Rider Rant: Christopher

There are tons of SEPTA entrances/exits at City Hall. Unfortunately, a bunch of them are boarded up and look like they've been unused for many years. Rider Christopher shares his story of trying to help out some tourists find the BSL by City Hall...

I was walking home from the Old City after-party for the national BarCamp NewsInnovation, happy as could be about the beautiful night and talking Philly beer with out-of-towners who came for the conference.

I was heading to the Broad Street Line, deciding to walk Market because it was so nice, when I saw a couple fumbling with a map. I asked if they needed help, to which they inquired where might they find the BSL. Head right for City Hall, straight ahead and take one of the clearly demarcated entrances. They stopped for an ATM, and I kept walking -- thrilled tourists would be in town on such a beautiful night.

I got to City Hall to find both BSL entrances sealed with their foreboding iron gates, without any reason why or signage telling outsiders that other entrances are just a few hundred feet west underneath Dilworth plaza. I turned back to find the couple to whom I gave directions but couldn't find them. I walked through City Hall to get to the other entrances and realized how someone unfamiliar with the city would never find these other dimly lit entrances.

Happy tourists desirous of a ride on our transit agency think they found a proud and helpful Philadelphian and instead are led to a dead-end without any help from SEPTA directing them elsewhere. That sucks, and it bothers me still, the next day.

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Rider Rant: Jenna

I've always wondered about the Navy Yard. How exactly to get there, what's inside, who works there. Well, Jenna works there and takes a SEPTA shuttle from the Pattison Station. She's got something to say...

I work in the Navy Yard. For those who don't know, the only way in/out of the Navy yard is by car or a shuttle bus (from Pattison station) or really long walk. The 71 runs about every 20 minutes, all day long...or so one would think. It has always been very reliable in the mornings and evenings. Well one day I had to leave around 12:00...since I don't have a car, the 71 is my only way to the subway station (of course I could walk, but It's 20-25 minutes and it was pouring/I was in a rush). I waited at a bus stop at a relatively busy intersection thinking that that would improve my chances of catching a bus. Nope. The bus driver didn't even bother to come down the road all of the way (therefore missing at least two stops), he just turned down another road. I guess he decided that no one EVER leaves the Navy Yard in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY. What an idiot. It's like he has something better to do. Why miss the stops? So he can get to Pattison a few minutes early...and then...you know...wait around until he has to make the loop again. The logic of these drivers never ceases to amaze me.

And one more mini rant. I love trying to buy tokens/get a receipt from the booths at the stations (through the glass). They never hear what I'm saying. And every time I ask for a receipt...they either ignore that I even said the word receipt or if they did hear me, they forget about it by the time they complete the transaction. On average I have to say "and can I have a receipt?" 3 times. Why is this so foreign to them? And can Septa maybe install those speaker box things into the glass? Or perhaps they could train their workers in sign language. Either one would do.

Ah, the old short route. A classic! But, unlike Jenna, I've had much better luck asking for receipts. In the last 4 years I've been keeping SEPTA receipts (business expense!) I can't recall a single hassle.

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