We hope you have a happy and prosperous New Year. There’s a lot of interesting things which will happen around here Transit wise this year, anywhere from Fan trips to the arrival of the new trackless trolleys, so set back and enjoy the ride.

Philadelphia Transit Vehicles- Asst. Manager

More information in this article: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/NEWS/80103011

The break down is as follows:

•  48 of 90 buses will be the Gillig Advantage 40 foot coach.
  
•  42 of 90 buses will be the Gillig Advantage 30 foot coach.
  

Once again, New Jersey is having it's College Students Ride Free promotion the first full week of February, from the 4th to the 10th.  They hold this promotion once a semester to market the system to college and post-secondary students in the area.  All students need is a special coupon (obtainable from the website) and their college ID.  Then, they can ride any NJT line for free, regardless of how far they travel.

For more information and to register, visit this website: http://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=CollegeTo

If you haven't heard, Amtrak workers were ready to go on strike on January 30th, since they have been working without a contract for several years.  Thankfully, Amtrak has reached a contract deal with several of its unions, possibly stopping the first Amtrak strike from occuring.  However, the union members have to vote on the new contract first to finalize everything.

If the workers were to go on strike, not only would Amtrak service be canceled, but a lot of SEPTA, Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit, Metro North Railroad, and other commuter rail lines would be effected as well.  Many of these lines run on Amtrak's tracks, using their powersources, dispatchers, and some of their stations.  Those lines probably wouldn't have been able to run at all if Amtrak workers were picketing.

More information here: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/13905771.html

As SEPTA has all but completely abandoned the idea, Montgomery County is taking over.  They have put aside $125,000 for a study to determine the feasibility of building a rail line between Norristown and Wyomissing (Reading) to ease congestion off rt 422.  The proposed rail line will be a scaled back (and more logical) version of the original Schuylkill Valley Metro concept presented by SEPTA. 

This study will also look at different ways to fund the service, including federal money and public-private partnerships.  While dates have not been set, the project consultants will hold several public meetings, including one in Berks County.

More information here: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=71499

PATCO is interested in expanding service in Philadelphia down Columbus Blvd and potentially to City Hall as well!  These waterfront projects would rely on federal funding and would probably be eight to 10 years away.  PATCO hopes to work with SEPTA on these projects so that they don't have to compete for federal money.  Also, they would be able to use the different strengths of each agency to make these products work.

For information on the hearings, visit this website: http://www.ridepatco.org/content.asp?page=News&param=2&publication=19&pubnumber=477

For the news article, visit this site: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20080118_PATCO_extends_hand_to_SEPTA.html

For the maps of the proposals, visit this site:
http://www.patcopaexpansion.com/alternatives.html