I take Septa's bus 9 occassionally from Upper Roxborough to Center City, mostly on weekends.

Leaving Roxborough, it usually picks me up within 3 to 5 minutes of the scheduled time.

But leaving Center City, it is always late, usually somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes. Whenever I'm waiting at one of the bus stops on Walnut St., I always see several 42, 21, and 12 buses go by before one 9 even comes.

Why is the bus 9 so unreliable? Is it simply because of the unknown traffic congestion on 76? Or is it just a Septa thing?

Really? I often have the opposite problem. I think it's 76. The 27 bus is a little better at showing up on time because it gets off 76 at the Vine St. Expressway, so you might try that as an alternate.

Tell SEPTA GM Joe Casey: jcasey@septa.org.

__________________

Obama-Biden: Hope and Change

McCain-Palin: Confused and Incoherent

I have had terrible experiences taking the 9 out of Center City. I normally take the 62, since I live off of Umbria St, but whenever I need to drop my car off at the mechanic on Ridge I'll catch the 9 into work and then take it back at the end of the day to pick up my car. Last time I did this, I ended up waiting 2 hours for the 9 at 29th and Market, until it was finally too late for me to get my car because the mechanic closed. I contacted SEPTA to complain, and they told me that the bus had some mechanical problems that day. This makes no sense - if one bus is having mechanical problems, then why didn't the next THREE scheduled busses arrive? This isn't the first time I had problems with the 9.

The 27 is not really an option for me, because I work near 23rd and Market. If I'm going to transfer, I can catch any number of busses at 29th and Market then transfer at Wissahickon TC to a 9, 62 or 61.

"Mechanical Problems" = I have no idea and you interupted me telling my coworker what happened this weekend.

Customer Service outright lies.

Then the follow-up lies more.



I was on an empty running bus at FTC.

I call and say "where's the driver?"

Septa: He was having mechanical problems but the bus is on it's way.

Me: I'm on the bus. It's running.

Septa: The bus will be there soon

Me: Okay...I'm going o drive it home okay.

Septa: Sir I don't understand.

Click.


Later...

A call back.

Septa: Thank you for your call, we were delayed to your location due to weather.

?????

__________________
"

I sometimes catch the 9 from 20th and Walnut. I don't know about the morning, but SEPTA should definitely run more of the accordian buses during the evening rush. I missed one yesterday and had to wait 20 minutes for the next bus, and there were very few seats when I got on.

While I was waiting I saw numerous route 21 and 42s go by. The 27 or 62 is a much better, and faster way, to get to Roxborough.

I used to ride the 9 off peak but stopped because it was so unreliable. just take the train and transfer to one of the buses at wissahickon...or sometimes I'd take the 124/125 to wissahickon and catch either the 9, 27, and sometimes the 65 which got me close enough.

__________________
"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

Except Ben and one or two others who are friendly, professional, and on time, I've had the worst experiences with the 9 drivers. Several are surly and drive dangerously.

I tend to find that the 9 leaving the city is often late. The inbound 9 seems much more punctual but I now avoid it because it takes 20 to 30 minutes to travel from the 76 exit to Broad and Chestnut during rush hour or at lunch time. I've spent 10 minutes just getting around 30th street station. I try to use the 27 more frequently now.

Both the 21 and 42 run much more frequently than the 9. I guess they are more heavily used routes and run more than twice an hour off-peak.

Our area needs a comprehensive overhaul of our transit plan. If you compare several schedules, you'll see that the 9, 27, and R6 often arrive at the station within a few minutes of each other, then there is a big dead window of 20+ minutes. Having two buses travel Ridge within minutes of each other makes the traffic congestion worse. We have a lot of buses visiting the WTC, which only adds to the congestion around that intersection. It's not always clear if the buses are inbound or outbound when they stop there so you have to ask a surly driver, who will probably just look at you and not respond. In some ways we are over served with options but each individual route has too many problems. In the end, we just net bad service all the way around.

__________________
I support Barack Obama.

SEPTA schedules are more like a guide than a timetable.

__________________
___________________
Ong Thanh
Black Lions
23955263
October 17, 1967
A CO, 2ND BN, 28TH INF RGT, 1 INF DIV
____________

I do the same thing.

Another reason the 9 is slow is people get on and off at practically every corner in Center City and in Roxborough after the Wissahickon TC stop. It has to be a long ride for those who go all the way or close to Andorra.