SEPTA Free Transfers Beat ‘Springfield Monorail’

SEPTA’s plan to extend the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia, is moving along reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The five-mile spur is designed to stop at the mall and the Valley Forge Casino. SEPTA Free Transfers Beat 'Springfield Monorail'

There are a lot better, cheaper and less disruptive ways of increasing the ridership and utility of the Philadelphia area’s transportation system.

Way back when the Philadelphia area’s bus and trolley lines were run by private business, transfers were free. Why? The guys running things understood they would get more riders (and ultimately money) by doing this. They understood that transferring from a busy line to another wasn’t costing them anything as the other had to run anyway and the less the consumer cost the more use the busy line would get.

SEPTA now is a tax-funded bureaucracy. Nobody in management is going to lose his job if the bureau doesn’t make a profit. Further there is no incentive to increase ridership. In fact, there is a disincentive as more riders mean more aggravation and the ones running things are going to be paid the same whatever.

So the point for the taxpayer is, instead of dumping money into what will be a money losing venture, why not bring back free transfers? Public transportation use might very well increase as much if not more than by building this thing and without the tax hit and construction annoyance.

Somebody might point out that SEPTA is pushing for commuters to use monthly passes. Really? How’s it working for them? What percent of the residents of the area use SEPTA on a weekly (or monthly) basis much less have passes?

Monthly passes are a  good way of using SEPTA, of course, but have you seen any marketing for them? Have you seen the advertisements for them on TV? In any media? Have you seen any marketing for SEPTA anywhere?  We haven’t. The private transportation companies used to advertise but not SEPTA. We really don’t believe SEPTA is interested in increasing its riders.

Here’s a thought: where is the attempt to synch SEPTA’s rail service with it’s bus/trolley service? How about free transfers for that? It would be cheaper than this rail extension.

This project is just a means of getting somebody else to pay for more government-connected jobs.

This thing won’t go through Springfield Montco much less Springfield Delco and it won’t be a monorail but we have no problem using the Simpson reference.

SEPTA Free Transfers Beat ‘Springfield Monorail’

The cost of SEPTA Free Transfers would be a fraction of what building a five-mile spur along a busy highway.

SEPTA Free Transfers might actually cause revenue to increase.

SEPTA Free Transfers Beat ‘Springfield Monorail’

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