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Amazing when you let a solution to high fuel prices organically occur:

SEPTA to offer more buses, late-night trains

By Paul Nussbaum
Inquirer Staff Writer

More frequent buses. Late-night trains. Better weekend service.

That's what SEPTA promises in the next few weeks and months as it launches what it calls its most ambitious service expansion ever.

After decades of cuts, SEPTA will announce today a $10 million project aimed at easing overcrowding and improving daily service. The first of the 65 upgrades will begin Aug. 25, and all of the changes are to be made by Nov. 3.

The changes will include bigger buses on busy Route 14 along Roosevelt Boulevard between Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County, more frequent service on Route 23 between Chestnut Hill and South Philadelphia, and after-midnight trains on the R5 Paoli/Thorndale, R6 Norristown, and R7 Trenton Regional Rail lines.

"This is really unprecedented for us," SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey said. "We need to respond to increased ridership and other customer needs."

With commuters reacting to higher gasoline prices and switching from cars to public transit, SEPTA's ridership has increased by about 6 percent, or 38,000 trips a day, from a year ago. Rail ridership is up 12 percent, to its highest point in 25 years, and many rush-hour trains are packed with standing passengers.

"It's been getting pretty crowded" on his daily commute, Rico Paolino of Horsham said yesterday as he waited for an R5 train at Suburban Station. When he catches his usual 6:30 a.m. train in Ambler, "you may not get a seat."

The new bus service is made possible by the arrival of the first 40 of more than 400 hybrid diesel-electric buses to be delivered over the next four years.

New rail cars also have been ordered, but the first of the 120 Silverliner V cars are not likely to be in service until 2010. In the meantime, eight used rail cars bought from NJ Transit will be added to SEPTA's fleet by October to help ease overcrowding.

SEPTA will tout its improved service with a $1 million advertising campaign on TV, newspapers and radio, and it will pitch its late-night service to college students with whimsical ads on bar coasters, coffee-cup sleeves, and Internet banners.

The chance to add service is a big change for SEPTA after decades of route cutbacks, "doomsday scenarios," and higher fares. After lowering riders' expectations for years, SEPTA officials acknowledged the challenges they face in offering more to passengers.

"Certainly, there is a risk," said Pat Nowakowski, assistant general manager for operations. "We will create expectations, and we have to work to make sure we meet them."