Amtrak To Screw Up Entire East Coast

Everything seems to be going pretty smoothly for SEPTA recently. The transit agency raised fares without any riots, it’s planning to update to a smart card system for fare collection and it now has state money coming in. Nothing is that easy, though; SEPTA might have to shut down six regional rail lines due to a possible Amtrak strike beginning on Jan. 30.

The regional rail lines that run on Amtrak lines are: R1 Airport, R2 Newark, R5 Paoli, R6 Cynwyd, R7 Trenton and R8 Chestnut Hill West. (The Inquirer says it would affect 54,000 daily rail riders.) Similarly, NJ Transit would have to shut down its Northeast Corridor Line, which runs from Trenton to New York and is by far the best way to get into New York City. (SEPTA to NJ Transit to Penn Station. When I started college, this was actually pretty cheap, too!)

An Amtrak spokesman says the railroad is optimistic there won’t be a walkout.

But if there is one, there are obviously other options to get around. The first one is actually bad news: , so the cab fares are going to go up 20 cents a mile soon. Cab drivers are actually against the fare hike, because it means less of the usual $30 paid to a driver for a trip from the airport will go for a tip. Philadelphians have no sympathy for cab drivers, since they have apparently broken all the credit card machines in Philly cabs. (This is what they tell us, at least.)

So cabs might not be the cheapest option. Hey, how about a bike? Some of us like to walk most of the time (raises hand) but tonight at the Natural History Museum there is a forum discussing a bike-sharing program in Philly. Now Philadelphia cars can crash into Official Philadelphia Bikers!

The program actually sounds pretty awesome if implemented correctly, which will happen when I am mayor.