Revamping Philly’s bus system isn’t easy | Morning Newsletter
Hundreds gather at Temple’s Bell Tower to honor slain officer
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Today should be a cooler day with a high of 44 and a chance of showers.
SEPTA heard you. It knows you want better service.
It’s why it’s revising its entire bus network to create new routes with frequent service.
SEPTA’s goal of a “bus revolution” is set to launch in early 2024. But it’s already hitting some road blocks and currently considering tweaks to the draft based on public criticism.
It’s a complex project, and our main story focuses on lessons from other cities that have been there.
If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Over the past decade, at least seven transit systems — including Houston, Baltimore and Miami — knew they had to overhaul their systems to combat plummeting ridership.
Baltimore’s lesson: Accept that you have to pour money into it, and don’t be too cheap.
Baltimore’s bus system got a makeover in 2017 after former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan canceled the $2.9 billion Red Line light rail. He pledged $135 million for a bus network redesign, saying the city would get more impact for less. Last fall, 20% to 25% of bus trips were canceled on many routes daily.
Houston’s lesson: Get strong backing from big political leaders.
Houston’s bus routes changed overnight in August 2015. It was disruptive, but the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County had political cover. Improved transit was high on former Mayor Annise Parker’s priority list before the process began. Houston saw a 7% increase in transit usage in the first year after the change.
Continue reading to find out what SEPTA can learn from Miami.
Hundreds gathered at Temple University’s Bell Tower Tuesday evening to honor and mourn slain officer Christopher Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald was fatally shot Saturday night while making a pedestrian stop. Miles Pfeffer, 18, has been charged with his murder.
Both Fitzgerald’s wife, Marissa, and his father, Joel, spoke in front of the Temple crowd: ”We’re devastated, but we’re nonetheless proud.”
During a separate press conference earlier in the day, Fitzgerald’s killing prompted Mayor Jim Kenney to criticize state legislators over what he views as their failure to pass gun control measures.
Meanwhile, Temple’s president, Jason Wingard, said gun violence was “ravaging” Philadelphia and threatened the university’s ability to safely provide its students with a world-class education.
Continue reading for the most complete account yet of the crime that stunned the city on Saturday evening.
What you should know today
Members of the Temple University Graduate Students Association will continue to strike after they overwhelmingly voted down a tentative agreement Tuesday that was reached last week.
Sources told us the FBI agent who fatally shot a dog in Center City is the head of the bureau’s Philly office.
State Rep. Tim Briggs dropped out of the race for Montgomery County commissioner.
More than 1,000 people applied for three affordable rentals in Haddonfield, as the borough attempts to expand its housing options. 🔑
Pizza Jawn’s owners are buying a Manayunk bar, which will be called Bar Jawn.
An Eagles fan got a Super Bowl LVII tattoo on his thigh a week before the game, and then added a crying Michael Jordan when they lost.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
Who is SEPTA’s mascot?
A) Paws
B) Squiggles
C) Kirbee
D) Wally Goose
Find out if you know the answer.
What we’re...
📸 Watching: This interactive that shows how local photographer Anwar Abdul-Qawi gets the perfect shot of a duck at Valley Green.
🎉Congratulating: Leslie Odom Jr., Bacon Brothers, and Patty Jackson for becoming Philly Music Walk of Fame inductees.
🎧Listening: To Trumpeter Theo Croker’s Tiny Desk Concert.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: A former lieutenant governor and occasional actor.
KICK STEAM
We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if you’d like. Cheers to Maria Ruberg, who correctly guessed Tuesday’s answer: Isaiah Zagar. Email us if you know the answer.
📷 Photo from our archives 📷
That should be all you need to know to start your day. Make the day count and I’ll see you back here tomorrow📧.