OCTA CEO: Local control key to rail service integration

In Southern California, three commuter rail operators have successfully offered service to passengers for decades along a single rail corridor. However, with three operators come three independent schedules and pricing structures. This can lead to confusion among customers. A new bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown will help integrate the services.

The camera doesn’t lie

“If you commit a crime on SEPTA, you will be caught.” Those were the words of SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel when video surveillance footage of a suspect wanted for a robbery and shooting at the North Philadelphia Broad Street Line station was released to local media.

Reach Out and Touch

Kids love vehicles — cars, trucks, construction equipment. But how often do children get a chance to “get up close and personal” with buses, big rigs and emergency responder units? “Touch-a-Truck” events, a relatively new type of community activity, are giving kids across the country the opportunity to sit behind the wheel.

OCTA CEO: Educating the next generation of transportation leaders

The transportation industry faces the potential loss of significant institutional knowledge as baby boomers retire. For many of us, a greater emphasis has been placed on ensuring we prepare those who will take over to successfully lead our agencies into the future. A program started by the Orange County Chapter of the Women’s Transportation Seminar is an ideal example of this kind of effort.

SEPTA helps community farm grow

A fresh salad with leafy greens, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and zucchini is a refreshing meal for a hot summer day. Would you believe that many Philadelphians are enjoying delicious vegetables grown on a SEPTA lot, next to the Market-Frankford Line station?

OCTA CEO: New federal bill a win for America

Three years and 10 extensions later, America has a new federal transportation reauthorization bill. Perhaps the most important aspects of MAP-21 are the changes to existing law that break down some of the bureaucratic barriers to project delivery allowing for expedited project implementation.

Making public transit greener

How do you make public transit even more environmentally-friendly and efficient for the 21st Century? SEPTA, in partnership with a Philadelphia smart grid company is bringing the regenerative braking energy technology long used by hybrid-electric vehicles to its Market-Frankford Line elevated trains.

Courting the next generation of transit riders

What had been a rite of passage for young people — getting a driver’s license — isn’t as high a priority as it once was. Some members of “Generation Y” moving to Philadelphia from the suburbs for school and work may have never taken public transportation. This spring, SEPTA began courting this next generation of riders.

OCTA CEO: Is your agency ready for the ‘big one’?

This month OCTA joined public agencies across California in the Golden Guardian exercise — an annual emergency training event that helps prepare cities, hospitals, first responders, schools, transportation agencies and others to respond in crisis situations. In the last year, OCTA has placed an increased focus on emergency preparedness and training.

Lights! Camera! Transit!

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars aren’t the leading women and men you might think. These “celebrities” are larger than life, yet don’t demand top billing — they’re the transit systems that often play key roles in blockbuster films and TV hits.