Terminal Velocity

SEPTA has finally finished its rehabilitation of the Frankford elevated line, capping it off by rededicating the refurbished Frankford Bridge-Pratt Terminal. This $650 million "ten year project" was begun "in 1986," which by my math makes it a TWENTY year project, and leads me to wonder how much it ACTUALLY cost. Don't get me wrong, I think the structural improvements on the Market-Frankford Line are a resounding success, and if SEPTA really wanted to skimp on spending they could have put it off for a few more years, but spending 20 years on a 10 year project is exactly the kind of construction strategy SEPTA adopts far too frequently. Incidentally, reconstruction of the Market Street elevated segment is nearing completion as well.

In other transportation terminal news, the incredible shrinking Fulton Street Transit Center in Manhattan might get a little smaller, with new designs severing the connection to the N/R/W (BMT Broadway) stop at Cortlandt Street to the rest of the concourse. I've been at some points in my life a frequent commuter through this massive free transfer (currently 2/3/4/5/A/C/J/M/Z, representing all 3 original subway divisions) and I can say that unless moving sidewalks were run under the entire length of Fulton, John, and Dey streets, it would in no way speed a commute to be able to transfer from the N/R/W to the 4/5 at Fulton street as opposed to at 14th street, or to the J/M/Z here rather than at Canal, or conceivably to the 2/3 here rather than at 42nd.

The above paragraph only addresses a fraction of the possible interchanges at the future transit center, but the fact remains that the architectural value of such a station is diminishing with every redesign and budget crunch, and nearly all transfers involved will require a lot of walking--counterintuitive to one prevalent commuter mentality, "Why run when you can walk, and why walk when you can ride?"