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SEPTA's weekend schedule - with or without a strike

By KITTY CAPARELLA
Philadelphia Daily News

caparek@phillynews.com 215-854-5880

NEGOTIATIONS between SEPTA and the Transport Workers Union Local 234 are "not looking good," after more than 35 hours of talks and a strike threat, a union spokesman said last night.

TWU spokesman Bob Wolper said negotiations had reached the "critical stage" as both sides tried to resolve wage, health-care and pension issues.

"Nothing has been resolved," he added.

TWU leaders threatened to strike, shutting down the city's subways, buses and trolleys as the World Series comes to town, if they did not obtain a contract for their 4,700 members by this weekend. Their contract expired on March 15.

"This is always the hardest part," said SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney. "This is a much more complex equation, based on our budget and their demands."

Maloney said that SEPTA had given the union a proposal that was several pages long to resolve the economic issues, and that the union countered with its own proposal.

WHAT SERVICE WILL RUN IN A STRIKE?
Regional Rail:
Train service will be the best choice for travel in and around Philadelphia
Suburban Transit:
Bus, trolley, and route 100 lines will not be affected.However route service will change for those buses that normally travel into the City (See the Suburban Transit section)
LUCY (Loop through University City):
Green and Gold Loop service will operate from 30th Street Station to selected University City destinations.
CCT Connect: Regular service will operate for, registered ADA and shared- ride customers. There may be some delays due to increased demand and local street traffic.
What SEPTA Service Will Not Run?
Market-Frankford Line
Broad Street Line/Broad Ridge Spur Line
ALL City bus routes, trolley, and trackless-trolley routes
Frontier bus routes
No service on bus routes 90 through 99, 124, 127-132, 134, 139, 150, 201, 206 and 304.

REGIONAL RAIL

Many SEPTA Regional Rail lines serve stations within the city and connect with Suburban Transit bus and trolley routes, making it the best travel option during a service interruption.
Schedules
All Regional Rail service will operate according to the published schedule times. Express trains may make additional stops to accommodate the anticipated increase in riders. Station announcements will be made for any service changes. Schedules are available at stations and online at www.septa.org.
Fares
All regular fares will apply if there's a strike. Passes offer the best value for your money and will make traveling easier. In the event of a service interruption, weekly and monthly TransPasses will be valid for travel, at all times, to all regional rail stations within the city, except Forest Hills and Somerton. These stations will require a Zone 3 fare ticket or pass.
Purchase fares ahead of time to speed your trip. Ticket and pass sales will be available at 30th Street, Suburban and Market East stations, as well as at outlying stations with ticket offices.
SEPTA sales offices will be open at 15th Street and 69th Street. All other locations, including 1234 Market St., will be closed.
Transit-Pass Redemption
Unused passes bought before a service interruption may be fully or partially redeemed. Customers should retain any unused passes until return instructions are published.
Ticket Collection & Train Boarding
Unless otherwise directed by authorized SEPTA personnel, fares will be collected for each trip. Customers riding during a.m./p.m. peak hours (indicated by the shaded area of the timetable) must buy tickets before traveling - there will be NO cash sales on board trains.
During the p.m. peak, customers will be asked to wait in line at the concourse level at University City, 30th Street, Suburban, Market East, and Temple University stations, and fares will be collected prior to boarding the train. All passes will be subject to inspection and will be validated by SEPTA fare-collection personnel. To ensure safe boarding and to avoid confusion, SEPTA staff will direct customers when to proceed to the platform. During peak-hour travel, expect crowding and delays.
In the event of a service interruption, the SEPTA service-guarantee program will be temporarily suspended.
Parking
Parking is available at most SEPTA rail stations, although the number of spaces may be limited, and lots generally fill up early on weekdays. Daily parking fees will apply at all SEPTA lots. Please check the Web site for further information on parking availability.

SUBURBAN TRANSIT ROUTES
All Suburban Transit buses will operate according to the regular route and published schedule unless otherwise indicated. The following list identifies the temporary service changes in the event of a strike:
ROUTES:
105 Operate on current schedule.
All trips will bypass Overbrook Park using Victory Ave., West Chester Pike, Lynn Blvd., Township Line Rd., City Ave. Service to 63rd & Malvern discontinued. Service will operate every 60 minutes and trips are scheduled to connect with Paoli/Thorndale (R5) trains.
106 Operate on current schedule. All trips will bypass Overbrook Park using Victory Ave., West Chester Pike, Lynn Blvd., Township Line Rd., City Ave.
108 Operate current route between 69th St. and Yeadon. All service to Paschall, Elmwood and Eastwick discontinued. Express routing to serve Airport Business Center, Philadelphia International Airport and UPS.
109 During a.m./p.m. peak hours service will operate every 20 minutes.
110 Operate on current schedule. Short-turn trips to/from Pilgrim Gardens discontinued.
111 Operate on current schedule. Short-turn trips to/from State & Township Line roads discontinued.
112 During a.m./p.m. peak hours, service will operate every 30 minutes.
113 During a.m./p.m. peak hours, service will operate every 30 minutes.
115 To Philadelphia International Airport, or the Airport Business Center, take 115 southbound and transfer at Sharon Hill Trolley Station for Route 108.
All southbound service will end at Folcroft Industrial Park. Northbound service will not serve Philadelphia International Airport or Airport Business Center.
125 Service to Center City, 30th St. Station and Wissahickon Transfer Center discontinued. All service will begin/end at Villanova Station-Paoli/Thorndale (R5) line.
310 (Horsham Breeze)
All service will begin/end at North Hills Station on Lansdale/Doylestown (R5) line. 30-minute service a.m./p.m. peaks to meet connecting trains; 60-minute service midday and evenings.

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Comments

Posted 07:20 AM, 10/30/2009

tjinphilly

I can't believe I am saying this, BUT, I support SEPTA and NOT the union. Look around you union folks! Thousands have recently lost their jobs, people are losing health insurance. STOP BEING GREEDY and be thankful you have a decent job with a decent wage and health insurance.

Posted 08:56 AM, 10/30/2009

phillyjayhawk

Sooooo, where is the schedule?

Posted 09:31 AM, 10/30/2009

johnny o

Let 'em strike. Privatize public transportation. Septa = Inepta.

Posted 09:40 AM, 10/30/2009

zoebeth99

I can't belive that during this time of recession when most people's salarys are being cut, that the Union would be looking for a salary increase. Suck it up Transport Workers Union Local 234 and get with the times. Be happy that you have a job, becuase the more jobs that are cut in the city, the less those people will use or need your services.

Posted 09:48 AM, 10/30/2009

jeffh0821

Very easy solution. Should the union decide to strike, SEPTA should just take out a few, full page, ads in the area papers announcing numerous job openings. Publish the offers made to the union as starting compensation packages and see how many people you get applying for those transit jobs. I suspect even current union members would cross the line to get their jobs back. Time to break this dinosaur of a union. TWA - you are bringing this down on yourself. Philadelphia is about to be center stage across the country because of the World Series and all you can do is see it as leverage. I really hope you get what you deserve!

Posted 10:18 AM, 10/30/2009

hiphophooray

One thing that sucks about this is that if there is a strike the people who get hurt the most are the people who depend on public transportation. The eldery. Those who cannot afford to pay for parking. Those who cannot afford cars. Those who simply caanot get around any other way.

Posted 02:28 PM, 10/30/2009

birdswinbaby

i wonder if any of the posters here would stop asking for a raise because the 'public doesnt support you'? or is it more likely that you will get paid as much as you can for the job you do and tell the public to drop dead??....public outrage at unions doesnt matter. you will type your words, gnash your teeth and shake your little fists at those nasty ole' union workers and they will care not even a little....they arent running for public office so they dont exactly need your 'vote' when they want more money. if you think Septa workers should just be happy to have a job and take whatever septa wants to pay, can anyone guess how much difference your opinion makes?...i can...lol

Posted 03:54 PM, 10/30/2009

rachelp

Two years ago, Philadelphia Magazine had a story on different salaries of Philadelphia jobs. Turns out, ticket collectors on Regional Rail make $60,000 on average. I have no pity.

Posted 04:07 PM, 10/30/2009

citylumberjack

Now, while I appreciate that many people's lives are in a bus driver's hands and there is training involved in getting a Commercial Drivers license with passenger endorsement, it still seems stupid that they make more than an ADA. (Or a City engineer, I might add.) I'd like to note that SEPTA allocated an additional $49 MILLION for labor and benefits in FY2010 over FY2009 (see http://www.septa.com/inside/reports/FY10_Budget_internet.pdf), for a total of $792 million in labor and benefits projected. With that total, if we assume approximately 250 separate transit lines (bus, subway, Paratransit, etc) with 4 shifts a day, 5 persons per shift (driver/dispatcher/mechanic), there's about 5,000 non-manager employees. If we further assume max pay ($25/hr times 1.5 to include benefits) that comes to an annual cost of $390 million. That means $400 million plus is spent on managerial salaries. THERE'S YOUR PROBLEM!!!! Reform SEPTA or else!

Posted 10:42 PM, 10/30/2009

mebob

First of all in my town gas prices and everything else keeps going up. Please let me know what country your talking about? Second back in March SEPTA wanted 0% raises over 4 years with 10% health contributions. Its called negotiating. As for pension lets first talk about the 5% raises SEPTA management got over the last 4 years with there 100% sick pay and increasing vacation time. And oh yes the pension plan they give to the workers do you really think its the same plan as for the management? And also last time I looked in my driveway I saw my car and not a $25,000.00 company car. Hey wait a minute, I just thought of a way to save some money for bargining. SEPTA owns or leases over 400 vehicles for this purpose. Honestly don't believe something because you read it in the newspaper. I'll make a deal right now, give me cost of living increases over the next 4 years and they can have the company cars., I also work for SEPTA and I don't believe what people are saying. First of all

Posted 11:39 PM, 10/30/2009

mebob

I work for SEPTA. I am not a bus driver but many I call friends. The story with drivers is on average everyday they are spit at twice. Every week they have something thrown at them. And every other week they get hit by a passenger. The drivers are not allowed to turn down a passenger even if they know there will be trouble. Drug and alcohol testing along with perfect driving records must be kept to stay employed. So in case a driver doesn't smile it might be because they are having a bad day.