Inga Saffron: Philly's failure to improve conditions for intercity bus riders is an equity issue

Philadelphia Inquirer - 9/21/2021

Sep. 21—You may have heard that Amtrak is thinking big again, thanks to "Amtrak Joe," America's railroad-loving president. The company just signed a deal with a developer to transform the historic William H. Gray III 30th Street Station into a luxe travel hub with high-end restaurants, lounges for long-distance travelers, and snazzy new office space. It's part of a strategy to compete with the airlines on the Northeast Corridor and provide a climate-friendly alternative to cars. But did you know that low-cost intercity bus service is having a resurgence, too?

Bus travel has never gotten the same respect as rail. (And, of course, rail doesn't get anywhere near the respect it deserves.) Yet, pre-pandemic, America's long-haul buses carried twice the number of passengers as Amtrak. Like trains, they're better for the environment than personal vehicles. But they remain significantly cheaper than Amtrak and serve far-flung towns that have no train service. For low-income people, car-less single parents, college students, recent immigrants, and other budget-conscious folks living in Philadelphia, intercity buses are often the only way to go.

In the early 2000s, the bus industry experienced its version of start-up culture. New companies, like Megabus and the Chinatown-based GoTo bus, muscled into the market, seemingly overnight, offering WiFi-equipped express service at incredibly low fares. It was a time when America's legacy bus company, Greyhound Lines, was struggling financially. To keep ticket prices low, the newcomers decided not to use traditional bus stations, which tended to charge hefty docking fees. Instead, they moved their operations to city sidewalks and shopping center parking lots.

While their low fares drew millions of customers, the conditions at these intercity bus stops were often abysmal. In Philadelphia, intercity bus riders are forced to wait on city sidewalks in the searing heat and the pouring rain without so much as a canopy to shield them from the elements. The fact that two of the companies, Megabus and BoltBus, had stops only steps from 30th Street Station's majestic (and air-conditioned) waiting room spoke volumes about the inequality embedded in Philadelphia life.

Boston, Denver, Washington, D.C. — and, most recently, Raleigh, N.C. — have responded to the surge in intercity bus travel by building comfortable new bus terminals close to their rail stations and insisting that all operators use them. Even New York's famously seedy Port Authority Bus Terminal is getting a makeover.

Here in Philadelphia, bus riders are still treated as second-class citizens. The city does have a bus station of sorts, a grim, concrete-block bunker at 10th and Filbert that serves Greyhound, Peter Pan, and NJ Transit. But the start-up companies, which have proliferated in number over the last few years, still pick up and drop off passengers on city sidewalks. A proposal for a more dignified bus terminal on the north side of 30th Street Station, first floated in Amtrak's 2016 master plan, still hasn't moved past the idea stage. "Philadelphia is really falling behind," observed Joseph P. Schwieterman, a transit expert at DePaul University's Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development.

Since building a central bus station will take years to realize, Philadelphia officials should focus on improving conditions for travelers using the sidewalk services. Instead, the city has helped to perpetuate the status quo.

This summer, the Streets Department missed a huge opportunity to raise standards when it moved Megabus from its longtime stop on JFK Boulevard to Schuylkill Avenue. Megabus, which pays the city $5,000 annually for curbside privileges, was being dislodged from JFK because Brandywine Realty Trust needed to take over the sidewalk to start construction of its first Schuylkill Yards tower. After discussions with Brandywine, Drexel University, and the University City District, the Streets Department assigned Megabus a stretch of Schuylkill Avenue between Chestnut and Walnut Streets.

If you have to use city streets as bus depots, Schuylkill Avenue is hardly the worst choice. The sidewalk there had just been widened as part of a $107 million PennDot reconstruction project. And, because Schuylkill Avenue is essentially a glorified highway ramp, it's a straight shot onto I-76, which helps minimize the time that buses spend traveling in city streets. Yet, in the end, all the Streets Department did was move bus riders from one barren stretch of sidewalk to another.

Like the Megabus stop on JFK, the new Schuylkill Avenue location has no canopy, no benches, no trash cans and, per usual, no restrooms. The only indication that this site is a vital piece of Philadelphia's transportation infrastructure is a sign that Megabus has stuck into a bucket filled with concrete. How is it possible that the Streets Department could create an entirely new transit stop without building any infrastructure?

Deputy Commissioner Richard Montanez acknowledged that conditions on Schuylkill Avenue are not ideal. He told me the city is hoping to get the University City District (UCD) to provide the missing amenities for Megabus passengers, just as it did for Amtrak on the plaza in front of 30th Street Station, dubbed The Porch, and for SEPTA at the 40th Street Trolley Portal.

The business improvement district would be happy to manage the space, said Nate Hommel, who oversees planning and design for UCD. It just doesn't want to be the one paying for the improvements.

Montanez argues that Megabus should pick up the tab. The company did not respond to my inquiries, so I wasn't able to ask them why they think the existing conditions on Schuylkill Avenue are acceptable. Yet I also believe the city is thinking about the problem in the wrong way.

Transportation — whether it's SEPTA, Amtrak or the airlines — is a public service. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, city planners have pledged to consider equity in infrastructure decisions. Where's the equity in a bus stop that offers travelers nowhere to escape the elements?

"Bus riders deserve to be treated with dignity," Hommel said.

Part of the problem is that American policymakers have also tended to underestimate the importance of bus travel to a city's economy, said Schwieterman, the DePaul transportation expert. "They tend to use trains or fly. Intercity buses are alien to them, and aren't seen as transportation," he observed. Yet, bus service to New York, Washington, Penn State and beyond are part of what makes Philadelphia such an attractive place to live and do business. As we emerge from the pandemic, we need those connections more than ever.

If city officials had experienced the sorry conditions that Philadelphia bus passengers endure, I bet they would have demanded that PennDot provide the amenities as part of its Schuylkill Avenue reconstruction. For a $107 million project, the cost of a canopy and seating would have amounted to a mere rounding error.

"No one asked for amenities," Chuck Davis, the PennDot engineer overseeing the project, told me. Since the agency is still wrapping up work nearby on the Chestnut Street Bridge, he suggested that it's not too late for the city to approach PennDot about retrofitting the Megabus stop. "We could certainly have that conversation with the city."

Incidentally, it's not just Megabus passengers who are left to the elements. Over the last several months, two new carriers, FlixBus and OurBus, have entered the Philadelphia market (while BoltBus has ceased operations). Like MegaBus, FlixBus and OurBus both pick up passengers at the curb (Sixth and Market, Broad and Pattison, respectively). There are also several carriers that run between Philadelphia's Northeast and New York'sChinatown now operating from a shopping center parking lot in Mayfair.

In Montanez's view, the best long-term solution would be for Philadelphia to consolidate all its downtown bus lines in one terminal on the parking lot north of 30th Street Station. But, to make that project feasible, PennDot needs to realign the I-76 exit ramp leading to the train station. That could take years, if not decades. In an interview last year, deputy managing director Michael Carroll told me that, "unless someone in the next administration loves this project," a new bus station is unlikely to happen.

The city doesn't have time to wait. Thanks to the demand for life science labs, the area around 30th Street has become the city's most significant job creator, the engine for its pandemic recovery. Meanwhile, the Greyhound terminal in Chinatown was recently sold to a developer. "There needs to be a comprehensive planning approach to intercity bus transportation," Hommel said.

Otherwise, Philadelphia could soon find itself with no bus station at all. And everyone who relies on this crucial form of transportation could be left out in the cold.

SEPTA's rail transit network makes for a sprawling map, and it's a mouthful to say (take a deep breath): the Market-Frankford Line, the Broad Street Line, the Norristown High Speed Line, and the 10, 11, 13, 15, 34, 36, 101 and 102 Trolleys.

Why not just call the whole Hydra-headed lot of it the Metro?

The SEPTA Metro.

That's a big opening proposal in the transit agency's wayfinding master plan, released Tuesday, to make rail transit easier to use in the Philadelphia region. The idea: Unify under one brand a system often thought of line by line, route by route because it's been labeled that way for a century.

"We perceive all of these services to be so separate we've never really emphasized the power of the network that they constitute," said Lex Powers, the manager of strategic planning at SEPTA, who is leading the project.

"The philosophical problem that we need to solve is defining what we're talking about," he said.

In conversation, people are more likely to identify themselves as a rider of their usual transit mode than as a SEPTA customer.

The agency plans a redo of the system's maps and signs with the aim of making wayfinding images easier to see and understand quickly. Lines will be denoted by capital letters and color badges instead of pictographs of rail vehicles over colored backgrounds. Planners propose keeping the hues historically associated with them, such as orange for the Broad Street Line, blue for the Market-Frankford Line (the El), and green for trolley routes.

New York City uses letters and numbers with color badges on its metro trains, as do many other systems.

It is expected to cost $40 million through the 2023 fiscal year, which ends in June of that year, to design and implement a new wayfinding system.

The proposed changes come at a critical time as SEPTA tries to recover from the pandemic, during which a steep drop in ridership has cost the agency millions. It's also trying to attract new customers and, in the longer term, accommodate people's changing travel patterns beyond the usual 9-to-5.

"Unifying our transit network is tremendously important for improving accessibility and welcoming people back to the system in the COVID recovery," said Jody Holton, SEPTA's assistant general manager for planning.

Simpler logos and consistent, less cluttered signage also would help orient immigrants and visitors to the city with limited or no English proficiency, people with disabilities looking for accessible entrances and exits, and even long-term riders making an unfamiliar trip.

"Transit really needs to be the common denominator, the most accessible piece of our public space," Powers said. "It needs to be for everyone."

The icon for the new Metro brand would be the traditional SEPTA logo, in black and white so it can stand out amid the overall color scheme and be a beacon outside stations.

"Metro" is used around the world, Powers said, and it translates well into Spanish and Chinese, the second and third most spoken languages in the Philadelphia area.

SEPTA bus service is in its own redesign process, with any proposals to change nomenclature or graphics to come later.

Using fewer full English sentences and words is key to helping users make the right decisions faster, Powers said. The plan calls for signs to use Roboto, a clean typeface considered easy to read.

SEPTA now will seek reactions and suggestions from the public on the wayfinding plan, as well as share the findings of the research that has gone into drawing it up, including opinion surveys and meetings with transit advocates and community groups and organizations.

In collaboration with University of Pennsylvania researchers, SEPTA has conducted experiments to see how people process wayfinding signs in real time.

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In the public-opinion survey, for instance, a majority of respondents said they look to signs and system maps in stations most for their travel cues. People also told the survey takers they had trouble identifying line and route icons when they weren't associated with a color.

"There really isn't anything in here that represents a gut feeling," Powers said. "We can explain why we think something might be the best way to go, why something is [in] the proposal."

Early reaction seemed mixed among the city's active community of transit aficionados, at least on Twitter, with positive reviews running slightly ahead of negative ones. But, as Powers hinted, many people may need some persuading.

In Pittsburgh, officials want to extend bus routes to connect more people with jobs in the city's core. In northwestern Pennsylvania, money for Great Lakes cleanups could boost port business and tourism on Lake Erie. In Philadelphia, more low-income families could get subsidies for faster internet. In South Jersey, tens of millions would help finish a seemingly endless project to connect three major highways.

Elected officials, advocacy groups, and transit agencies across Pennsylvania and New Jersey are already dreaming about the projects that could result from the Senate's$1 trillion infrastructure package. The plan, which passed the chamber in a bipartisan vote Tuesday, includes $550 billion in new money for items ranging from road and bridge repairs to airport upgrades, expanded broadband internet access, and public transportation.

"It's going to be one of those things that we look back on and say, 'This was the rebuilding of the United States during this time,'" said Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper.

The 2,700-page bill, representing one of President Joe Biden's top priorities, includes few specific projects.

Much of the money would be distributed based on funding formulas and competitive grants — the first big federal investment in so-called hard infrastructure in more than a decade, though still less than experts say is needed. But officials are already mapping out what they could use the aid for.

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Based on the formulas alone, Pennsylvania would see $11.3 billion for highway work, $1.6 billion for bridges — and $2.8 billion for public transit over five years, according to White House estimates. The bill could expand broadband access to 394,000 Pennsylvanians and subsidize 2.9 million more.

New Jersey would see $6.8 billion for highways, $1.1 billion for bridges, and $4.1 billion for public transit. Among the priorities: $72 million to help complete the $900 million project connecting I-295, I-76, and Route 42 in Camden County.

"It may double the amount of funding for infrastructure available to us over the next four to five years," said Barry Seymour, executive director of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, which is responsible for coordinating projects in Southeast Pennsylvania and South Jersey.

The commission estimates the region needs $150 billion over 30 years to restore its roads, fix deficient bridges, and expand transit service. "The new bill won't get us all the way there, but it's a positive step that will move projects forward," Seymour said.

The bill cleared the Senate in a 69-30 vote Tuesday afternoon, with support from 19 Republicans and all 50 members of the Democratic caucus. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), the Philadelphia region's only GOP senator, opposed the bill, calling it "too expensive, too expansive, too unpaid for." House Democrats hope to quickly approve it — though passage there could depend on also taking steps toward a larger, $3.5 trillion plan for social programs that satisfies progressives' demands. The outline of that package cleared its first procedural hurdle in the Senate in a party-line vote immediately after the bipartisan infrastructure vote.

Many Republicans worry so much spending could be wasteful and spur inflation.

"It's not an infrastructure bill," said one critic, Rep. Fred Keller (R., Pa.). "It's a bill that has a lot of things attached to it that have nothing to do with infrastructure."

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Here are some of the ways Pennsylvania and New Jersey might put the money to use:

Roads, highways, and bridges

Pennsylvania officials anticipate getting $600 million to $650 million in new spending for highways and bridges for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Still, "there certainly are more [worthy] projects than there will be new money available," said Larry Shifflet, PennDot's deputy secretary for planning.

About 13%, or 4,217, of Pennsylvania bridges on state, local, and federal highways are in "poor"condition, PennDot says. And a state commission this month estimated an annual unmet need of $8.1 billion for highway repairs.

Locally, the bill could fund projects such as the $10.9 million replacement of two bridges around Quakertown, Bucks County — the Allentown Road Bridge over Licking Creek and the PA 633 Bridge over Umami Creek.

Broadband

The bill would designate a minimum of about $100 million to help improve broadband access in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Different places face different challenges: Some areas have broadband available but residents struggle to pay for it, while in others broadband service just doesn't exist.

The bill funds both the expansion of pipes and wires needed to get people connected as well as subsidies for service and devices.

In Philadelphia, the poorest big city in the country, 23% of households didn't have an internet subscription as of 2019. This year, 37,000 residents received emergency broadband subsidies as part of the American Rescue Plan pandemic relief. The new bill extends that program.

"We're glad the federal government is on board," said Maari Porter, the city's deputy chief of staff for policy and strategic initiatives. "We've been banging that drum for some time."

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Amtrak

Amtrak would get $12 billion for new intercity service, including plans to connect Scranton, Reading, and Allentown to New York.

"We haven't had passenger rail in Northeastern Pennsylvania since the 1970s," said Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat whose district includes Scranton and the Poconos.

Cartwright said the route would help the region's many commuters to New York City. And in New Jersey, "they love the idea of getting Pennsylvania cars off their roadways," he said.

In Erie, Amtrak now makes just one stop a day and "basically shows up in the middle of the night," Dahlkemper said. But Amtrak has plans for new daytime service connecting the city to Cleveland and Buffalo.

There's also about $30 billion to upgrade Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line to increase speeds on the 457-mile Boston-to-Washington route. Philadelphia's 30th Street Station is the second busiest on the corridor, and officials anticipate the projects also will benefit New Jersey Transit and SEPTA, which both run on Amtrak tracks.

Public transit

Federal funding will help rural and small city transit agencies, but, as is typical, the vast majority of Pennsylvania's$2.8 billion is expected to flow to SEPTA and the Port Authority of Allegheny County, which operates buses and a small subway serving Pittsburgh.

SEPTA has a backlog of infrastructure repair needs projected to cost $4.6 billion, including new train and trolley cars and buses.

In Allegheny County, Fitzgerald hopes expanded bus service will bring more residents within a ride of its tech sector and major research universities.

Environmental cleanup

The bill includes $1 billion to fight pollution, algae blooms, and invasive species in Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes.

Both states might also benefit from $21 billion to clean up gas wells, Superfund sites, and abandoned mines. New Jersey has 114 Superfund sites, the most in the nation, and Pennsylvania has 287,000 acres of land "in need of reclamation," according to the state, at an estimated cost of more than $5 billion.

Water

Drinking water would become safer as part of a $55 billion investment nationwide in projects such as eliminating lead service lines and pipes and cleaning up man-made contaminants.

That's a significant investment but won't eliminate all lead pipes, an effort Biden once quoted at $45 billion, three times more than what is allocated in the bill. Still, it's a step in the right direction, said Stephanie Wein, of Penn Environment, a nonprofit research and advocacy group.

Airports

Philadelphia officials hope to get some of the $25 billion allocated for airports to help a $1.2 billionPhiladelphia International Airport effort to expand cargo capacity. The airport says the project would create 6,000 permanent jobs and 22,000 construction jobs and help it compete for more of the region's $53 billion of cargo traffic.

"The ability to invest in something with a significant [return on investment] I think speaks to the spirit of the bill," said Shane Doud, the airport's director of government affairs.

Doud also hopes some of the $5 billion for terminal upgrades can help replace outdated baggage equipment and reduce security checkpoint congestion.

Appalachian Regional Commission

Some of the funding targets rural areas struggling with the decline of the coal industry and opioid addiction. The Appalachian Regional Commission would receive $1 billion to continue giving grants for job training, education, economic development, and fighting substance abuse.

The agency covers parts of 13 states, including 52 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. It's cochaired by Gayle Manchin, whose husband, Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), is one of the bill's main authors.

In rural regions, she said, "we still have areas that don't have clean drinking water, that don't have a good sewer treatment plant, and those are not maybe the most popular things to talk about, but ... in this day and age we should all have clean drinking water." "type":"text

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