SEPTA
Following a successful pilot at 69th Street Transit Center, SEPTA is expanding its program to combat fare evasion with full-length gates at nine additional stations, the transit agency reported Sept. 26.
The SEPTA Board has approved the purchase of 100 full-length fare gates from Conduent Transport Solutions, Inc. Under the $6.96 million contract, the new gates will be installed at Somerset, Huntingdon, Cecil B. Moore, 11th Street, 13th Street, Frankford Transit Center, Allegheny, 52nd Street, and City Hall stations. Installation of the 100 additional gates is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
According to SEPTA, the full-length gates are designed to deter fare evaders from jumping over or crawling under the turnstiles; SEPTA loses at least $30 million in revenue per year due to fare evasion.
In April, SEPTA started testing 20 of these gates at 69th Street Transportation Center. Coupled with efforts by SEPTA Transit Police officers to deter fare evasion, SEPTA said it is projecting an increase of $300,000 in annual sales revenue at 69th Street with the full-length gates in place.
The gates are equipped with 3D imaging technology that SEPTA said distinguishes between adults, children, and objects, such as wheelchairs, luggage, and strollers. The system is also able to accurately count fare evaders who try to piggyback or force their way through the gates, according to the agency.
“We are excited to see that the new gates are helping reduce fare evasion and enhance the quality of our service as a result,” SEPTA Board Chair Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. said. “We remain focused on efforts that are making SEPTA safer, cleaner, and more secure.”
“When people ride our system without paying, it is unfair to our customers who do the right thing,” SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards added. “We also know that fare evasion can be a precursor to other violations and more serious crimes.”
MBTA
MBTA on Sept. 26 issued a 28-page Climate Assessment (above) that outlines its climate mandate and achievements to date and identifies next steps for improving the transit system’s resilience and sustainability. Developed through a series of internal workshops, the Climate Assessment will be implemented by the new Climate Policy and Planning team led by MBTA’s first Senior Director of Climate Policy and Planning, Kat Eshel.
MBTA said its sustainability initiatives have contributed to a 44% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2009, as a result of energy efficiency and fuel economy initiatives and renewable energy credit purchases. In the year since the Office of Climate Policy and Planning was announced in September 2023, MBTA said it has continued to advance climate initiatives:
- Received approval from the MBTA Board to advance a $54 million plan to bring battery-electric train service to the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line by 2028, supported by $69 million of enabling infrastructure separately funded in the Capital Investment Plan.
- Advanced the system-wide tunnel flood mitigation program, receiving an additional allocation of $5 million in U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) PROTECT formula funding, issuing a $20 million procurement to design and construct a tunnel flood portal near the Airport station on the Blue Line, and participating in Boston’s inaugural Deployables Day on Sept. 27.
- Secured a $35 million allocation through the USDOT Carbon Reduction Program to support investments in electric infrastructure and life and safety upgrades to support new battery-electric bus facilities, including the North Cambridge bus facility retrofit and the new Quincy bus facility, as well as electric vehicle charging at the Cabot and Charlestown bus maintenance facilities.
- Received an additional $40 million in July 2024 to purchase battery-electric buses through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Low-No Emissions grant program.
These accomplishments, and other initiatives under way, are detailed in the Climate Assessment, which reviewed existing policies, regulations, and programs, and shared recommendations to guide the Office of Climate Policy and Planning’s work.
“These plans will build on the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s climate priorities laid out in the 180-day Climate Chief report, the Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2025 and 2030, Beyond Mobility, and the MBTA’s own Strategic Plan,” according to MBTA. “The Office of Climate Policy and Planning will help to ensure the MBTA’s ability to deliver high-quality safe, reliable, and accessible transit service for generations to come in the face of unprecedented climate change causing sea level rise, extreme temperatures, and weather events.”
“The MBTA is committed to delivering safe and reliable transit service that is not only a viable option but the preferred choice of travel,” MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said. “With a commitment to the communities and public that we serve, we fully understand our responsibilities for resilient, sustainable, and clean mass transportation in support of the environment and quality of life for generations to come.”
“I’m thrilled to be part of an agency where the core mission of providing public transportation is already a climate solution in and of itself,” said MBTA Senior Director of Climate Policy and Planning Kat Eshel. “I am honored to join the ranks of existing staff working towards a decarbonized and resilient MBTA and our team looks forward to working across the agency and with regional partners to deliver a 2050-ready transit system for the communities we serve.”
“From just climate policy to sustainable development planning and more, Kat has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the environmental field, and we’re excited to have her employ her expertise at the T,” MBTA Chief of Policy and Strategic Planning Lynsey Heffernan commented. “We welcome Kat’s leadership of the Climate Policy and Planning team as we continue to invest in the resilience of the MBTA system and make progress toward our climate goals.”
Separately, MBTA recently landed $472 million in federal funding to replace the North Station Draw One Bridge.
WMATA
In December, WMATA Red Line trains will begin ATO operation, WTOP (Washington’s Top News) reported Sept. 24. And by spring 2025, it will be used systemwide, “according to a Metro [WMATA] document released ahead of Thursday’s [Sept. 26] board meeting,” the media outlet said.
WMATA in 1976 launched rapid transit service with ATO. “ATO provides energy saving enhancements through optimized acceleration and braking,” WMATA explained. “Additionally, ATO makes the starts and stops of train operations smoother. The technology also helps operator efficiency by helping customers keep consistent arrival and departure schedules, achieving better on-time performance for the entire system.” In simple terms, it said, “reinstating ATO would automate control of a train’s acceleration, deceleration, and speed, as well as automate the opening of train doors.”
The transit agency stopped using ATO in 2009, following the “Red Line crash at Fort Totten that killed nine riders.” Safety concerns due to that accident “have all been addressed, including the faulty track circuits that failed to show a stopped train on the tracks ahead before a second train slammed into it going nearly full speed,” according to WTOP. WMATA tested ATO systemwide this summer.
Use of ATO “should speed up commutes,” as WMATA has “said run times would improve by nearly five minutes on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines, by nearly four minutes on the Red Line, and by more than three minutes on the Yellow and Green lines,” the news outlet reported. “The change to automated doors on Metro trains has already saved riders up to 10 seconds per stop, Metro said.”
Join Railway Age on Oct. 17-18, 2024, for the Next-Gen Train Control (NGTC) Conference, to be presented jointly with Parsons and held at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor in Maryland. NGTC has been the global rail industry’s single-most important communications and signaling and advanced-technology event since 1995. The 2024 event will provide C&S and IT professionals an ideal environment for sharing lessons-learned with industry peers. Presentations from engineers, project managers and more will offer in-depth technical information and comprehensive updates on CBTC and PTC projects.
BART
BART on Sept. 26 set a new post-pandemic ridership record with 224,721 exits, the highest number since March 2020, according to the transit agency.
It was the third day in a row that BART ridership topped 200,000 exits. Ten of the top-ten ridership days since the pandemic occurred in September, with weekday ridership “remaining robust” since Labor Day, the agency said.
Ridership this month was boosted by the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, the final A’s home games, and concerts and community events, including “BARTable partner events” like Oakland Pride and the Lafayette Art & Wine Festival.
“While our ridership numbers have yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, these high ridership days are proof that our work to improve the rider experience with the Safe & Clean Plan and other efforts are paying off,” BART General Manager Bob Powers said.
At the same time, BART reported, the latest numbers from BART Police show that the number of trains impacted by unwanted behavior has declined since the department increased the amount of visible safety staff on trains and in stations. Through July of this year, the agency said it has seen both violent and property crime down on the system year over year, and overall crime is down 13% even as it has experienced this ridership uptick.
