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Transit Tangents
The Podcast where we discuss all things transit. Join us as we dive into transit systems across the US, bring you interviews with experts and advocates, and engage in some fun and exciting challenges along the way.
Transit Tangents
SEPTA's Accelerate Plan Explained
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SEPTA just put real numbers and real ideas on the table, and it changes the conversation about Philadelphia public transportation overnight. We’re joined by Jay Arzu, executive director of the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway movement, to translate the SEPTA Accelerate Plan into what it actually means for riders: faster trips, simple service, and a system that works for more people, more hours of the day.
We get into the most exciting promise first, regional rail that runs every 15 minutes on key lines. When service is hourly today, and sometimes every two hours on weekends, “just take the train” stops being practical. Jay explains why the Center City Commuter Connection is such a powerful asset, how a true through-running route could make regional rail feel more like an S-Bahn, and why clearer naming and wayfinding can help new riders navigate the network with confidence.
We close with the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway, why it showing up on SEPTA’s map is a meaningful step, and what it takes to push a project toward “shovel ready” status so it can compete for funding. If you care about transit funding in Pennsylvania, SEPTA service improvements, or the future of the Roosevelt Boulevard corridor, listen through and tell us what change you want next. Subscribe, share this with a Philly rider, and leave a review to help more people find the show.
Big SEPTA Changes Ahead
SPEAKER_00Last week's up to make some huge announcements in regard to the future of public transportation in Philadelphia. The Accelerate Initiative includes everything from regional rail frequencies as low as every 15 minutes, modernizing the city's trolley network with new accessible vehicles, and expanding the number of high-frequency bus routes.
SPEAKER_01In addition to these announced changes that mostly revolve around service levels and improving existing infrastructure, we will also get a glimpse into what the future of the SEPTA system expansion looks like.
SPEAKER_00To help get us up to speed on everything included in the announcements and to hear some updates on the proposed Roosevelt Boulevard subway, we're excited to have back on Jay Arzu, the executive director of the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway movement. Jay, thanks for joining us again.
From Funding Cliff To Roadmap
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's great to be here again. I'm glad to be back.
SPEAKER_00So the last time we spoke, circumstances surrounding public transportation in Philadelphia were very different than they are today. They had a major funding cut. The state legislature had not been able to pass a bill. Eventually, at the last second, they came in and essentially kicked the can down the road for two more years, extending funding. Fast forward to today, though, and SEPTA made this huge announcement regarding the future of public transportation in the city with the Accelerate Plan, essentially creating a roadmap for what is to come with SEPTA. So I'm curious your overall thoughts on this plan and whether or not this is something that you were expecting to happen, given where things stood only a year ago.
SPEAKER_02To just start off, uh last year when we spoke, uh it was very bleak times. Um, you know, bus routes were temporarily cut. Uh, we had students who were unable to get to their schools because of these different cuts. And of course, they decided to raid um the PTTF, which is basically a fund for public transportation. It's mainly supposed to be used in emergencies. And that was raided for essentially two years so that um SEPTA could continue operations. But in that time, the current general manager and CEO of SEPTA, uh Scott Sauer, has done an amazing job with his staff trying to craft a plan that's not about doom and gloom, but is about what we could do with the proper funding to move SEPTA forward, to make SEPTA world class. And I think that that approach has not only impressed people, you know, in the city of Philadelphia, but also, you know, the the counties outside of SEPTA that's are that are part of the system. And it offers some really great opportunities for the future, which I look forward to speaking to you both about today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and some of those opportunities for the future, uh, I know a lot of folks are gonna be really excited about the regional rail improvements that are included in this announcement. Um, definitely one of the more exciting elements of that accelerate plan. Um, and there's opportunities here, right? It when we were there, we we went through this uh sort of through passing
Regional Rail Every 15 Minutes
SPEAKER_01tunnel, through downtown. There's a lot of opportunities for future expansion, even something that's kind of S-bond-like, uh, if we're gonna make some comparisons to Europe. But can you talk about uh some of those changes to the system and the impacts that those are gonna have on the city?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So, Chris, they've been talking about, you know, fully utilizing the center city commuter connection since it opened in 1984. And Philadelphia is, of course, one of the only systems to have through running regional rail service, but we've never truly utilized it to its fullest potential. And some of the things that SEPTA was speaking about in this accelerate plan was a plan to introduce 15-minute regional rail service on some of the um regional rail lines, and that would be a game changer for the region in terms of mobility that could make thousands of people who now drive into the city because it's in it's inconvenient to use the regional rail system to just hop on the train. We're talking about 15-minute service on some of these lines, um, and 15 minutes service for places where people want to go. So it would be it would be like night and day, but you know, another thing that you know people noticed was you know the redesignation of the regional rail lines. So originally the you know the regional rail lines had designations R1, R2, R3, R4. Um, and people really stuck to those, and there's people who still use that nomenclature today. But um it looks like they are gonna go with S, you know, S1, S2, S3, which is similar to um the S bonds kind of chung the cheeky a little bit there, but we love it. Um and it's an opportunity for people to, you know, who are not as familiar with the system to, you know, better understand the different services that are being provided. And I think that, you know, people really enjoy the way the system was before, but having it go back to that, you know, that naming system and that wayfinding is going to be a lot better for people who are interested in riding the system who have never ridden it before. So people are excited about the opportunity, but I think that it puts the pressure on Harrisburg, our state capital, to fully fund SEPTA because we know that southeastern Pennsylvania is, you know, really the breadwinner of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And we want to be able to contribute to the economy of this great state. But in order to do that, it has to run. It has to run well. And currently the system is doing okay, but we can do better than that. We have to have higher expectations. And with this SEPTA Accelerate plan, it really puts into motion those things, especially with reimagined regional where we have been waiting for years to for SEPTA to give us new information about that. And all the information that they presented really showed the blueprint for a system that's going to be the best regional rail system in the United States of America and can show an example to cities like Boston who are lagging behind. They need to build that central link, and we want to be that example, but not enough people know about the Central City commuter tunnel because we use it like you know, a commuter rail tunnel instead of a regional rail tunnel, instead of an S Bond-like system. But with this plan, we're well on the way to getting toward that, but we gotta get the proper funding.
Funding Reality In Harrisburg
SPEAKER_00Right. Two uh two kind of follow-up questions for you on that, one easier and one maybe a little bit more in-depth. The first is just for folks to have the context, um, what are frequencies like on some of those uh regional rail lines that are being proposed to be every 15 minutes? So, like what is kind of the difference between the old and the new? And then the other piece of this, which is kind of the more important section, is you mentioned, you know, putting the pressure on Harrisburg to make sure that you know they actually come through with the funding here. I'm curious for your perspective. Do you think that ZEPTA kind of put this package together, which we're gonna dive into more details of it shortly here, as a way to try to show the state legislature, like, look, like we can have this amazing system if we have the resources to do it, which will have all of these benefits for local residents, for the economy, for for visitors, for all of these different groups. Like, I I'm kind of curious, you know, is this is this a good sign that like the legislature has already got the the mechanisms together and they're getting ready to press the button, and this is Septa saying, hey, we've heard the legislature and this is what we're gonna do once the money comes through, or is it kind of the other way around where Septa is saying, guys, please get your axe together and get this funding together, and this is what we can do? I'm kind of just trying to figure out like what the situation is, and you're gonna know much better than I am actually being on the ground there.
SPEAKER_02So, yeah, great questions, Lewis. Um, for the first question, um, I would say that it's it's really a situation where um it's it's it's it's difficult because for one, you have many of these routes have hourly service, which is very, very typical of commuter rail services throughout the United States. But to make it worse, on the weekends, for some of these lines, it's every two hours. So that's that's not reliable, that's not you know, you know, easily accessible, and you know that that definitely reduces the amount of people that would, you know, show patronage to this system. Um, but for your second question, I think that this vision, the SEPTA accelerate plan, is really put into place to show the potential of the system and to really show the PA uh state senate because the the House of Representatives and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has already passed legislation that would allow SEPTA to do things like tax itself toward transit and increase the funding for public transit throughout the state. For it's really been the Pennsylvania uh Senate that hasn't done what they need to do. And because of it, we have transit agencies across the Commonwealth that are suffering. So this vision plan is really put into place to show the potential of the system and how much more we can do. But outside of the SEPTA Accelerate Plan, you know, there's been a lot of work from, you know, the general manager Scott Sauers' team to improve the system. They've had $30 million in savings, they've cut costs wherever they could they could. And you know, SEPTA itself is almost a bare bones organization at this point and has been that way for decades, and they've been able to find funding. We're hoping that the Senate doesn't, you know, push the goalpost further down the field this time, but a lot of things are gonna depend on the coming midterms, which is for you know, for most projects and most transit projects, people are gonna be looking at what's gonna be happening in the midterms in November. And the truth of the matter is, is if there is a Democratic majority that is elected in the PA Senate, that it could be a a major difference maker in how things will be negotiated and how much money will flow into the system and what can be done. They've talked about um, you know, trying to get this accelerate plan to do things and fix infrastructure within the next 10 years. And we can talk more about some of the nitty-gritty of that, but it it's a plan that's really set on we can do this in 10 years or we can do this in 20, but with the funding, we could do this sooner, which is important.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the and the funding, God, the that question is hanging over every transit project and and everybody we talk to, it's working in transit. Uh, you know, because we have to rely on state legislatures. There's not a lot of support coming
New Vehicles And ADA Access
SPEAKER_01from the federal side uh to support big modernization projects or new projects. So um, yeah, we definitely hope that the legislature you know pulls it together and is able to secure funding, uh, especially because one of the things that we noticed when we visited Philadelphia was that a lot of the system has a lot of really old components to it. And to be fair, I thought the trolleys were incredibly charming. I really liked them. I liked the the trolleys in the the sort of downtown tunnel, but there is something to be said about it. It is very old infrastructure that needs modernization. Probably one of the most uh glaring deficiencies is that it really uh hinders those who have any type of uh uh mobility aids that they need, you know, a wheelchair or uh if you're on crutches or whatever mobility aid you may need, um, being able to board those vehicles is incredibly difficult. So I know that modernization uh is is sorely needed. It seems like accessibility is a uh really big focus. Uh the trolleys are, I think, around 40 years old. Um, and then even some of the regional trains are from the 1970s. This may not be the best question for you, but can you tell us why SEPTA has continued to use uh some of these vehicles and what it's going to mean to have modern vehicles for the city?
SPEAKER_02Well, first and foremost, you know, of course, we were able to get some infrastructure law money from, you know, the Biden administration to pay for replacing the cars on the L, most of which have come through in 1999 and um in uh 2000. And those those cars have unfortunately been lemons and you know have had their issues and they need to be replaced sooner than later. So that's gonna start happening um around the end of the decade. They're saying 2029, the first car should be coming in, and that's going to you know put SEPTA in the place to be able to run three to four minute service on the L, whereas today we're looking at you know seven to eight minutes, which during the PM and AM rush hours is not enough. Where we're packed in those cars like Sadines. And uh for the trolleys, you know, they are you know undergoing uh trolley modernization. We recently got a um a uh grant from uh the federal government to you know equip more stations and get them ADA accessible uh for trolley modernization, and that's important because trolley modernization itself is going to really transform the system because currently today, you know, the the trolleys almost operate like buses, they'll pull up to the corner, basically the same way they ran, you know, in the 50s and 60s and 70s. You you know pull up to the to the stop and then you walk to the middle of the street and you get on for the most part. There are a few exceptions, of course. But what they're gonna do now is transform that into actual stops, which could be, you know, in the middle of the streetscape and you know, include um, you know, accessibility improvements so so people with accessibility issues can actually walk or or move directly onto the new vehicles. And and of course they have for context for folks who've never ridden them to you.
SPEAKER_00I mean, most of the trolleys, and correct me if I'm wrong here, have stairs to get up them right away. So this would be a major improvement. Yeah, yep.
SPEAKER_02And they don't have, at least for the trolleys that use the downtown tunnel, they have no accessibility and um uh like wheelchair access or anything available, so you can't actually get people on, which is which is very you know unacceptable. For the the G trolley, of course, they have wheelchair equipment, so you can use that, but for these lines in the in the downtown town, they do not. So that's gonna be a major improvement and for you know people who cannot currently use the system, and we want to encourage as many people to use the system. So, you know, SEPTA, you know, has been really pushing hard on trolley modernization and building out stations, and it it's it's gonna be, you know, a very different system and it's gonna take years to get done. But in order to move this as fast as possible, once again, we need we need more state revenue. You know, we need the ability to tax ourselves toward public transportation, and those are things that we currently cannot do um in the with the time being. But we'll see how that looks in a few months.
SPEAKER_00One
High-Frequency Buses And Tradeoffs
SPEAKER_00more question for you on kind of the the recently announced plans, and then I'm excited to hear more about where where things stand with the Roosevelt Boulevard subway. Uh the the kind of third piece of this, um, you know, buses are kind of the thing that folks always seem to be a little bit less excited about. But in Philadelphia, they move roughly half of the riders uh as part of the SEPTA system, and that is a recurring theme in many cities across the US. Um and they also move folks along the Roosevelt Boulevard corridor as well. Um but the uh announcement from SEPTA is saying that they're planning to upgrade 21 routes uh to make them high frequency routes, which would mean every 15 minutes or better. Um I'm curious if there's anything that has stood out to you in that plan um and you know what what this increase means. For me, it's hard to look at and say 21 routes, like what what exactly how how much of an impact does that have um for for the city?
SPEAKER_02It's been a huge impact. You know, this has been um they they did phase one of that project, which was mainly in Philadelphia proper. And what I will say is that routes that were already very popular and had high ridership are running a lot better. They're more frequent, they're more reliable. But at the you know, one of the criticisms have has been that some of the routes that had lower ridership have had their numbers essentially cut, and you're talking about you know, half an hour service, which we know it's not really going to be conducive to attracting people back to to ride those lines, but at the same time, those reductions have made those lines a tad bit more reliable because you won't get ghosted by the buses, which is one of the worst feelings. Um, so that's that's that's been a major difference. So it it's had it has been a success. I think that there's been um a lot of people who were you know naysayers in the beginning who just wanted wanted things to stay the way they are. Philadelphia is really one of those cities where there's a lot of people who don't want to really see change because they're used to something and it's been running this way since 1950. So, you know, I remember riding this when it was a trolley. So, you know, I I I I can sympathize, but uh this change has been very positive. And you know, I think people are looking forward to phase two and three.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Well, one thing that we definitely want to get uh your opinion on
Roosevelt Boulevard Subway Momentum
SPEAKER_01is the uh Roosevelt Boulevard subway and updates there. Um, one thing we noticed with some of these announcements is that a big addition to the map, there is a dotted line where the Roosevelt subway has been proposed. Um, can you give us uh any updates on where that project stands today?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So I have two uh major updates for YouTube. And essentially, you know, when people were reading the SEPTA accelerate plan and seeing, you know, the improvements to you know the L with new rolling stock and and new trolleys and of course new regional rail cars, toward the end of the document, they spoke about opportunities to expand the SEPTA Metro. And they had a map and they showed two projects that were, you know, for for different reasons were not completed. One being the Broad Street line extension or the B extension to Navy Yard, and also uh the uh North Town line extension to KOP uh King of Prussia uh mall in that area. And of course, uh the big one being you know an extension of um the Broad Street line up Roosevelt Boulevard. So for for many of us, we were surprised because SEPTA has for the most part stayed away from mentioning the Boulevard subway. Of course, the former GM Leslie Richards, you know, said, okay, well, we can't really afford this now. There are other priorities, and we get that, but she never formally endorsed or said that this was a possibility. But through the SEPTA Accelerate plan, now they're, you know, they have opened the door to that possibility happening. And, you know, we truly believe at the Roosevelt Boulevard subway movement that every step is a step toward getting it done. And we don't take it for granted, and you know, we're gonna continue to do the work in the community. So that's one of the bigger things that SEPTA has finally acknowledged that the Roosevelt Boulevard subway is being studied and being looked at. Number two is that the City Planning Commission had a meeting to talk about improvements to Roosevelt Boulevard. And of course, whenever you mention Roosevelt Boulevard, you know, people get in a frenzy, people have been waiting for over 113 years. So they had an avalanche of emails from community members saying, hey, you know, we love the the safety improvements on Roosevelt Boulevard because we do know it's the Boulevard of Death and it's very dangerous. It's the second most dangerous road in uh the city of Philadelphia. But we want to see the Roosevelt Boulevard subway extension expedited through design and engineering, you know. We're seeing how you know the IBX, you know, is moving in in New York and Brooklyn and Queens and how fast that's moving. Can we get the same luff here? Can we try to move this project faster so that we can get it shovel ready? Because we know that the the project that's most likely to get funded are the ones that are shovel ready and that are ready to go so that so that they can actually be funded. So we've had a lot of interest from different groups. We have, you know, a great ally and and Senator John Fetterman who loves the project and wants to see it get done. And we're gonna continue to be work, we're working with our allies like Representative Solomon, who has been a big champion of the project, to move this project forward and get a shovel ready because we have union workers that are ready to go to work on that boulevard.
SPEAKER_01I yeah, I love the story of this. Um sorry, Lewis. I just was gonna say I love the story of this because one of the things we feature so often on the show is talking to transit advocates and uh you know getting their take on how do you make change in your community. And so it must be incredibly exciting for you and your group that um something that you have been pushing for is finally you see this incremental step and it it starts to feel closer to reality. Um so yeah, I I I love this and it has to be incredibly exciting for for you.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. You know, truthfully, Chris, it's been a long six years, and I think about other cities that have been able to move projects a lot faster. It's been a while since we built something this big in Philadelphia, but it doesn't mean that we can't do it. It doesn't mean that we can't try and that we can't, you know, bring the billions of dollars needed for this project to southeastern Pennsylvania.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Um, well, Jay, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate you coming to help us break down everything that's going on in Philadelphia. Uh happy to hear mostly positive news. Uh um fingers crossed that things continue to go well in Philadelphia. Definitely stay in touch with us and keep us updated. Uh, was there anything else you wanted to mention that you didn't get a chance to? And how
How To Support And Next Steps
SPEAKER_00can folks learn more about how to support the work you all are doing at the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway movement?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So, of course, we have BoulevardSubway.com. We are also on Twitter, we're on Blue Sky, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook, we're working on getting a TikTok. We're we're trying to reach people wherever they are to talk about this project. You know, tonight, you know, I have an event with the City Nerd here in Philadelphia, and we're gonna be talking about the Boulevard Subway, amongst other things, and we're gonna continue to do the work of communic of speaking to community members and local stakeholders so that we can get the shovel ready. But I appreciate you inviting me back. I hope to be back again.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Thanks, Jay. And a fun, fun little anecdote. I feel like City Nerd was almost the gateway for me into getting involved in like transit urbanism-related things and talking about it. I met Chris around the same time. I started watching City Nerd, and Chris and I started nerding out about our our City Skylines games, and then that turned into like conversations at a bar about like you know different transit projects in Austin, and then we did this. So it's like a long pathway to get here. But um, yeah. Uh for folks who are watching, if you have not liked this video yet, please consider doing so. It helps get the show to new people. If you have any questions about the Roosevelt Boulevard subway or anything going on with the SEPTA Accelerate plan, uh feel free to put them in the comments down below, and maybe we'll follow up with Jay to see if we can get him to answer some of them uh in the comments down below. Um, if you want to support the show directly, the best ways to do so are by becoming a member here on YouTube or checking out our merch store uh links down below. But with all that being said, thank you all so much for watching and enjoy the rest of your Transit Trans Tuesday.