Detailed service improvement plan for SEPTA Market-Frankford Line is a model for other transit systems

In writing ("Train service in Greater Manchester needs to be reorganized?") about service failures of the railroad commuter service program south of London, I referenced a report-analysis commissioned from experienced railroader Chris Gibb.  It made very detailed and incisive recommendations about the problems and potential solutions.

(Separately, I remember reading detailed improvement recommendations by the labor union working on NYC Subway and by contrast, politically oriented but content-less recommendations by the union working on the WMATA Metrorail system.)

Granted busline improvement programs in places like Seattle ("How Seattle Got More People to Ride the Bus," City Lab) and Salt Lake City ("New and Improved: Expanded Service Hits Salt Lake City ," press release), mostly focused on upping frequency, have had positive results seen in significant ridership increases, even as transit ridership tends to be dropping somewhat on a national basis ().  In both cities, improvements have been funded by city-specific funding initiatives separate from the multi-jurisdictional serving agencies ("UTA unveils improved bus shelters and signs funded by Salt," Salt Lake Tribune).

The PATH system too, has a substantive system improvement program underway that is quite quantifiable ("Port Authority announces plan to increase PATH capacity," ABC7 NYC).

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a story, "The Market-Frankford Line is SEPTA's workhorse. A 'dramatic change' to service starts soon," on SEPTA's various measures for the Market-Frankfort elevated line, which is the system's busiest single line, with over 180,000 daily riders.

Given the rise in new residential development in the area immediately served by the line, ridership has significantly increased, and the agency has had to respond to deal with crowding and other problems.

In terms of baseline service, the line operates with peak frequencies of four minutes across the peak travel periods, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m, and less frequent service outside of those periods.

Service improvements include:

• Elimination of skip/stop service, where during peak service, A trains skipped certain stations and B trains skipped other stations; leading to long waits on the part of some riders. The elimination of skip-stops will improve service from a train every eight minutes to a train every four minutes during peak hours.
• From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., frequencies will improve from a train every 10 minutes to a train every six minutes.
• From 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., frequencies will improve from a train every 10 minutes to a train every eight minutes.

According to the PI:

The skip-stop service’s end impacts eight stations, mostly concentrated on the east end of the line, at the Berks, York-Dauphin, Huntingdon, Somerset, Tioga, and Church stations, as well as Millbourne and 63rd Street on the west end.

They are also reconfiguring train seating to add more space for standing--they are 20% of the way through, and hope to install real-time information on train arrivals, but no money has been allocated for such an improvement.

(I know one of my complaints with DC's Metrorail is the surcharge for rush hour during the periods when service is much less frequent.)

That being said, SEPTA has other issues, including problems with structural integrity of the train cars which has created service problems and some advocates argue that the system needs to be "more transparent and open" about what's going on ("Market-Frankford Line issues underscore need for more transparency from SEPTA," PI).