Plan for SEPTA's Regional Metrorail System

摘要

SEPTA's Regional Rail System has an extensive network of 7 diametrical lines.However, its ridership is only 90,000 per weekday, much lower than the riderships of the recently built regional metrorail systems, such as BART and WMATA. The project developed a plan to upgrade SEPTA's Regional System by construction of high platforms, purchasing new rolling stock and introduction of self-service fare collection. The report represents a plan for upgrading an old commuter rail system, which has high operating costs and cannot attract many passengers because of long headways, into a modern regional metrorail system which will offer better service with decreased operating costs. This upgrading will have a very positive impact on the entire Philadelphia Region. The required investment, although large in absolute terms, is very moderate compared to the investments made by other cities into rail systems with far smaller networks.