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Raecino t1_j5mea2b wrote

It’s about damn time

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Ng3me t1_j5metnf wrote

Don’t get too excited. There will be one countdown clock at the 13th street EL station and eventually the rest of the EL and then the sub but THERE IS NO TIMELINE for this project’s completion. “No timeline” is Philadelphia for “we don’t intend to do this.”

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Raecino t1_j5mfmck wrote

Damn it you could’ve let me dream a little longer

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Kiloblaster t1_j5nmo87 wrote

I'm sure they'll give us time to dream until this is completed in 2059

0

Aromat_Junkie t1_j5mfacq wrote

somewhere I have on my phone a PennDot Integer Overflow. 2,147,483,646 minutes to 676

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CathedralEngine t1_j5mil0q wrote

Oh cool, now I’ll know if I should light a cigarette on the platform or not.

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Dr-Gooseman t1_j5q0q1o wrote

Now I'll know if i should give up and just start walking.

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donttouchthirdrail t1_j5mgi5c wrote

I’ll believe it when I’m literally seeing the clock.

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therealsteelydan t1_j5mll3k wrote

I'll believe it when I see the train. I don't trust those things anywhere.

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rossdowdell t1_j5mv9n5 wrote

Hobo sex AND 1990s clock technology.

SEPTA has it all!

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cashonlyplz t1_j5ohqmr wrote

Mf said hobo in 2023

(This subreddit has become such dogshit)

−10

defmain t1_j5mn922 wrote

Flashing 12:00 intensifies

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AbsentEmpire t1_j5miuhn wrote

That'll be nice, but I'll believe it when I see it.

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EnemyOfEloquence t1_j5n05gg wrote

Delaware has these solar powered on bus stops....God damn we're always so behind.

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Mike81890 t1_j5qebma wrote

SF has a button to audibly tell you alongside the LCD

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Unfamiliar_Word t1_j5mkpwx wrote

I'm happy that they will be implementing it in what I hope to be the immediate future, but this is ultimately just bringing SEPTA up to the state of the art of a decade or two ago, at least, of international standards.

I wonder if the timers will be implemented on only the Trolley Tunnel Stations or also the new surface stops to be built for Trolley Modernization. When Trolley Modernization will be implemented is another open question.

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royblakeley t1_j5ncfvo wrote

More than a decade. I remember them in London c. 1990, and NYC has had them at least twenty years.

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DanHassler0 t1_j5mxf7q wrote

A key point of trolley modernization stations is having this arrival signage. They talk about it and show it off in some of the webinars.

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PatAss98 t1_j5r9xpp wrote

Not only the trolleys, but the NHSL eventually needs this down the line (even if the NHSL gets them last)

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courageous_liquid t1_j5olisq wrote

We're already designing/building streetscape improvements to accommodate the trolley modernization project (see: island ave), so at least it'll happen sometime in the next few years (TM)

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Phl_worldwide t1_j5mht9p wrote

Wow, never thought the day would come. Awesome!

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[deleted] t1_j5mshfv wrote

[deleted]

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OccasionallyImmortal t1_j5p0zk9 wrote

These would be most useful to see before people pay their fare... at street-level even.

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Devin1405 t1_j5ofy0c wrote

It's still nice, especially if one is delayed you know how long you'll be waiting.

Assuming it's accurate....

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sirauron14 t1_j5mtxib wrote

They need new trains

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DanHassler0 t1_j5mxjtb wrote

I believe both Trolley and MFL have RFPs out right now.

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sirauron14 t1_j5mxny4 wrote

I know trolleys do but the MFL too? Do we know the progress in that ?

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GumshoeAndy t1_j5n2zyg wrote

I remember this rolling out on the L train in Brooklyn maybe 12 years ago. It was right around the time where you could start to get some cell service in the stations so I could text whoever I was meeting exactly how late I'd be.

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Lazerpop t1_j5mxzon wrote

They aren't gonna work and they'll be filled with human shit with a month but hey progress

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BrythonicMan t1_j5n84yz wrote

Good to hear, but I remember when PATCO introduced timers it took about a year to reach >95% accuracy. It felt like accuracy slowly climbed throughout the year as they (presumably?) were fine-tuning it.

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nerdyandnatural t1_j5om9u1 wrote

I cannot believe it has taken them this long to put these in place. Was so shocked when I went to DC for the first time and saw the timer AND the lighted platform

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U-F-OHNO t1_j5og2mw wrote

Cool, now only if the trains were actually on time would it make any difference.

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cashonlyplz t1_j5ohnek wrote

Just hire more conductors/drivers

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OptimusSublime t1_j5ng781 wrote

They said that last spring

And the spring before that..

Etcetera

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duhduhman t1_j5pfju6 wrote

they should just put ear horns at every station to give you an idea if the train is coming or not. I also would add lifeguard chairs with nautical binoculars to every bus stop.

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owl523 t1_j5riohk wrote

No way those work

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mobileagnes t1_j5pbjxq wrote

Aren't we getting these a bit late (as in 20+ years)? It would've been nice having these countdown clocks back before virtually everyone had some sort of smartphone/tablet/etc. Nowadays Transit App, CityMapper, Google Maps, etc all have some sort of interface showing when the next few departures are (often even updated to real-time). Can SEPTA do better than those already-existing apps? Maybe the money would be better spent investing in things that ensure people to not be afraid to ride the system?

0

cashonlyplz t1_j5qopio wrote

The apps don't work if the vehicles aren't actively tracked. The bus tracking is far more reliable than "scheduled" trolleys or subway trains. If you see 'scheduled' on the app? Assume you're waiting for the next one--it's really a coin flip.

Ones displayed as "Untracked" ones might actually show up.

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TokiWart00th88 t1_j5v138m wrote

Wow! At least the drug addicts, homeless and roving gangs of criminals will know what time it is

0

ActionJawnson t1_j5mcsv8 wrote

It's not counting down for the next train, it's counting down till the next passenger outburst.

−5

Aromat_Junkie t1_j5mepri wrote

a passenger outburst of joy, having received a call from their son, that they were now were a proud grandfather. The whole subway clapped, since the newly made grandpa was using speaker. Everyone sang Auld Lang Syne and clapped as the train, decorated for the holidays pulled up and blared it's horn, merrily to the tune of "We wish you a merry christmas" and Santa claus himself was the conductor. Upon arriving at the hospital in a timely manner, after taking the subway, the gentleman noted a beautiful soft snow coming down. What wonderful birthday, Christmas, for his newly born grandson. It was an awfully apt name, as his son was to be named Jesus, seeing as he was himself a first generation american immigrant from Mexico, having built a wonderful life for himself and his family. Many years later he would tell his grandson of the story, who never quite believed his Abuelito, but it's a tale as true the day is long. Everyone clapped

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Aromat_Junkie t1_j5mntcg wrote

And maybe I'm feeling emotional re-reading David Bermans (RIP) last AMA but there's something so lacking in our society around these positive stories. Maybe Hallmark, or Madea by Tyler Perry comes the closest to cutting it.

Two books come to mind, the first, Hemmingway - in a Farewell To Arms, you'd almost forget the war in the way he describes the snow settling over his apartments in northern italy where he was stationed as an ambulance driver in the first world war, his phrases stick with me but particularly "it was very fine". If you ever hear me say "it was fine" I mean that, it was refined, a very fine thing indeed it was.

The second - The Hedge Knight, has this same similar air and quality, I think George RR Martin shows incredible deftness trying to write what I think is a great fairy tale. knights, tournaments, maidens and young squires cantering about.

A few nights ago my wife was having trouble sleeping and so I told her the story, about our dog. Our dog who we picked up from the pound. Of course I anthropomorphized my pup's life, but from her eyes, if she were human is a great and soaring success. From being abandoned, to finding a home, and making her place in it, being a teenager and then having that rock solid owners who she bonded with so tightly. The story wrapped up well after my wife was asleep, but it was too good to stop talking.

Anyway, maybe life is worth the little lie, or to tell the tall tale, or generally make stories that are better. I'd prefer to hear a story about George Bailey than Heisenberg. Our schadenfreude certainly completes the more vicious and visceral side of humanity but there's a absolute dearth of stories that are full of courage, hope and happy endings.

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