Renewing SEPTA

City Paper doing rill big things! They have put out an amazing cover story, which provides 33 ways to make SEPTA better and more popular. They have completely outdone anything that I would or could have come up with here.

I do hope that the people running SEPTA and the politicians who continue to avoid coming up with funding read this piece. While it is a depressing issue on its surface, with so many things that need change, being at the bottom means that we can only look up. Duane Swierczynski lays this out in his intro, arguing that we needed to think big and create a system that will be the envy of the world. This is not a time for small ideas and changes, as we have hit rock bottom.

Deep down, we should approach this with hope, creativity and determination. There is so much that we can get done, there are so many great ideas out there, so many committed people, and so much to work with already. We have the basis for an amazing transit system, and now is the time. Each change will garner attention, and show a city committed to a cheap, efficient mass transit system. Each change will bring new riders who realize that they don't need to have a car and can see the beauty of city living. Each change will show a city that is ready to be in the forefront on issues.

Some of my favorite proposals are #2, 6, 10, 14, 26, 33. What do they say? Well, go read the article yourself and find out.

Leave comments and let everyone know which proposals sound best to you, or would get you to use mass transit more, or even give the reasons why you don't use it much now. Also, are there any recommendations that you don't see mentioned? The more ideas, the better, as change is coming.