The City That Might Be the US’s Transit Capital

Correction: The Broad Street Line actually uses up to 8-car trains!

For having a historic budget of $3, SEPTA still continues to make that money go far. Great video, glad to have helped!

SEPTA is a remarkable well run system for how awful its budget has been historically.

As a Philly native who has also lived in Seattle, I would often get frustrated by the amount of coverage/praise Seattle's transit gets amongst the transit enthusiasts crowd whereas Philly seems to be all but forgotten in comparison. I love what Seattle's doing but Philly has objectively better transit in terms of coverage. Glad you made this video!

Talk to Bill Vigrass about the Glassboro line. 14 studies, only 13 of which suggested the line be built.

literally yesterday i was wondering if you'd ever made a comprehensive look at Philly's system exactly like this

Patco doesn’t run in the lower level of the Ben. It runs on the outer edges of the bridge. There is no lower level

SEPTA is probably the closest system to an S-Bahn in the US, it through runs in the city and is fully electrified. (it still has major problems like frequency)

If the PATCO line had been in any other country it would have been extended to the U Penn Medical Center decades ago. Instead, both the city and Penn agreed to slow down an extremely busy bus route so that upper middle class working at the hospital complex can use a massive parking garage. Also destroyed the famous Civic Center building for these parking buildings.

Philly could be the single most urbanist and walkable city in the US if the politicians and influencers didn't have terminal car brain. It kills me to see such great bones rot like this.

I live in Pittsburgh, PA and we would KILL to have this system! Instead most of our train infrastructure is rotting away and is in desperate need of an upgrade. Along with new mediocre BRT projects, get our regional rail back, and a absolute overhaul of our T network, Pittsburgh can become amazing again.

I've been looking forward to this overview! Thanks and well done. Philly's transit network has incredible potential, giving the Regional Rail system good frequency would turn it into a crown jewel. I hope they can pull it off.

"Lots of potential" is definitely the way to describe SEPTA. We have the bones of a world-class transit network but there's no meat on them.

If this one doesn't feature Alan ... oh there it is 😂.

A great overview of my home system! Growing up here, I and many people take this network so much for granted, especially being near NYC and DC. I didn't realize how much of a gem Philly's system was until I moved elsewhere in the state and discovered that rail networks just really don't exist to this degree elsewhere.

One thing. Newark DE isn’t pronounced the same way as the city with the same name in NJ. The Delaware city is pronounced as if it were two separate words. New Ark. As in ‘The old one broke, so Noah went to the Canadian Tire and bought a New Ark’. 😁

As one who grew up just outside the city, I am very impressed you know how to pronounce Reading.

Not NRG Stadium…it’s NRG station which serves the South Philadelphia Sports Complex which has multiple stadiums (Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, Wells Fargo Center)

@RMTransit you came to Philly? You came to Philly? Thank you so much to doing Philly transit, my home town, with all its real virtue, potential, and grit. * Good: through running regional rail in Center City with connectivity to El, BSL and Ridge Ave * Good: the Subway surface (trolly or light rail) lines connecting West and Southwest * Good: restoration of classic trolleys on #15 line * Bad: loss of several trolly lines in favor of bus routes including the 23 running from Germantown Ave all the way down 12th and 11th streets. Not great region rail frequencies Bad: Station cleanings need to be more frequent. Ugly: closure of several downtown concourses due to “issues” which disrupt underground connectivity between PATCO and BSL Roosevelt Blvd extension and a northwest subway expansion really would help expand heavy rail access through the city. Also, would 24 hour rail/trolley service be beneficial, possibly if the demand is there. I believe the busses do run 24/7 though

Having grown up in Phila, I can definitely vouch for the quality of mass transit in the area.