Fountains of Wayne Junction- “SEPTA’s Mom”
So, this post is definitely about SEPTA’s Wayne Junction, but oh so much more. Be sure to get the full, and well-written article from The Mount Airy Independent’s Patrick Cobbs here.
Like everything in the transportation industry, many projects in jeopardy today aren’t on the chopping block due to lack of engineering knowledge or public support, but from politics. Truthfully, that’s not really a surprise. But, as I will continue to argue, transportation, like healthcare and the food industry, has nationally transformative influence. Pulling us away from high-speed rail briefly, here in Philadelphia, the comparatively clunky but uber-functional Wayne Junction commuter rail station is currently on the transportation radar. This dilapidated train depot in the down-on-her-luck Nicetown section of Philadelphia is scheduled for complete reconstruction. It has all the elements in place to be a blockbuster TOD: within city limits, hub for numerous train lines, dense development already abutting the station, and large, industrial buildings in the immediate vicinity abound (artist colonies and light manufacturing are surely on the drawing board).
This is a worthy project in that it is certain to make complete use of Wayne Junction’s rail prominence in the SEPTA system and enhance its current surroundings. The TOD-intense zoning overlay supplied by the Philadelphia Planning Commission encourages and ensures that the area will indeed adhere to specific design guidelines to create a neighborhood that will foster a compact community with a captive audience of rail riders. Given the location’s decidedly up-and-coming status and 15 minute commute to downtown Philadelphia, it has the ability to attract educated residents that would see the area’s potential and convenience as assets. The potential adaptive reuse of industrial buildings is yet another unique feature of Wayne Junction that a lot of TOD’s cannot claim.
If you’re already down with Transit-Oriented Design and get a kick out of revitalizing former downtrodden areas of cities, all of the above information could have been applied to just about any site in the American landscape.The real DRAMA stemming from the Wayne Junction fiasco has to do with money. Naturally.
Transportation financials is where we see the direct relationship between roads and transit- you know, our transportation system. The way we are funding our roads is no longer sufficient, so a rethinking of revenue generation is in order. Pennsylvania’s Act 44 is part of this reorganization and calls for Interstate 80 to be tolled. Without trying to come off as dismissive, local reaction to the proposal reads the same all over the country: opposition is high, rural communities anticipate massive negative economic impact, and representative officials where the tolls will be levied are livid that the tolling revenue can be used to fund transit in other parts of the state- to which the PA Turnpike Authority vowed that no toll revenue would be used for mass transit!
House Transportation Committee Chairman, Joseph Markosek, goes against the grain of prevailing I-80 corridor interests by appealing to all citizens that transportation is a shared responsibility. Example: “a high percentage” of toll revenues originating from I-76 in the Philadelphia metro are sent all over the state. The argument is to have I-80 contribute to this transportation pot, which will bring a modicum of equilibrium to a system that is skewed. With committee chairpersons like Mr. Markosek, SEPTA must now convince FHA officials to allow for the tolling of I-80 (which was previously denied). With the likes of Ray LaHood in a position of influence and a push for livable communities, I feel relatively optimistic about the evolution of state transportation funding. Rose-colored glasses? You betcha.
A previous post spoke to the comprehensive evaluation of transit projects to hold them up to being economically efficient; this is what is occurring in this instance. While I would not advocate creating an I-80 toll that is prohibitively expensive for the affected communities, the specifics of how much to charge for the road should be contingent on how the state would like the road to be used. Meaning, if it’s unbearably congested, a toll that reduces traffic to respectable levels that encourages commerce, should be pursued. If the PA state government and the Fed are functioning with the larger goal of decreasing oil-dependence and environmental degradation, it is clear that a toll would be a proper interpretation of Act 44 and provide financial relief to SEPTA, and hence Wayne Junction.
I’m not completely heartless though. It’s easy to understand how this can be perceived as a redistribution of wealth. You can thank Joe the Plumber for creating that irrational pang of fear. If the toll measures were enacted, would the I-80 communities receive any noticeable benefits? Better roads? Positive community benefits? Externalities like economic benefit will take time to quantify, but setting up a highway system that reduces congestion will do much to ensure a better-functioning highway system. Perhaps that’s the hardest obstacle to overcome- the idea of a car is freedom, and when you limit someone’s use of their “freedom mobile” with a road fee that was previously free, well, that’s not going to go down without a fight. Planners and transportation engineers have the unique responsibility to educate citizens and our public officials that allowing special interests to paralyze the increased utility of our vital transportation system (this is beginning to sound like Healthcare, no?) is not the type of progress Americans can afford.
