posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cathyr19355 at 12:34am on 17/06/2005
cathyr19355 at 12:34am on 17/06/2005The SEPTA system, that is. (The title of today's entry is a tag line from one of SEPTA's old advertising campaigns.)
In case you've never heard of it, SEPTA is the SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. It's a quasi-governmental agency that operates the public transportation options (trains, subways, buses) in Philadelphia and the surrounding five-county area. Since I commute to work by train, I deal with them five days a week.
SEPTA has had a (well-deserved) reputation for providing inefficient, breakdown-prone, and overpriced train service for the nearly 20 years I've used it to commute to work. This summer, it's been worse than usual. There have been three or four nearly system-wide power outages this spring. Usually, power outages occur in the winter, when snow and ice concentrations lead to broken high-voltage lines. This year, however, we had little snow--and an amazing number of power problems as the weather has warmed up.
Around 5 p.m., I learned that SEPTA had just had yet another power outage and, as a result, train service was cancelled until further notice. Fortunately, I had been planning to stay at work until 7 p.m. anyway.
By 7 p.m., when I left work, power had been restored, but service was "sporadic" and trains were "running with substantial delays." What this meant, for me, was that I had to wait until 8 p.m. before a train that was going to Malvern arrived at the platform. That train was crowded and operated at about 1/4 speed for the entire trip. I finally got home about 9:30 p.m. The train trip from Malvern to Philadelphia typically takes about 45 minutes if the train makes all the local stops.
If you're wondering "Why do you keep using SEPTA?" the answer is, "Because it's cheaper, less of a hassle, and usually quicker than commuting from Malvern to Philadelphia by car."
Sigh.
In case you've never heard of it, SEPTA is the SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. It's a quasi-governmental agency that operates the public transportation options (trains, subways, buses) in Philadelphia and the surrounding five-county area. Since I commute to work by train, I deal with them five days a week.
SEPTA has had a (well-deserved) reputation for providing inefficient, breakdown-prone, and overpriced train service for the nearly 20 years I've used it to commute to work. This summer, it's been worse than usual. There have been three or four nearly system-wide power outages this spring. Usually, power outages occur in the winter, when snow and ice concentrations lead to broken high-voltage lines. This year, however, we had little snow--and an amazing number of power problems as the weather has warmed up.
Around 5 p.m., I learned that SEPTA had just had yet another power outage and, as a result, train service was cancelled until further notice. Fortunately, I had been planning to stay at work until 7 p.m. anyway.
By 7 p.m., when I left work, power had been restored, but service was "sporadic" and trains were "running with substantial delays." What this meant, for me, was that I had to wait until 8 p.m. before a train that was going to Malvern arrived at the platform. That train was crowded and operated at about 1/4 speed for the entire trip. I finally got home about 9:30 p.m. The train trip from Malvern to Philadelphia typically takes about 45 minutes if the train makes all the local stops.
If you're wondering "Why do you keep using SEPTA?" the answer is, "Because it's cheaper, less of a hassle, and usually quicker than commuting from Malvern to Philadelphia by car."
Sigh.
tired
There are 12 comments on this entry.