengers.

SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP: Route 124 (Center City to King of Prussia or Chesterbrook) will add two morning peak westbound trips, while Route 125 (Center City to King of Prussia or Valley Forge) will add new trips to mesh with King of Prussia Mall closing hours.

PEAK PERKS: Peak service frequency will increase on Routes 8 (Olney T.C. to Frankford T.C.), 31 (Overbrook Park to Center City), 40 (West Park to Society Hill), 56 (Tacony to Nicetown), 57 (South Philadelphia to Fern Rock T.C.), 93 (Norristown T.C. to Pottstown), 94 (Chestnut Hill to Montgomery Mall), 104 (69th St. Terminal to West Chester University), 109 (69th St. Terminal to Chester T.C.), 112 (69th St. Terminal to Delaware County Community College), J (Bridesburg to Germantown) and K (East Falls to Arrott Terminal).

PARTY-ANIMAL EXPRESS: New late-night weekend Regional Rail service will debut on the R5 (Center City to Paoli/Malvern), R6 (30th St. Station to Norristown) and R7 (Center City to Trenton) for riders spending a night on the town in Philly or New York City.

NIGHT-OWL SPECIAL: Route 37 (South Philly to Eastwick and Chester) will add night-owl service to Philadelphia International Airport and Harrah's Casino in Chester from 1 to 5 a.m. for patrons and late-shift workers. *