The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger April 1993 Vol. XI, No. 4 Published by the Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers in the interest of continued, improved, and expanded rail service for the present and potential railroad and rail transit passengers of southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and nearby areas. For more information about DVARP and good rail service, please contact us: P.O. Box 7505, Philadelphia, PA 19101 215-222-3373 President: Chuck Bode for other officers and committee chairs, see page 11 The electronic edition of this newsletter is provided as a service to the net community by DVARP, through the cooperation of Geert K. Marien, owner of the Railroad List. Send comments and suggestions to Matthew Mitchell at iekp898@tjuvm.bitnet Back issues of this newsletter can be obtained from the LISTSERV at CUNYVM. For an index, "Tell LISTSERV at CUNYVM INDEX RAILNEWS" You can support our continuing efforts to both improve our public transit service and keep you informed by joining DVARP. Introductory membership for the rest of 1993 is $10.00. Send your check to the above address Schedule Change Alert: SEPTA bus and trolley schedule changes postponed to April 11. Amtrak and commuter rail schedules change and RailWorks( service disruptions will resume on May 2. Inside The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger... 1 SEPTA proposes changes in RRD fare procedures, market-savvy fare increases. 2 Center City trains for RailWorks look probable, top ten tips for the rest of us. 3 Big storm halts everyone but PATCO. 4 On the Railroad Lines: Shuttle April 17-18, N-5 Car makes its debut, NJT 30th St-AC schedules. 5 SEPTA HQ deal may sour; Board OKs bus ads, privatization of new route. 6 Time to rethink RRD schedules, through service. 8 SEPTA marketing alliances with Phillies, Ballet; Phans to ride NJT. 9 Clean air enforcers pick DVARP plan, celebrate at DVARP's first-ever happy hour! 10 Important state and Federal transportation meetings this month. 10-11 Dates of Interest, Up and Down the Corridor, Membership Coupon, DVARP Directory entire contents copyright (C) 1993 DVARP, except photos (C) 1993 credited photographers Opinions expressed in The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger are not necessarily those of DVARP or its members. We welcome your comments: call 215-222-3373 SEPTA Pulls the Plug on Fare Experiment by Matthew Mitchell After four years pretending that commuter rail is rapid transit, SEPTA will go back to normal railroad on-board fare policies. DVARP welcomes the proposal, which will stop penalizing passengers who have no choice but to pay their fare on board the train. Two proposed tariffs are up for consideration. One completely scraps the "transitized" fare structure and replaces it with a $3.00 penalty on fares from stations where tickets were available, the other keeps the existing fares at Center City stations, on the R5 Paoli line, and at the Airport, Trenton, and Wilmington. +Trenton, Airport fares to increase? SEPTA's proposal also calls for very selective fare increases, targeted at markets where competing transportation providers are much more expensive. Trenton will be relocated to Zone 6, whose off-peak fare will be increased to $4.00. Peak hour single tickets for Zones 5 and 6 will be increased by 25c. Commuters who use weekly or monthly passes will not face a fare increase, though. Other increases were also aimed at Airport riders. The through fare to points outside of Center City will go up to a flat $6.00. DayPass rates will increase to $5.00, equal to the regular Airport fare. Sources say SEPTA will adjust machines so passengers boarding at the Airport will receive a DayPass. +Additional improvements proposed The SEPTA plan also calls for a new ten-trip senior citizen fare for off-peak trains, saving riders $1.50 over the present fare. This will add convenience while reducing the amount of cash crews have to handle. For the youngest passengers, SEPTA proposes to set up a consistent 50c children's fare on weekends on both the railroad and transit divisions. +photo Ticket machines like this one have been out of service for over a year. Photo: Tom Borawski SEPTA Proposes Tariff Changes continued from page 1 There are some onerous parts to the SEPTA proposal though. A misguided attempt to control fare evasion would slap a three dollar penalty on passengers who ride beyond the zone of their ticket or pass without informing the conductor. While this seems like a good idea on paper, in practice it may cause a lot of problems like transitized fares did. The 1989 tariffs built a penalty into all extension fares, so the new plan would add a penalty to a penalty. (SEPTA didn't retain the Conrail practice of selling tickets of a specific dollar value for use in extension and setp-up fares) The better idea is for management to make sure that train crews do their job right in the first place instead of making the passengers pay for On the transit side, recent changes in Suburban Transit fare zones will be formally included in the route tariffs. Management also seeks to expand its tariff allowing temporary "fare sales" for promotional purposes to encompass test-marketing of new services as well. A hearing on the tariffs was scheduled for April 5, but due to the short notice and the religious holidays, DVARP is asking for the record to be open for written comments until the 15th. You can address your comments to the Hearing Examiner c/o Mary Donahue, SEPTA, 714 Market St., Philadelphia, 19107. RailWorks( Direct Service: Two Trains? by Matthew Mitchell Reliable sources tell DVARP that SEPTA will make a partial concession to passengers demanding an alternative to four months of uncomfortable and unreliable subway connections during phase 2 of the $354 million RailWorks( project. One train each will operate from Lansdale and West Trenton to 30th Street Station via the detour route proposed by DVARP. While the partial service will keep some people from quitting the railroad, and slightly ease the pressure on the subway, it won't retain as many passengers as the more complete service DVARP proposed in 1991. So the long-term health of the railroad will still be in jeopardy. +Ridge subway to keep going The Daily News reports that Broad-Ridge subway service to 8th and Market Sts. will remain in operation during RailWorks. A new loop track is being constructed on the east side of Fern Rock yard to allow trains to bypass the North tunnel portal at Fern Rock. Traffic jams there caused frequent delays to subway service. Last year, Ridge service was shut down when a signal failure closed the upper deck at Erie, giving Spur trains no place to turn around. +RailWorks Guide Available from DVARP Surviving the Shutdown, the DVARP guide published last year, is still available. In it you'll find a map of City Hall subway station and tips on how to avoid crowds and get to your destination as quickly as possible. You'll also get money-saving alternatives and a rundown on fare-handling procedures. To get your copy of the RailWorks guide, send a large stamped, self-addressed envelope to DVARP, Box 7505, Philadelphia, 19101. +And now from the head office in Philadelphia, here's ... The Top 10 RailWorks Tips 10. Try to relax; it will be over by September. 9. Get up very early if you want to park at Fern Rock or Chestnut Hill. 8. Carry $5.00 bills or SBA dollar coins for ticket vending machines, and small change for the phone when your connection gets missed. 7. Check out the 22 and 55 buses for a cheaper ride which may closer to your home. 6. Use the Broad Street Subway local or Ridge Ave. trains for the least crowding. 5. Don't wait around downtown; take the first available train to Fern Rock. 4. Read The Delaware Valley Rail Passenger for latest RailWorks news. 3. Travel light and wear shoes you can stand comfortably in for long periods. 2. Walk all the way to the front of Broad Street Subway trains when traveling south to Center City; you'll find more seats there. And the number one way to make your RailWorks commute easier... (drum roll!) 1. Use Walnut-Locust instead of City Hall! Apologies to David Letterman Blizzard Snarls Railroad by Tom Borawski It was called "the storm of the century" and "a hurricane with snow." Last month's storm brought over a foot of snow to the region and covered it with a thick layer of ice, conditions that would bring even the best-managed transit agencies to their knees. How did ours make out? SEPTA kept most of its commuter rail lines going through most of Saturday while the snow fell, but switches froze up and SEPTA brought an orderly halt to service at 7 pm. The closing was announced well in advance to avoid stranding passengers, a good job by SEPTA's media relations staff. +photos: An R5 Lansdale train makes it through the storm... ...but Sunday trains were cancelled! Cleaning crews had to be stationed at key SEPTA interlockings to help the oil-fired switch heaters clear ice out. One exception was at 16th Street (North Broad) where the new electric heaters seemed to be working without human intervention-a RailWorks(C) improvement. One wonders how the story of the storm of the decade would have ended if instead of RailWorks(C) money going to a $37M Temple station, $7M was spent on station and $30M in interlocking improvements. Yet another question remains which goes beyond the issue of infrastructure: On the day after the blizzard, why was Amtrak able to run limited service to Paoli and Harrisburg while SEPTA canceled all Sunday service after 10 am? News reports had SEPTA blaming snow dumped on its yards, but firsthand observation showed no accumulations other than what Mother Nature put there. Both of SEPTA's new diesel engines were safely sleeping at the Wayne Shops, engines dead, snow piling on them. Apparently, if power was lost Saint Bernards would be sent out to fetch the trains. Since SEPTA has no four wheel drive shuttle busses and the only vehicles on the roads were snowmobiles it would seem prudent to have had the diesels on standby. But after the Governor closed all major highways, with airports closed to traffic, with snow 3 inches over the railhead, SEPTA Regional Rail got this writer home. +Transit Weathers Storm Subway and elevated riders were among the few Philadelphians who were able to get around in the snow and ice last month. As is often the case, PATCO deserves a lot of credit for quietly doing its job despite difficult conditions. SEPTA kept the Broad Street subway running throughout, while the elevated lines shut down mid-afternoon on Saturday and reopened Sunday morning. Light rail fared better than buses, both in the city and suburbs, but drifting snow closed the Norristown High-Speed Line for three days as SEPTA no longer has a functional sweeper. SEPTA bus routes were shut down one-by-one Saturday, and only a skeleton service ran Sunday. Half the CTD lines remained out of action Monday & Tuesday too. Suburban service operated by SEPTA, NJ Transit, and DART came back close to normal on Monday, as suburban municipalities did a more effective job clearing the roads. Snow removal at SEPTA statons varied in its effectiveness. Glenside was cleared quickly while Fort Washington remained impassible. Snowplowing is the responsibility of private contractors, so if you let SEPTA know how your station was, they can keep the good ones and drop the bad.-MDM On the Railroad Lines... OYR Bridge to Go In 4/17-18 Shuttle buses will replace trains from Fern Rock to Jenkintown on the R1 Glenside, R2 Warminster, R3 West Trenton, and R5 Doylestown lines the weekend of April 17 and 18. Contractors will be rolling in the new bridge over Old York Road. Information received by DVARP says that most trains will leave Jenkintown 20 minutes behind the usual schedule and run 20 minutes ahead of schedule on the southbound trip, but affected riders should watch out for SEPTA flyers with official information. R5 Cooperation = Safety Kudos to Amtrak for giving the OK for installation of a gate in the fence at Bryn Mawr. Now passengers can get to the Central Bar and Grille without having to negotiate the dangerous crossing of Morris Ave. R7 Will SEPTA Fix Connection? Bridge repair work on the Northeast Corridor near Newark will continue into the summer, so NJ Transit weekend schedules will allow extra time for southbound NEC trains. There is no excuse for SEPTA not making sure that next month's new schedules retime inbound R7 trains and restore the connection broken last fall. Ridership has fallen because passengers must either risk missing their train or plan a 50 minute layover at Trenton. CTD New Schedule Chaos The transit schedule change originally scheduled for April 4 has been postponed by at least a week. Timetables dated April 4 or March 28 will now take effect on the 11th, but if last-minute changes are made, look for new schedules with a *. Vehicle operators report utter chaos in the run-picking process (operators choose runs by seniority), with management cancelling at least one scheduled pick. Further delays in the changeover are possible. 100 N-5 Car Finally in Service Now more than 2 years late, prototype Norristown car #451 entered regular passenger service without fanfare last month. Experience gained in almost a year's testing of the car will be used to specify changes to the remaining 25 cars. +Rules Crackdown Red Arrow management announced a new get-tough policy on passenger violations of SEPTA rules, especially those prohibiting food on board the vehicles. Hazards including rat infestations and at least one fire on board an NHSL train were cited in a letter to passengers. The P&W vies with the R7-Trenton for the title of SEPTA's trashiest line. +Red Arrow Report: STD management has responded to DVARP concerns over the failure of emergency lighting systems to work during the 69th Street blackout in December. Generator failure was blamed; the system has been repaired and tested. A February letter to riders apologized for the blackout. NJ Transit AC Line Schedule DVARP has obtained tentative schedules for the extension of Atlantic City trains to Philadelphia. Schedules are geared towards commuters who work in AC, so they aren't as convenient for Philadelphia commuters. Weekdays-subject to change AC CH 30th 30th CH AC 4:42 5:47 --- --- 5:16 6:24 6:18 7:19 7:50 --- 6:02 7:15 7:06 L8:04 --- 6:50 7:15 8:25 8:43 9:47 10:16 --- L8:17 9:18 1:31 2:31 3:01 9:50 10:14 11:22 2:43 L3:41 --- 1:40 2:05 3:17 4:31 5:37 --- --- L4:01 5:06 5:39 6:47 7:18 4:41 5:06 6:14 6:44 7:49 --- --- 6:01 7:19 8:45 9:54 --- --- 8:06 9:18 10:45 11:50 12:19 8:40 9:05 10:13 12:45 1:46 2:15 --- 10:13 11:21 Weekends-subject to change AC CH 30th 30th CH AC 4:42 5:47 --- --- 5:16 6:24 XH 6:18 L7:11 --- --- 6:02 7:14 7:06 8:04 8:41 XH--- L7:23 8:25 8:43 9:47 10:16 7:43 8:08 9:18 XH 9:54 11:07 --- 9:50 10:14 11:22 1:31 2:31 3:01 XH--- 12:25 1:34 2:42 L3:40 --- 1:41 2:06 3:18 4:31 5:37 --- --- L4:01 5:06 5:39 6:47 7:18 4:41 5:06 6:14 6:44 7:49 --- --- 6:01 7:19 8:45 9:54 --- --- 8:06 9:18 10:45 11:50 12:19 8:40 9:05 10:13 12:45 1:46 2:15 --- 10:13 11:21 CH-Cherry Hill L-train terminates/originates Lindenwold XH-will not run on holidays SEPTA HQ Deal May Fold Two weeks after the SEPTA Board voted to buy 1234 Market St. (the PSFS building) for SEPTA's new headquarters, a key player is pulling out of the deal. Mellon Bank has an option to purchase the building from the FDIC as part of its takeover of the failed Meritor Corp. If Mell on doesn't exercise the option, FDIC may solicit bids for the property. This may or may not be bad for SEPTA. At least one potential bidder, the Binswanger Company, says it will offer the building to SEPTA for two million dollars less than the cost of the present deal. But the prospect of SEPTA going to its back-up site, 1650 Arch St. (the former CIGNA building) is growing. +Board withstands pressure The headquarters decision was a key test of new Board Chairman Thomas Hayward. According to news accounts in the Philadelphia Business Journal and the Inquirer, it seems that SEPTA Treasurer Feather Houstoun and the Board kept their word and made the site decision strictly on economic grounds. The Inquirer reported that real estate developer Richard Rubin sought to scuttle SEPTA's original plan to have a new building constructed atop Gallery II, as a means of eliminating a competitor to his 6 Penn Center site. The report says Rubin persuaded City Council to oppose the original plan to have the City rent the top four floors of the Gallery building until SEPTA needed them. A study estimating annual occupancy costs was prepared for the Board, and the lowest-cost option was the PSFS building, mainly because of potential rental income from space in the building surplus to SEPTA's needs. This still doesn't mean that buying an office building is the best route for SEPTA. The question of the Railroad Control Center remains, among others. DVARP will continue to scrutinize the facts as they are revealed.-MDM Marlboro Man to Ride SEPTA The SEPTA Board approved an advertising contract which will allow limited cigarette and alcohol ads to grace the sides of SEPTA buses. The contract limits the smoke and booze ads to 20% of the total. It is estimated that SEPTA will receive $3.75 million per year from the contract, according to the Inquirer. The argument that the ads victimized poor city neighborhoods already plastered with illegal billboards was somewhat mollified by the fact that Marlboro man will be riding the Neoplan bronco into the suburbs as well. The advertising is not the old billboard-in-a-metal-frame type but is an adhesive decal placed on the side of the vehicle, less susceptible to vandalism. That and the cost of installing and maintaining the signs added to aesthetic considerations in SEPTA's previous decisions not have the ads.-TB A Step Towards Privatization A private bus company will run SEPTA's new Route 131, but private bidders were unable to undercut SEPTA's cost of operating Lower Bucks bus service. A start date for the new rush-hour route hasn't been announced. Krapf's Coaches won a contract to provide joint SEPTA-DelDOT service from Wilmington to West Chester, promising a cost 0.8 percent lower than SEPTA's Suburban Division. This is SEPTA's first privatized fixed-route service. Paratransit service has been provided by outside companies since its inception. Four bidders offered to run routes 127-130, but none were able to meet the complicated specifications issued by SEPTA at a low-enough cost. While the complex contract may make for service that meshes smoothly with existing SEPTA routes, it also reduced the opportunity for contractors to maximize efficiency. Menwhile, TWU leaders are fighting privatization of new or existing routes; which could open jobs to members of other unions, or to non-union labor. Germantown to Hold Mothballed Vehicles SEPTA officials announced at a community meeting that once operations out of Germantown District are relocated to other depots, the facility will be used to store unneeded buses and trackless trolleys, thus reducing activity there and reducing the impact on the neighborhood, which had long complained about noise, fumes, and traffic. Under pressure from the City and DVARP, SEPTA did an about-face from its plan to close Luzerne Depot. SEPTA will relocate a maintenance training program to Germantown and keep its around-the-clock security patrols. Undercofler leaves Board Former Chairman J. Clayton Undercofler's place on the SEPTA Board has been taken by Karen Martynick, a Chester County Commissioner. This may foretell a more active approach on transit by the County, a good idea in light of rapid and sometimes unmanaged growth there. A New RRD Off-Peak Plan by John Pawson Travel experiences of DVARP members and comments heard from other passengers lead us reluctantly to conclude that off-peak RRD train service has become uncompetitive with the use of the automobile for travel to Center City. Once again in January 1993, Regional Rail patronage was down. (-7.7% systemwide compared to January 1992 despite the beginnings of economic recovery) Average weekday losses on the Reading side, impacted by RailWorks, range from 15 to 28 percent. These are after four months of restored service, and appear all but irreversible if the current service structure continues. They suggest that once people were forced to drive, or do business elsewhere than Center City, their new alternative proved to be faster, more reliable, and subject to less personal hassles. Let's first consider speed. SEPTA us the slowest US commuter railroad system, at about 24 mph. The nation's average commuter train speed, according to Federal statistics, is 32 mph. Would-be passengers, of course, don't use calculators to determine whether the trains' speed is satisfactory or not. They try the service, and apparently find it too time-consuming. "Too-slow" or "too many stops," we're told. Anything over a half-hour or twelve stops is regarded as "tiresome." On the other hand, completion of "missing links" in our comparatively sparse regional expressway system appear to have made most parts of the region accessible off-peak to Center City in 45 minutes or less. Interestingly, that is the time traditionally allowed for driving from the inner suburbs to City Hall via the major highways. Why are the Lansdales and Paolis now effectively as close as the Jenkintowns and the Bryn Mawrs? Used together, outer arterials, parts of the Blue Route, and the Route 202 expressway, etc. now divert the outer-area travellers from their former routes. Lansdale may be almost as short a drive to Center City as Jenkintown; but on the train, it's 26 minutes longer! The farther out one goes, the less competitive the train becomes. So there is an urgent need to speed up train service, especially to the more distant points. Indeed, many of those areas have become more populous that the traditionally well-served inner suburbs. The four stops regarded as the most important of the Reading side of the system, Melrose Park through Glenside, serve a tributary population of but 40,000 people. Many of those passengers are "drive-ins" who have been frustrated by the train travel time from their home stations. They have the Route 309 expressway to get them to Jenkintown station. The next ten R5 stations (North Hills-Lansdale) serve 150,000 people, and the Doylestown branch adds another 70,000. Effectively serving this large outlying population with short travel time mandates a separation of the present service into inner-local and outer-express service, off-peak and peak. +Example: Doylestown RRD's most time-consuming run is from Suburban Station to Doylestown, 79 minutes. While the average speed is better than other lines (27 mph), it is too slow. On this route, like others, the perceptive passenger can notice the major causes of that slowness: long station stops downtown, slow running though some areas, stops at odd points to pick up railroad employees, too many stops in areas with other available SEPTA services, and often-long waits for the meet between trains at Forest Park siding. None of these causes of slowness is inevitable: 1. Long waits downtown: It only takes a train 2.0 minutes to travel from Suburban Station to Market East, but schedules allow 5 minutes. If they left Suburban Station on time, trains stand for three minutes at Market East. The present plan for through service from one side pads downtown schedules to improve the on-time percentage on the other. If services on the two halves of the sy stem were separated, two minutes could be saved. 2. Slow running: All railroads have speed restrictions necessitated by repair work, switches or sharp curves. In practice, though, RRD's restrictions seem to be exaggerated, and remain in force after the need is gone. Instead of moving trains out smartly, employees often feel no need to get to their destination: an attitude quite noticeable to the passengers. 3. Even in the peak hours, some trains make three stops in the Wayne Junction vicinity! One to board passengers, one to pick up employees at Wayne Shops or Roberts Yard, and one to pick up train orders at Wayne Tower. Operating rule books used to place severe restrictions on employee stops. If the railroad is operated for the convenience of the passengers instead of the convenience of SEPTA, then employees will walk a hundred yards or so to the station platform. Northbound trains get orders at 30th Street; money would be saved as well as time if southbounds were to receive orders there or by radio. 4. Stops in the transit zone take about a minute each, including allowance for braking and acceleration. If Doylestown trains ran nonstop between Market East and the first stop on the branch, North Hills, 6 minutes could be saved. 5. Meets: Before the Doylestown and Paoli runs were merged in 1984, trains ran from Lansdale to Doylestown in 19 minutes. Today's meets at Forest Park appear the be the inevitable consequence of linking the two runs; and the segment requires 25 minutes to operate. Total savings: 14 minutes; Doylestown to Philadelphia becomes a 65-minute trip. More importantly, the range of a half-hour journey is extended from North Hills to Pennlyn; of a 45 minute journey from Gwynedd Valley to Fortuna. Perhaps when the speed limit between Lansdale and Doylestown is increased from 40 mph to 60 or 70, and then junctions are properly rebuilt, Doylestown will be less than an hour from Suburban Station. In 1975, the slowest train from Doylestown to Reading Terminal took 70 minutes, the same time as todays expresses. But the real point is if there is the will to improve the service, a significant reduction in running times could be achieved immediately. +Reliability: another benefit SEPTA's Chuck Thomas once told the Board that the three attributes in which RRD needs the most improvement are "reliability, reliability, reliability." The market place is full of "type A personalities" who demand predictable performance if they are to use public transportation at all. RRD can be made more punctual by identifying and treating the causes of late running: Since the 1984 merger of Pennsy and Reading lines, officials have complained that trains made late on one side of the system continue running late on the other side, and delay additional trains as well. Symbolic values like "welding the region together" must yield to pragmatism if the service is to become more marketable. The worst case of cascading problems is on the Trenton line. NJ Transit delays lead to SEPTA trains being held at Trenton and running late all the way to Chestnut Hill East. In addition, passengers on this line leave much more trash than those on any other. All of those conditions call for separating the Trenton service from all the others at the next schedule change. RRD recently separated the other line which operates over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (Wilmington); Paoli should follow too. All separated routes should serve all three Center City stations. Pennsy trains can turn in the center tracks at Market East, Reading trains on the six tracks at 30th Street. 2. The flow of trains through Center City must be quick and regular. The slack in schedules at Market East has consequential effects of delaying following trains and limiting track capacity in Center City. 3. Too many stops on the Market East-Glenside trunk line hinders reliability because passenger, mechanical, and electrical problems tend to manifest themselves at or near station stops. If a train is to have trouble, better it happens on the branch lines. Trains should also be properly "fleeted" when running over the trunk: expresses followed by stopping trains. Another need not met by current scheduling is that for timely Center City arrivals and departures. Travelers tend to have a time goal when they go to Center City. To a lesser extent, they want to leave Center City at predictable times. The meetings, concerts, appointments, etc. we go to tend to start on the hour. Arrival times of trains must reflect the fact that we are "creatures of the clock." Before the systems were merged, the heavily-patronized Paoli line had the optimal arrival times of 40 past and 10 past the hour, allowing 15 minutes for the passenger to walk to his or her destination and five minutes margin in case of lateness. No such margin is needed for the homeward trip, so the Paoli Locals (according to Christopher Morley's poem) favored departures at 15 and 45. On the Reading, the hourly express trains that once ran to New York set all schedule patterns. All electric trains were scheduled in each direction to feed those expresses at the junction stations. Something of this tradition remains in the R6 Norristown schedule, a very inconvenient "53" arrival and "55" departure at Suburban Station. For those lines which justify only hourly off-peak service, the timetables should have a group of trains arriving Center City from both sides of the system in the third quarter of the hour, and departing near the beginning of the second quarter. Once arrived, trains would wait at downtown terminal for about a half-hour, then return to their starting point. Through running is only feasible where two trains per hour are to be operated. This two-pulses-per hour service plan has some secondary benefits, too. Airport trains and downtown feeder buses can effectively be operated, meeting all the trains. Persons who live along different lines can meet downtown without one or more having an excessive wait either for the others to arrive or for their return train. Altogether, more timely scheduling creates a more people-oriented service, the kind of thing that sells every kind of good and service today. Next month, we will depict the present schedule structure and develop a new off-peak schedule that observe the principles above. Reform of the peak service will be tackled later. In the meantime, the Commuter Rail Committee welcomes your comments. Social Hour! Time to take a break from fighting SEPTA and the highway lobby? Join DVARP members at a happy hour at The Aztec Club, Delaware Ave. and Spring Garden St. (Frankford El to Spring Garden) Friday, April 30 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Hors d'oeuvres and drinks are on the house! Delaware Transportation Fair Once again, Delaware will celebrate Try Transit Week with a display of transportation alternatives. Along with representatives from our sister organization, Delmarva Rail Passenger Association, you'll be able to see displays from DART and a big model railroad exhibit, and take free rides on both a train and the cruise ship Miss Kathy. Amtrak/Tank Truck Accident Don't stop on the tracks! A terrible accident ocurred when an Amtrak train struck a tanker truck on a grade crossing in Florida. The driver said he was blocked by the grossing gates, but it was soon learned traffic was backed up from a nearby light, and he had stopped his truck on the tracks, which is against the law. So like most of these accidents, the driver was to blame. Do you have a dangerous crossing like that in your town? Remind local government officials about the stupidity of some drivers, and ask them to have signs posted saying "No stopping on railroad crossing."-MDM Amtrak Opens New Shops Most of the new shops at 30th Street Station have been open several weeks, but a grand opening celebration will be held by Amtrak on April 24. Taste the coffee, cheese, fish, candy, pastry, and other good things you'll find at the station, and you'll find yourself planning a quick stop there to shop on your way home every day!-MDM Tour the X2000 Another highlight of the day will be an e xhibit of the X2000 train, now in test service on Metroliner runs (see Feb., March DVRP) RailReading: LRV Lemons The current issue of Locomotive and Railway Preservation includes an excellent review of the Boeing LRV; the ill-fated high-tech trolley. The mechanical problems which plague the cars are explained clearly, and the fate of the cars in Boston and San Francisco is discussed.-MDM Pennsylvania Issues Trip Reduction Rules The Department of Environmental Resources has released proposed standards for employer reduction of commuter auto use, a plan which looks quite like the one DVARP proposed in the public hearing process last year. (see November 92 DVRP) DVARP sought goals which would recognize that downtown areas already make more efficient use of transportation resources, but not absolve them of responsibility for further improvement. The final plan divides the region into zones based not on city/suburb boundaries, but on level of development. A goal of 10 percent reduction in auto use is set for the Center City/University area, building up to 28% in the most sprawled suburban areas. Now DER must implement and enforce the regulations, and not knuckle under to businesses crying doom and gloom about the law and implying that there is something unamerican about not driving a car to work. As we said here in December, savvy businesses will find they can save money, by ending their subsidies to drivers. Fortunately, the hammer of Federal law is on our side. States in violation can lose highway and other transportation funding, but auto-industrial complex lobbyists would love to have the law delayed as much as fuel economy laws have been. +Delaware needs a plan The State of Delaware has been notified that its application for DART operating funds is threatened by the state's failure to meet the Clean Air Act timetable for creating an employer trip reduction plan. The Diamond State is further behind than many others, but serious work is beginnning in Dover. The plan must cover both New Castle and Kent counties. +First Clean Air Act route A suburban pharmaceutical company, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, will be contributing $10,000 towards a pilot bus route running from the Route 29/422 corridor to Philadelphia according to the Inquirer. The bus is to be called route 125-A. The company is betting that the bus will help it meet clean air act requirements. News compiled by Matthew Mitchell and correspondents: Howard Bender, Chuck Bode, Tom Borawski, Lucia Esther, Harry Hyde, Larry Joyce, Don Nigro, John Pawson. SEPTA, NJT Play Ball! We wanted to keep it a suprise, but part of the SEPTA-Phillies joint marketing deal is to put a Phillies logo on SEPTA passes during May. Those passes will give you more than a ride; they will be good for free admission to ballgames May 8, 12, and 25 and June 7. See the SEPTA flyer or call the Phillies for info. NJ Transit has been on the team for several years now. They will run a special train from Atlantic City to the Vet on Sundays: June 6, June 20, August 15, and September 26. The package includes game ticket, contests and special activities on the train, and a parade to the ballpark. You must make reservations, so call 609-343-7163 SEPTA covered another co-marketing base when it helped sponsor Pennsylvania Ballet's program "Pennsylvania Station" last month. Ballet staff have a long history of creative marketing ideas with partners as unorthodox as the Schmidt's brewery, while the cultural event market is one SEPTA ought to tap, so... +"Make it a Night" Returns Bargain fares are the order of the night Wednesdays on SEPTA and PATCO for the Center City District's "Make it a Night" promotion. Round-trip fares for passengers going to Center City after 5:00 pm will be only $2.00 from any rail station in the region! +More marketing news SEPTA had a booth at the Flower Show, selling tokens, maps, and souvenirs, and reminding throngs of people who drove to the show that they have a better alternative. The benefits of that effort won't be known until next year though. Also on the gate show front, planners are thinking about shifting big events like the Flower Show to the new Convention Center, but parking for all the showgoers is the rub. Everyone is agreeing that we must do much more to get these people to use mass transit. If done right, here could be a long-term benefit as people get into the habit of using transit to reach Center City. So we need two things: first, a way to entice first-time riders onto the system. When Toronto's Skydome opened in 1989, all tickets for events included a free ride on the TTC to and from the domes. Equally important is to make sure that when people ride the buses and trains for the first time, they won't find such intolerable conditions that they swear never to ride mass transit again.-MDM Transportation Meetings A pair of important public meetings will be held this month. The first will consider proposed Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Administration planning and congestion management rules. It will go on from 9 to 5 on April 14 and 8:30 to noon April 15 at the Franklin Plaza, 17th and Race Sts. in Philadelphia. For more information, call Paul Derzhinski at 202-366-1372. A state transportation hearing will take place April 22 in King of Prussia. Members of the public who wish to testify must call Anita Eberhard 717-787-2913 and provide 25 copies of their statement. Delmarva Excursion to Fair Delmarva Rail Passenger Association will again sponsor a special demonstration train to the Delaware State Fair July 24. This year, passengers can travel from Philadelphia as well as Claymont and Wilmington. Remember upcoming Stony Creek trip! Tickets for the NRHS Philadelphia Chapter excursion trip to Telford, Stony Creek, and the DVARP route for direct service to Center City during RailWorks are still available. Call 215-947-5769 evenings for more information. The train will leave 30th St. at 9:45 on Sunday April 25; it will not stop at Suburban Station or Market East. Dates of Interest SEPTA on Site (RRD): Thursday mornings: 7:30 to 9:00 am, at Suburban Station or Market East Station. DVARP Commuter Rail Committee: Sat., Apr. 10, 12:00 at Chestnut Gourmet, 1121 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. SEPTA transit timetables change April 11-12. Note change of date! Pennsylvania Association of Mass Transportation Authorities Annual Meeting: Apr. 12-15 at Hershey. Federal Transportation Public Meeting: Wed.-Thu., Apr 14-15. See above for details. IEEE Vehicular Technology Society: Wed., Apr. 14, 7:00 pm at 23 Moore School, University of Pennsylvania, 33rd and Walnut. Topic: Automatic Equipment Identification. SEPTA R1, R2, R3, R5 using shuttle buses Fern Rock-Jenkintown April 17-18 DVARP/NJ-ARP South Jersey Task Force: Sat., Apr. 17, 10:00 am at 108 Edison St., Collingswood, NJ. DVARP General Meeting: Sat., Apr. 17, 12:00 to 3:00 pm at Lansdale Library, Vine St., Lansdale (Montgomery Co.). Note change of time due to SEPTA shuttle buses SEPTA Citizen Advisory Committee: Tues., Apr. 20, 5:45 pm at SEPTA Board Room, 714 Market St., Phila. SEPTA on Site (Suburban Transit): Wed., Apr. 21, 7:30 to 9:30 am and 3:30 to 5:30 pm at 69th St., 7:30 to 9:30 am at Norristown State Transportation Committee Hearing: Thu. Apr. 22 in King of Prussia. See above for details. Philadelphia Trolley Coalition: Fri., Apr. 23, 5:30 pm at 56 West Penn St., Philadelphia. (cross street 5300 Germantown Ave) Call 843-5359 for information. SEPTA Board Meeting: Thu., Apr. 22, 3:00, SEPTA Board Room, 714 Market St., Third Floor, Philadelphia. Grand Opening of 30th Street Shops and Restaurants: Sat., Apr. 24, 10:00 to 5:00. X2000 train on exhibit. NRHS Philadelphia Chapter "Stony Creek Ramble:" Sun. Apr. 25, departs 30th St. 9:45 am, Jenkintown 10:15 am. Trip will include DVARP RailWorks Detour Route, Lansdale-Telford, Stony Creek Branch. Tickets: $35.00 Information and reservations: call 947-5769 evenings 7:00 to 10:00 only. Pennsylvania Rail Freight Seminar: Wed.-Fri., Apr. 28-30 in Hershey. Call 717-524-4491 for info. DVARP Transit Committee: Wed., A pr. 28, 5:15 to 6:30 at Jefferson Alumni Hall, 1020 Locust St., Philadelphia. DVARP Social Hour: Fri., Apr. 30, 6:00 to 7:30 pm at Aztec Club, Delaware Ave. and Spring Garden St. Free admission, food and drinks! DVARP Light Rail Committee: Sat., May 1, 1:00 at Fishers Restaurant, 7312 Castor Ave. (at Cottman). Amtrak and commuter rail schedules change May 2, RailWorks resumes May 2. Earth Sunday in the Park: Sun., May 2, 12:00 to 5:00 in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Delmarva Rail Passenger Association: Mon., May 3 (note change of date), 7:00 pm at State Senate Chambers, Dover. info: Doug Andrews, 302-995-6419. DVARP Commuter Rail Committee: Sat., May 8, 12:00 at Chestnut Gourmet, 1121 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Delaware Transportation Festival: Sat., May 15, 10:00 to 5:00 at Wilmington Station and Tues., May 18 10:00 to 8:00 at Delaware DOT headquarters, Dover. DVARP General Meeting: Sat., May 15, 1:00 to 3:00 pm at 108 Edison Ave., Collingswood, NJ. "Try Transit Week" is May 17-21 Tell your friends and neighbors to give up their car for a week! Listings based on information provided to DVARP. Contact sponsor to confirm time & place. Up and Down the Corridor News of other Northeastern commuter rail and rail transit services +Deal Close in New York A bond issue is the key to a new Capital Plan for the New York MTA. Legislators will haggle over the nature of the bonds (if they have to go to a voter referendum) and how much is to be spent on upstate roads vs. downstate transit. Part of the deal will also keep the promise of retaining the $1.25 TA fare. +Storm Stops New York Rails, Too Like in Philadelphia, some services shut down and some kept running through the blizzard. Switch failures shut down the LIRR, but NJ Transit and Metro-North kept on running, with delays of course. Subway and elevated lines ran pretty well. Compiled from BITNET,Passenger Transport Rail News by e-mail Do you use a computer information service like CompuServe or America OnLine? Is the computer at work connected to Bitnet or Internet? Then you can join groups which exchange e-mail comments and questions about passenger and freight rail service and all forms of public transit. These are automated mailing lists; when one person sends a message to a central computer, it remails the message to all the subscribers. To join the Railroad List, send a message to the address 'LISTSERV@CUNYVM' which says 'subscribe railroad yourname' To join the Transit List send the message 'subscribe transit your-name' to 'LISTSERV@GITVM1' These addresses are on Bitnet; if you use CompuServe or any other commercial information service, contact the provider for addressing information and the cost to you, if any, for sending and receiving mail outside the system. And if you want to send electronic mail to DVARP, our Bitnet address is 'iekp898@tjuvm' On Internet, use 'iekp898@tjuvm.tju.edu' We can send you back newsletters from 1992, budget and hearing statements, and many other documents, just ask us! -MDM Upcoming DVARP Meetings: Saturday, April 17, 12:00 to 3:00 Lansdale (Montgomery Co.) Library Note change in starting time! R5 train leaves Suburban Stn. at 10:50, shuttle bus Fern Rock-Jenkintown walk north 1 block from station, turn left on Green St., left on Vine St. to Library 96 bus leaves Norristown at 11:00 +Saturday, May 15, 1:00 to 4:00 Collingswood, NJ +Saturday, June 19, 1:00 to 4:00 Jenkintown Agenda for the April meeting: 12:00 introductions, agenda, minutes 12:15 Issues requiring immediate action: RailWorks(: shutdown II SEPTA fare and rule hearing 1:00 Other business: Transit Committee: Subway extensions Commuter Rail Committee: RRD schedule reform Newtown 2:00 General: SEPTA Operating Budget SEPTA Capital Budget Administration: copier, incorporation Committee Meetings: Philadelphia Trolley Coalition: Fri., April 23, 5:30 pm at 56 West Penn St., Germantown Transit Committee: Wed., Apr. 28, 5:15 to 6:45 at Jefferson Hall, 1020 Locust St. (first floor cafeteria) Topic: SEPTA Capital and Operating Budget items Light Rail Committee: Sat., May 1, 12:00 noon at Fisher's Restaurant ,7312 Castor Ave. Topics: 40th St. track repairs, lack of progress on new cars, SEPTA budgets, trackless trolleys Commuter Rail Committee: Sat., May 8, 12:00 to 2:00 at Chestnut Gourmet, 1121 Chestnut St. South Jersey Task Force: call DVARP Voice Mail, 215-222-3373, message box 2.