Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Pennsylvania's Auditor General says SEPTA is "gambling with public money" in certain financing transactions.
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Tuesday, September 4, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — A recent state audit criticizes the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority for engaging in what it considers high-risk financing. Or, as Auditor General Jack Wagner calls it, “gambling with public money.” SEPTA spent $41. 4 million in tax dollars to terminate swap deals after the transactions failed to work in its favor, according to the performance audit examining SEPTA financials from 2006 through 2009. Swap transactions are made between borrowers and banks on bond interest rates to hedge against rising interest rates. In Pennsylvania, Wagner’s office has turned a critical eye toward this type of borrowing. Too uncertain, he said. “What we strongly recommend is that public …
Thursday, March 22, 2012
SEPTA claims they were given 20 minutes notice that officers would be going on strike.
Updated, 5:43 p.m.: SEPTA's nearly 260-member transit police force walked off the job around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21 after announcing a stalemate in contract talks, according to reports from NBC10 and the Inquirer. No delays in commuter services are anticipated, SEPTA spokesperson Heather Redfern told Patch. The officers of the Fraternal Order of Transit Police, Local 30, provide security on subway platforms and on mass transit commuting routes throughout the region, according to Philly.com. However, most calls for service in Bucks and Montgomery counties are handled by local municipal police departments. At an afternoon press conference streamed on 6abc.com, Richard Maloney, SEPTA’s director of public affairs, told the media …
Friday, March 16, 2012
Transit guide hopes to pinpoint buses, trains within 3 minutes.
Riding a bus or train downtown? Track the line's status, get GPS updates and find out about any delays or detours through one online SEPTA location. SEPTA recently created a mini command center, with real-time information and advisories on its buses, trains and trolleys. It's called System Status. "It's really a collection of the different real-time alerts and advisories that were available on different parts of the website put together all at once," SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said. "It's a snap shot of where things are at any given time." This brings together the TransitView feature, which pinpoints GPS locations of buses, trains, and trolleys, with other alerts, detours, and advisories for other systems. If your trip requires a …
Saturday, July 30, 2011
CFO Richard Burnfield gave a rundown of the numbers at SEPTA's Thursday board meeting.
SEPTA announced at its board meeting Thursday that, at the end of its fiscal year, ridership over the last 12 months has reached a 22-year high. A financial report showed that ridership was up 4 percent with a total of 335 million trips by riders. That makes 13 million trips more than the previous fiscal year. One difference the report unveiled is that, since a fare increase in July 2010, payments in cash have risen, while paying with tokens or prepaid tickets has declined. The report determines the difference is caused by partially closing the gap between prepaid and cash prices. The increased ridership, and the 20 percent increase in cash fares, helped SEPTA finish the fiscal year with $22 million over budget and an 11 percent increase …
Friday, July 29, 2011
It voted unanimously o approve a contract with LTK Engineering Services.
The SEPTA board unanimously approved a contract Thursday with LTK Engineering Services for technological support for their upcoming plans to implement a new payment system. LTK will supply engineering services, information technology support and testing the machines that will be installed for the new payment technology. "There are some things that SEPTA can do, and LTK will supply the expertise when we can’t," said John McGee, SEPTA’s director of new payment technology. The contract was secured after several months of competition, and will amount to $9.1 million over five years. McGee said LTK had both the highest technical rank and the lowest price. The contract comes in advance of signing a company to provide the hardware and software …
Friday, July 22, 2011
A young man was killed by a SEPTA Regional Rails train late last night on the track in Middletown.
A 22-year-old Langhorne man was killed when he was struck by a train on SEPTA's West Trenton Line in Middletown shortly before midnight. The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting the victim to be Julio Medina, who was on the tracks with two other people, one being his sister. He was struck by the train at 11:34 p.m., officials confirm. SEPTA police confirmed to Patch early this morning that when the first responders arrived Medina was already deceased. The train was headed North toward Trenton and was the second to last train of the evening, said SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams. At around 2 a.m. the county coroner arrived to investigate the death and as of this morning the incident remains under investigation. At the same time, friends and …
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The agency hopes to improve convenience for both riders and conductors.
We all know how annoying purchasing tokens, tickets and anything else granting you access aboard any SEPTA mode of transportation can be. This past Friday, SEPTA explained how through its New Payment Technologies initiative, riding will be easier. The initiative will replace the obsolete method of paying for tokens, tickets, paper transfers and transit passes. The method can be compared to that of the EZ Pass, which allows drivers to navigate toll roads without the hassle of stopping to physically pay the tolls. No longer will standing in line for tokens be a necessity to board a train as riders will be paying fares with bank issued, contactless credit or debit cards, cell phones and other contactless devices. Prepaid cards with an …
Brianna Eckert
10:34 pm on Sunday, July 24, 2011
Julio Madina! I love you so much! You'll always be my big brother no matter what! I was way too emotional to give the police all the information I wanted! But I love you! Rest in peace love! :/ more ›