Septa

SEPTA riders will face sweeping changes starting July 1. First, fares will go up. Then, by the end of the year, new "smart" cards will replace tokens, passes, and transfers on subways, buses, and trolleys. After that, Regional Rail travel will be transformed by subway-style gates in Center City stations, electronic card-readers in the suburbs, and new fare zones everywhere. Gender designations on passes will be eliminated. The cashiers who now sit in subway booths will emerge from behind the glass, retrained as "customer attendants" to help riders use the new fare cards.

A federal magistrate judge set stringent bail conditions yesterday for a SEPTA police officer charged by New York authorities in a hostage-taking robbery allegedly orchestrated by Russian mobsters. Authorities allege that furs, jewelry and Rolex watches were taken during a home break-in in Brooklyn on May 13 and that the victims were later forced to pay an additional $40,000 in cash. The victims, identified only as the owners of a New York business, were gagged, handcuffed and had their faces covered with ski caps by two men who entered their home posing as police officers, according to a criminal complaint filed last week.

Joaquin Bowman was working in the two-man public-relations department at Leeds & Northrup when his boss, Tom Hickey, gave him bad news: The company was laying off. One of them would have to go. Bowman figured he would start packing up his desk. Not so fast, Hickey said. He'd decided to take the layoff himself. Bowman never forgot that act of crowning generosity at a time when both men had children at home and bills to pay. That was back in 1969. Over the succeeding years, the two stayed in touch.

With increased train and trolley service and stepped-up security, SEPTA is preparing for thousands of extra passengers headed to next month's U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore. In terms of crowds and inconvenience, think Flower Show, not World Series parade. SEPTA expects some crowded trains during rush hours, but not the hundreds of thousands of people who overwhelmed the system for the Phillies' victory parade in 2008. "We're going to be on display for a lot of out-of-town people, and we're putting our best foot forward," said Ronald Hopkins, SEPTA's assistant general manager of operations.

Everybody's hoping for another Phillies parade next year, but fans shouldn't expect SEPTA to do the impossible - that is, carry hundreds of thousands of riders beyond its normal capacity. The disappointed baseball fans who were delayed and stranded on crowded train platforms last week were understandably frustrated and angry. But they really shouldn't have been surprised that a commuter rail system sized for 135,000 could not handle several times the ridership. No question, thousands tried to do the right thing by taking a train or bus to Center City and the stadium complex.

Unhappy with the pace of contract negotiations, SEPTA police are warning of a possible strike. SEPTA officials have drawn up contingency plans for protecting passengers and SEPTA property in case of a strike, a spokeswoman said Monday. The Fraternal Order of Transit Police, which represents about 220 SEPTA officers, had a one-day walkout in 2008, the first ever by the police force. No new strike is imminent yet, as the police and SEPTA have agreed to talk again in March.

SEPTA doesn't have enough engineers to run all of its trains all of the time. On Saturday, eight Regional Rail trains were canceled because of crew shortages, and engineers say the problem is chronic and may get worse. In 2011, federal work rules were toughened, reducing the number of hours passenger-train crews can work in a week or month and exacerbating SEPTA's long-standing staffing woes. Because of a shortage of qualified workers, the complex nature of rush-hour scheduling, and SEPTA's desire to limit costs for employee benefits, all engineers and conductors work overtime every week and are paid accordingly.

I WOULD LIKE TO thank the Daily News for the help concerning my SEPTA issue ("Gripe from a bus rider," Jan. 30). The same day my letter was printed, director of customer service Rohan K. Hepkins called and stated he would look into the matter and apologized for the service and staff problem. Way to go, Daily News , for getting matters addressed. Maryann Zindell Philadelphia Take his word for it Re: "What Obama's up to" (letter, Jan. 29). Just want to give Tom Bell of Philadelphia a great round of applause for his comment.

There are lots of surprises tucked in the fine print of SEPTA's plans for fare increases and a new smart-card fare system. Like, if you don't register your "smart" credit card with SEPTA, you will be charged the full $2.50 cash fare for each bus or subway ride, plus an "unregistered account fee" of up to 50 cents. Users of SEPTA's own smart cards will pay $1.80. Or this: You will no longer get an unlimited number of trips on a weekly or monthly pass. And senior citizens from any state in the country will be able to ride free, with photo ID. Public hearings start Monday on fare increases scheduled to take effect July 1 and on a complex new electronic fare-payment system that is to begin its rollout in the fall.

SEPTA unveiled its budget yesterday, and it was no April Fool's joke. The transit service is now facing a deficit the size of a Philadelphia pothole: $55 million for the fiscal 2004 budget. The bad news shouldn't be a shock to anyone. The economic downturn that has affected private businesses is now being felt big time in the public sector. Now it's SEPTA's turn to squeal. To make up the shortfall, the transit service is considering cutbacks and fare increases. Much of it makes sense.

Fans yelped with delight Sunday evening as a frenetic stretch of action closed out the U.S. Open. But local officials were likely uttering more subtle sounds: sighs of relief. After years of preparation, the nation's golf championship has concluded at Merion Golf Club, a course known more for its cramped suburban surroundings than for its ability to host nearly 40,000 people per day. As the tournament drew near, there were questions of logistics - from spectator parking to security and space for tents - and on Monday and Thursday of last week, torrential downpours muddied the grounds and delayed play.

Monday's torrential rains drowned many people's expectations of a sunny, beautiful U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club. But there was a bright side. For one thing, the rains kept Tiger Woods hanging around a lot longer than he typically does on practice days. The superstar golfer was getting ready to tee off around 6:45 a.m. when lightning struck. A bullhorn sounded, play was suspended, and Woods had to return several hours later to resume play. On a sunny day, Woods would have been done long before the 26 students from Global Leadership Academy Charter School arrived.

Squeezed into its suburban surroundings, Merion Golf Club has several unique quirks: a road closely bordering several holes, a busier road bisecting the course, and large stone houses within range of an errant 3-wood. Among those quirks, include bells and whistles. Literally. Every half hour, nearby church bells gong, audible across several holes. At a more unpredictable rate, SEPTA's Norristown high-speed line darts past the course, occasionally honking its horn. It can be heard in places including the all-important 18th tee. Golfers can be a particular bunch when it comes to noise; thousands of volunteers are here this week with the specific task of making sure people don't clap at the wrong time.

Joaquin Bowman was working in the two-man public-relations department at Leeds & Northrup when his boss, Tom Hickey, gave him bad news: The company was laying off. One of them would have to go. Bowman figured he would start packing up his desk. Not so fast, Hickey said. He'd decided to take the layoff himself. Bowman never forgot that act of crowning generosity at a time when both men had children at home and bills to pay. That was back in 1969. Over the succeeding years, the two stayed in touch.

Along Golf View Road on Tuesday evening, just a few paces from the Merion Golf Club, a group of parents gathered as their children sold lemonade on the sidewalk. A topic of the evening's discussion: with the U.S. Open arriving next door in a few days, how exactly are people going to get around? "There's some confusion," said a smiling Lauren Campbell, who lives on the street. Beginning Sunday, the area surrounding Merion will become a web of road closures, partial closures, and restricted parking areas, and locals like Campbell are piecing together plans to deal with the hubbub.

Amid state and federal wrangling over transportation funding, transit leaders meeting in Center City said growing public support should mean more money for trains, buses, and subways. "The people of the nation are way ahead of some of their elected leaders," Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said Monday, citing a new survey for the American Public Transportation Association that showed 74 percent of respondents supported using tax dollars to "create, expand and improve public transportation.

TOM NESTEL III climbed out of his police cruiser one sticky summer night in Kensington and eyed a shifty-looking guy whose hands were stuffed inside his jacket. What was he hiding - a handgun? A knife? Drugs? Thing is, Nestel didn't have to be there, at Front and Somerset streets, during the dog days of 2007. He was a Philadelphia police staff inspector, and just a few months away from starting a cushy new job as the head of the Upper Moreland Township Police Department. No one would have objected if Nestel had decided to spend most of his time behind a desk, thumbing through paperwork in some air-conditioned office.

SEPTA officials apologized Thursday for keeping Regional Rail passengers in the dark about rush-hour delays Wednesday evening that affected 68 trains. "Beyond the mechanical problem, we were also delayed in getting concrete information out to customers, and that only heightened frustrations," SEPTA said in a statement issued to riders Thursday. An empty Paoli/Thorndale train on its way from a rail yard to Center City broke down at 4:50 p.m. at a junction near 16th Street and Indiana Avenue in North Philadelphia, partially blocking a key intersection and making it difficult to operate switches, SEPTA said.

In the Region Peco rate cut kicks in Friday Just in time for the summer air-conditioning season, most Peco customers will enjoy a substantial rate cut starting Friday, when the cost of residential default electrical service will drop by 10.4 percent, from 9.61 cents per kilowatt-hour to 8.61 cents. The quarterly price adjustment will be in effect for the next three months. This is also the first summer that Peco is not charging two-tiered rates, which imposed a higher rate on consumption in excess of 500 kilowatt-hours.