Oh hell yes, Phawker. Hell YES! And thank you Phillygrrl, for having the courage to get out there and get in our faces with just how awesome SEPTA is (blah blah blah, despite all its flaws, blah blah blah). A weekly column?! Another reason to TGIF and TGIPh.
BY PHILLYGRRL It can be hard for both non-SEPTA and SEPTA riders alike to understand the appeal public transportation holds for a former country girl like me. When I moved here from New Jersey as a child, I was fascinated by the trolleys, trains, subways and buses I saw everywhere. Even now, despite the grime and urine, the inconveniences and hassles, I’m still awed by how accessible everything is to the average Philadelphian. With just $2 in your pocket, you can go anywhere you like in the city, a rarity for your average small-town American without a car. The best part for me (and the worst part for some Philadelphians) is how riding SEPTA gives you a front-row seat into the living rooms of your neighbors. I’ve seen and heard more interesting things on SEPTA than I’ve ever experienced in my years growing up in a Philadelphia neighborhood and attending Philadelphia schools. There’s something very intimate about being thrown together towards a common destination on a day-to-day basis with a group of strangers. It can reveal a lot, both positive and negative, about your own prejudices and those of your fellow citizens. In the next few weeks, I hope to share some of the things I’ve learned and continue to learn from my experiences riding SEPTA on a daily basis. I’ll also be taking some routes I don’t normally take, learning the city a little better and highlighting all of those nice conductors out there. Who knows? I may be sitting on your bus.
Love ya, MLS!
ReplyDeleteWow, what's with the no comments here in many months?! I love this blog, I just found it and I am PRO public transit, in particular, SEPTA. I made a conscious decision to live without a car since 2001 and I am not sorry one bit. We ALL need to do what we can to help with the climate crisis and using mass transit is one of the BEST things the average person can do.
ReplyDeleteMy background: I grew up on public transportation in this area because my family did not have a car until I began high school. Later on in life I did have a car, for about 20 years (which I now regret). But to be fair, I did keep it in the garage most of the week and still took the bus to work. That was in the Pacific Northwest, on Pierce Transit. In 2001 I moved back to the Philadelphia area, I live in Upper Darby now, and SEPTA is my "car" 7 days a week. I am old enough to remember when it was not SEPTA, but PTC and Red Arrow Lines. In a way, it is nice to have it all consolidated now into one unit, but there is something nostalgic about the "old days" as well.
Great to see and read other SEPTA enthusiasts here!
--bjbear71
Hey, thanks for the comment bjbear71, and sorry I haven't been keeping up the blog for a few months. I'll see if I can do a little better in the next few! Keep riding!
ReplyDeleteMLS