Philadelphia SEPTA won a $317 million federal grant to help replace aging Market-Frankford Line cars

The Philadelphia metro area is the 7th largest in the United States, at around 6.2 million people, tied with Washington DC. However, the relatively conservative state legislature of Pennsylvania has consistently withheld adequate funding from Philadelphia-area transit agencies like SEPTA.

If you compare a map of Philly's subway to DC's subway, you can see just how little coverage the system has. (Note: the line in red is not operated by SEPTA and is more of a suburban line.) While the city has an extensive regional rail service, fares are high and frequency is abysmal. There are many densely populated regions of Philadelphia with no adequate rail service at all, including most of historically black North Philly.

In addition, despite having only two actual subway lines, the city has failed to maintain either one in decent order for the past couple decades. The "Market-Frankford Line" (recently renamed the "L" and referred to locals as the "El" for its elevation outside Center City) is in particularly poor condition, with cars around 25 years old. It is also the most highly trafficked transit line of any sort in the entire city, with about 170,000 daily riders (2019 data), or about 62 million trips per year. However, Joe Biden's 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) has unlocked funding for SEPTA via the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program that could allow them to fully replace the L's fleet of subway cars within the next few years. The grant will allow SEPTA to purchase around 200 new traincars.

Why is this necessary? I'll tell you!

Disclaimer: I am a transit lover and regular transit taker. I take this line in particular pretty often. Here is my personal list of problems with the L (not even close to complete). You will notice that most of them are related to the seating arrangement, which is something that could be directly solved with new traincars:

• Safety: The L traincars have had several major mechanical failures in the past, including cracked structural elements. They are safe enough to ride (we believe), but it is extremely expensive to maintain that level of safety. These high maintenance costs make it difficult for SEPTA to pay for essential capital projects.
• Reliability: Safety concerns and other mechanical failures lead to delays and cancellations on the route. This is extremely detrimental to ridership and obviously means people can't get where they need to go. As a result, more people drive. Unnecessary driving trips that should and could be accomplished via transit are bad for traffic, safety, and public health.
• System incompatibility: The L is not compatible with the B, Philly's other subway. They have a different track gauge. This is pointless. (New cars won't change this, but it is still silly.)
• Noise: There is less soundproofing in these cars than any other subway car I have ever been in. The screeching between 15th and 30th in particular is quite unpleasant. Part of that is SEPTA's failure to maintain their rails, but the cars themselves are just janky. This is annoying.
• Wayfinding: The L cars frequently have electronic signage failures, making it difficult to tell where you are or will be soon (the stations themselves also have poor signage). The automated station announcements are often wrong, either pointing the wrong direction, three or four stops removed from reality, or stuck on a particular stop. This is a frequent source of confusion for suburban riders, such as those coming into the city for a sports game. I regularly reassure these people that, yes, you are indeed going toward 30th St Station; yes, the announcements are wrong... yes, the state and federal government choose not to provide funding to solve this issue. (It is a choice.)
• Accessibility: The L car interiors are extremely cramped and cannot suitably fit wheelchairs, strollers, or bicycles in addition to standing or sitting passengers. The aisles are not suitably wide for wheelchairs. (In contrast, consider New York's generally inward-facing seats and spacious, sometimes open-gangway cars.) As a result, fewer people with these needs take the subway, instead choosing to drive.
• Capacity: The L car's interior seat orientation (forward-facing) maximize "sitting room" at the expense of "standing room." While this makes sense for long-distance regional trains, it is unsuitable on subways. Some seats are always necessary for seniors and others who need them, but this can be accomplished in more space-efficient ways (such as inward-facing seats). On the L, many people choose not to sit at all because it is uncomfortable to be enclosed in the window seat in a subway, and uncomfortable to be enclosing someone else in that seat, especially if they are severely mentally ill. As a result, they cram the aisles, which is uncomfortable and increases wait times at stations. This is inefficient and pointless.
• QOL/crime: The nooks and crannies of the L cars' interiors encourage vagrancy and drug use. The rows of seats provide a sense of enclosure and protection and are therefore frequently occupied for hours at a time by people who are actively using drugs or are asleep. While I am sympathetic toward victims of the housing and opioid crisis and disinclined toward "hostile architecture," a very busy traincar is one of the worst places for homeless and severely mentally ill people to reside in as far as their health and that of the overall city is concerned. Witnessing someone injecting themselves with fentanyl is unpleasant and discourages ridership, which is bad for aforementioned reasons. Additionally, discarded needles are a major safety hazard, especially for children and dogs. This is dangerous. (Also, many of these people take up multiple seats passed out, reducing capacity.)
• Cleanliness: The L's seat arrangement makes it extremely inefficient and difficult to clean. Spilled food and beverages, discarded needles, general garbage, grit and dirt, and other unsuitable substances accumulate in hard-to-reach places. For this reason, it is gross, and many people will not sit even if there are available seats, further reducing capacity. This is bad.
• General aesthetics: The L cars look and feel outdated. New, slick cars would be more appealing to ride. This is a quality of life thing, but it does measurably impact ridership.

Will the new traincars solve these problems? Maybe, but SEPTA has not announced any specifics yet. This grant actually only covers less than 50% of the cost of a full fleet replacement.

SEPTA officials are evaluating bids from rail car manufacturers to build the M5 cars for the El, a procurement that the agency estimates will cost $700 million to $800 million for the new fleet. A companion project will install a new signal system and other track improvements on the line.

Once a contract is signed, it would take about five years for the first of the new rail cars to arrive.

SEPTA needs about 96 functioning cars to provide the El’s scheduled level of weekday service, officials told The Inquirer last spring. On average, about 85 cars are available, with a steady stream of them rotating off the line for inspections or needed repairs.

Let's hope that this happens sooner rather than later. 2030 sounds believable. The newspaper claims that SEPTA wants to award a contract this spring or summer.