The Centennial District Transportation Center is Coming!

[mixiboi]

Now we just gotta convince SEPTA to stop trains there....

Philadelphia Zoo getting parking garage, still seeks train stop - Philadelphia Business Journal

The zoo plans a 683-space parking garage near 34th and Girard, west of the zoo grounds.

The garage, which will cost $24 million, will be paid for by federal, state and city funds, as well as investment by the zoo itself.

It will be part of the Centennial District Intermodal Transportation Center and offer access to SEPTA transportation. The zoo is serviced by SEPTA’s Route 15 trolley and the Route 38 bus.

Vikram H. Dewan, the zoo’s president and CEO, has also been an advocate of having a train stop at the zoo, but there is no timeline for such an addition or even any certainty that such a plan would be approved.

[eldondre]

hopefully septa and amtrak no better. a stop there would be a waste of money. if it were on the reading main or harrisburg line sure, but how important is a trenton line stop in a congested rail area?

[billy ross]

hopefully septa and amtrak no better. a stop there would be a waste of money. if it were on the reading main or harrisburg line sure, but how important is a trenton line stop in a congested rail area?

The Chestnut Hill West would benefit from a stop there. It goes a long distance, slowly, from 30th Street to North Phila, and doesn't even get the benefit of a stop. Figure out how to move the trains more quickly and add a stop at the Zoo and maybe that line would no longer have 90 minute heads on Sundays and holidays.

I don't know what the optimal number of stops is, but CHW has three stops in CH, three stops in Mt. Airy, and three stops in Germantown (with one of those being at the edge of East Falls). That makes for a total of 10 stops between its terminus and 30th Street Station. I think that line would benefit from more stops. It would increase ridership and the utility of the line. I would be hard-pressed to come up with a better location for adding a stop than the Zoo. It would dramatically increase ridership between 30th Street and the Zoo on that line, and it would marginally increase ridership between the Zoo and its terminus. To me it's a no-brainer. If it could be done in concert with track improvements to get rid of the slow boat to China routing then it would be a gigantic improvement to that line all around. It may need a flyover at North Philadelphia for the outbound routing. It may just need rationalized tracks between 30th and Zoo. Either way, it would probably improve the NEC and maybe even the Keystone too.

[eldondre]

there is no optimal number of stops. ridership is dependent on the line providing something people want. in fact some of todays stops are irrelevant. it is my understanding that when the service met up with intercity service to ny at north philly it had better ridership. today there is little service at north philly and what is there isnt timed well with the chw. while i appreciate that youd like it for your own selfish reasons it would be a very expensive stop that would add little utility. it would be much easier to add a stop around 29th st providing access to that neighborhood. if i lived in parkside id rather have a stop on the main line. chw has poor weekend frequency because septa pays amtrak a flat fee per mile for access and theyre saving that fee. it should not ve a priority and would be just another example of the wrong kind if transportation planning...the kind that focuses on tourists and not moving people.

[Juniataexile]

Why is the Chesnut Hill West so slow on that section? Is it because they cross tracks? I don't remember it being so slow in the ancient past
of my youth?

[maddoxdy]

When I rode it as a kid in the 70's it slowed through there. Always got a good look at the back side of the Zoo, so I didn't mind.

Doug M

[Juniataexile]

Yea, I think you're right about the speeds by the zoo in the '70s. I remember trying to spot animals.

[mixiboi]

They are one step closer:

Art Commission Reviews Zoo, KYW projects | PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

Echoing previous approvals granted by the Parks & Recreation Commission, the Philadelphia Art Commission Wednesday granted conditional approval to a new parking structure planned for the Philadelphia Zoo.

In her reappearance before this Commission, the Zoo's Nina Bisbee addressed concerns from last month's meeting about the colorations of the banding on the building, and presented samples for inspection.

Bisbee also brought along samples of the frit pattern which will be applied to the structure's glass facade, an element intended to help protect birds from crashing into the windows. She also mentioned that the Mural Arts Project would be installing a mural on some of the concrete facade, an announcement that elicited an audible groan from one Commissioner and commensurate giggles from a few audience member.

Funny that the "art Commission" doesn't "like" the Mural Arts Program....All kinds of ironies there...

[Sharkfood]

When I rode it as a kid in the 70's it slowed through there. Always got a good look at the back side of the Zoo, so I didn't mind.

Doug M

As a matter of fact, I thought there was a stop at the zoo on the Paoli Local when I was a kid.

[Volanova]

As a matter of fact, I thought there was a stop at the zoo on the Paoli Local when I was a kid.

I think you're thinking about the old 52nd Street Station, which would be a pretty good distance from the zoo, but doable on a nice day I suppose.

I think the real benefit of this would be the fact that it could get more tourists to the Zoo and keep them from having to use the somewhat decrepit bus system to get there. It would also provide a convenient interchange with the Girard Street Trolley.

[BarryG]

I think you're thinking about the old 52nd Street Station, which would be a pretty good distance from the zoo, but doable on a nice day I suppose.

I think the real benefit of this would be the fact that it could get more tourists to the Zoo and keep them from having to use the somewhat decrepit bus system to get there. It would also provide a convenient interchange with the Girard Street Trolley.

I'm not sure what is decrepit about the bus system, besides the fact that the easiest SEPTA bus for a tourist to take drops them off at 34th & Mantua, which isn't far but is not exactly the nicest spot to dropped and not know exactly where you're going.

But anyway, the Phlash serves the zoo quite nicely. Easier and cheaper than the train for most tourists.

[billy ross]

hopefully septa and amtrak no better. a stop there would be a waste of money. if it were on the reading main or harrisburg line sure, but how important is a trenton line stop in a congested rail area?

No, a Chestnut Hill West Line stop. It needs the ridership boost to make the line viable.

I'm not sure what is decrepit about the bus system, besides the fact that the easiest SEPTA bus for a tourist to take drops them off at 34th & Mantua, which isn't far but is not exactly the nicest spot to dropped and not know exactly where you're going.

But anyway, the Phlash serves the zoo quite nicely. Easier and cheaper than the train for most tourists.

As eldondre and you should both know well and as the Flower Show amply demonstrates, suburbanites, who make up the vast majority of the zoo's clientele, are willing to take the train to the city's cultural events, provided it isn't overly difficult or confusing for them. The Schuylkill Expressway becomes dangerous with all of the dumb suburbanites who clog up the exit ramp and cause the expressway to back up (rather than get off at Montgomery and doubling back on West River to Sweetbriar, which would be much quicker and less frustrating), on pretty much any nice weekend day. These people need their hands held. They're not going to take the Phlash or the 38. They MAY take the train to Center City then transfer within the same station to get to the zoo. It'd be even better to through route one of the busier Reading lines (R5?) to CHW and thus the Zoo on weekends in the nice weather, as opposed to the present moronic coupling of a route that doesn't go to the burbs (Fox Chase) with a route that doesn't go to the suburbs (CHW). Talk about a way to kill ridership - a train that goes from Wayne Junction in Germantown to Queen Lane in Germantown, which is a 25 minute walk, but takes 40 minutes on the train.

[mixiboi]

IT still looks pretty

[mixiboi]

Dreamers:

Phila. Zoo planning new parking garage to make facility more accessible - Philly.com

"See that?" he says outside the main entrance, pointing to the clogged off-ramp where westbound I-76 empties, ostensibly, onto 34th Street. Cars are backed up like a herd of antelope trying to squeeze through a rock fissure.

"We're going to fix that."

----

A new traffic light at the bottom of the westbound ramp will be timed to allow cars to exit the Schuylkill smoothly. Around the corner, where eastbound I-76 meets Girard Avenue, the ramp will be aligned directly with the zoo's garage entrance. A new left-turn lane will allow entry to the garage from westbound Girard.

And to make life even easier, Dewan says, electronic signs will inform drivers about where to find empty parking spots.

Even though the garage will double current car capacity, Dewan says, "There will never be enough parking." His dream for the zoo - and for its neighbors in Mantua and Parkside - is to reestablish the train station that served the area until 1947.

"We are having some deep conversations with Amtrak," he said.

[eldondre]

A lot needs to happen for a train station...if they can make it part of the still unfounded but far more important. Zoo to win/overbrook reconfiguration that would be a plus. More immediately are there plans to eliminate the ugly surface lot marring the park and fix the sidewalks that make the city look like a third world.country?

[rugbychix]

There is about zero chance of a Zoo regional rail station stop. The Zoo Interlocking is run by Amtrak and shoehorning in a station stop there would require an act of God in terms of money, political will power and engineering.

Kristin

[Volanova]

There is about zero chance of a Zoo regional rail station stop. The Zoo Interlocking is run by Amtrak and shoehorning in a station stop there would require an act of God in terms of money, political will power and engineering.

Kristin

Exactly. It'd be nice to have a station near Girard, but it's not going to happen there. The 52nd Street station is more likely to re-open than a Zoo station.

[thoth]

How bought they fix up the Letitia St house before it burns down and maybe run a weed whacker on the park property there? Too much to ask?

[Volanova]

How bought they fix up the Letitia St house before it burns down and maybe run a weed whacker on the park property there? Too much to ask?

They can't pull weeds from around the convention center and on Broad Street in front of City Hall...do you really think they'll attempt to restore a house in West Philadelphia? (That's only semi-sarcastic.)

[thoth]

They can't pull weeds from around the convention center and on Broad Street in front of City Hall...do you really think they'll attempt to restore a house in West Philadelphia? (That's only semi-sarcastic.)

Are the weeds park and rec territory or is street dept liable for that? serious question, i don't know.

I don't have a reasonable expectation of the parks dept to do anything whole-assed in Philadelphia given that they have virtually no funding. But since the Zoo is apparently flush enough (which is city funded, i'd remind you) to drop bills on a shiny parking garage, you'd think they could spend 100 bucks to have a couple of kenzos cut the grass around the Letitia house.

Some weeds in front of the convention center just looks sloppy. The trash-strewn hobo paradise (ie fairmount park) and collapsing buildings surrounding the zoo, which is one of (if not the) top tourist attractions in the city, is disgraceful.