We believe the guideway will be completed by this calendar year, and the only thing remaining will be 63rd Street Station. But after the guideway is completed, there will be no more shutdowns per se, and, again, we expect 63rd Street to be completed by next spring.
Could you say that again? Because the 153,000 people that are in my district are very concerned about that completion date.
It is on schedule and we're looking at next spring for 63rd Street Station.
I wanted to 184 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. have that on the record. One of the questions that I got from one of my constituents was that you guys issue a day pass, and as we start talking about making mass transit a part of our lives, he asked me to illustrate this day pass and ask the question, why is there a limit of eight rides as opposed to unlimited rides as other cities do?
As part of the fair collection system, we have just recently issued a request for interest for a new fair collection system. As part of that we will look at all fair instruments, including the day pass, but that's certainly a good point about the limitation on the number of rides per day and we will take a look at that, Councilman.
You issue TransPasses to, I think, 50,000 public 185 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. school students?
Are they available to all students or a portion and are they also available to private school students?
We sell them to the School District. They distribute to the people that qualify for them under the Pennsylvania guidelines, and that includes both public and private schools.
Okay. The Concourses, I understand that you, PATCO, Center City District have entered into a new agreement. Could you define for this Council that agreement and what plans are for the Concourse?
The agreement provides for the day-to-day cleaning of the Concourses from 8th Street to 18th Street. The City of Philadelphia and SEPTA pulled our resources to enter into a contract with CCD. I believe PATCO was part of that also, and CCD now does the 186 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. day-to-day cleaning of the Concourse. And if anyone has been there recently versus last year, there's a marked difference in the way that that Concourse is maintained. It's quite an improvement.
We'll reserve further questions about the Concourse under the public safety portion of review. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Thank you, Madam Chair. First, an observation. I like cars, I like trucks and buses, and I'm kind of a person that pays a lot of attention. I think the fleet is really impressive. It's hard for me to believe that a big city bus system can have the 187 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. cleanliness. You always used to look at the UPS trucks and say, boy, I've never seen a dirty one, even in a snowstorm, but I think you guys really need a compliment on the appearance of our fleet.
The other issue -- and, Madam Chair, this isn't about security. This is just a point that I'd like to make. Is there anything you think you could do to help the Philadelphia Police Department? Our police officers, from what I understand, are dispatched when there is the need for a ticket or a vehicle to be relocated in a bus stop. Why couldn't our radio communication center transfer that call to SEPTA police 188 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. and since it's your bus stop and it's impeding the flow of a bus making a turn in Center City, that SEPTA police be deployed to deal with that rather than tying up a Philadelphia police officer? As you know, in some cases at different times of the day, they're very limited, and if you guys -- if SEPTA could help out with that to take a little bit of that away from the Philadelphia police, it would be appreciated.
We'll look into that. Jim Jordan from our Police Department and Safety and Security Department is here.
You need to come up here and identify yourself for the record.
Pat Nowakowski with SEPTA. I'm in charge of operations 189 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. at SEPTA. One of the things that we have done in conjunction with the City is our street supervisors. We don't even have to tie up our police officers. Our street supervisors are authorized to ticket vehicles that are parked in bus stops.
Wow, that's interesting. A street supervisor, like a Parking Authority employee?
But sometimes, honestly, it gets a little ugly and the presence of a police officer is sometimes, I think, better for some situations where you --
The dispatchers for both our police and for our street supervisors are co-existent up 190 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. in our control center right next to each other. So if a street supervisor runs into a problem, he can radio the command center. The command center can dispatch an officer there to assist.
But my point is, when the complaint comes in, it normally comes in to Philadelphia Police 9-1-1, and I don't think the policy exists where when they receive that call, that they say, Okay, this is a complaint about a vehicle parked in a SEPTA bus stop, that that call is dispatched normally to a Center City police car. Could you consider having Philadelphia Police like they do now with the state police, if you call 9-1-1 and there's a disabled auto on the Expressway, they hand it right to the Pennsylvania State Police. Why couldn't that call be handed right to your Police Department and dealt with?
I think that could. 191 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. And Jim, you --
Good afternoon, Madam President. My name is Jim Jordan. I'm the head of Public Safety for SEPTA. Councilman, we are working with Philadelphia Police. Both of us have within the last year purchased a new but corollary computer-assisted dispatch system. We are now trying to interconnect the two so that exactly what you're talking about will happen seamlessly, that anything, not simply parking problems, but any 9-1-1 call or any Philadelphia police dispatch that affects our system, we will have realtime simultaneous knowledge and we'll be better able to work with them. Right now that hasn't happened in the past, but I am hoping within the next few months we will have that technology up and running so that -- and likewise, Philadelphia Police Department 192 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. will be able to track our police officers, and that way, we can further, among other things, assist in supporting each other in any need.
Well, thank you for that. The reason I bring the question is that a police officer notified me that he works here in Center City, that the majority of his day on some days is the fact that he's responding -- and I know that SEPTA must have a policy, because I was walking down 15th Street and a bus was trying to make a turn and there was a car parked at the Academy House. It's a spot where there's a lot of -- that bus driver would not back that bus up until a supervisor showed up, and the place was gridlocked and the officer said to me, This is what I deal all day, and he said, Who just rode by? The SEPTA police, and here I am dealing with a SEPTA bus. So if you could fix that, that would be appreciated, because I'd rather 193 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. see our people dealing with things that your people don't deal with and your folks dealing with the things that they are to deal with.
I have a photo that I received from our clean-up last Saturday. I will tell you that Joe Casey was on 52nd Street, along with myself -- Frances was the photographer -- picking up mounds of trash. And that takes a lot, because, as you know, we have our challenges. It's the longest strip in West Philadelphia, but it's certainly fraught with problems, and this Market Street Elevated Project has just kind of helped to exacerbate the myriad 194 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. problems we have. But we say thank you, and I told him he's the first head of SEPTA who has ever been hands-on, and we thank him. Thank you all in that regard.
We look forward to working with you. We have a two-page outline by list of departments that need to be involved, and we've already started our plans for the ending of this project and what happens, from vending carts to facades to new businesses. We've had over 40 businesses close as a result of this. So we've got many, many issues to deal with. But certainly we want to -- I mentioned it to Frances in passing, but we really will be in touch with you about a series of meetings dealing with lots, dealing with parking, with vendors, store owners, patrons and all that that entails and involves. So we'll be in touch with regarding having a series of meetings to 195 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. deal with how we get from here to the end of that program. But we do thank you for choosing 52nd Street as the site and for your hard work. Frances wouldn't get in the picture, though, on Saturday. Thank you, Madam President.
Ms. Jones, I'm going to ask you a question because I think you're familiar with Woodland Avenue Trolley Track Renewal Project from 60th to 68th. When will that project commence and when do you anticipate that it will be completed?
Frances Jones, Assistant General Manager of Government Affairs at SEPTA. We expect the project to begin preliminarily in May, and that is the 196 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. prep work where we will be immobilizing equipment, and we expect it to be completed, it's my understanding, sometime before the beginning of September. So the end of the summer, September, beginning of September. It's approximately an 11-week project.
Okay. I am hoping that we would be able to either expedite or complete the project within the time frame that you're telling me, because I certainly don't want the businessmen in that community or myself to experience what Councilwoman Blackwell has experienced in her district. And I know that, Ms. Jones, I believe it was on May 27th, I did forward you a letter, along with petitions signed by the businesspeople along the corridor that I mentioned.
That is correct, and, in fact, we have another community meeting set up for April 24th where we will again talk to the community about 197 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. the very specific areas, how we're going to phase in a two-block area, and that meeting will be at the police district at 65th and Woodland.
Are there any questions or comments from members of the Committee? (No response.)
And this Committee will stand in recess until Tuesday, April the 15th at 10:00 a.m. Thank you. 198 4/9/08 - WHOLE - BILL 080022, etc. (Committee of the Whole adjourned at 3:00 p.m.) - - - 199 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on April 9, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)