From the General Manager
Message from General Manager
Report to our Customers and Commissioners - February, 2021
COVID-19 Response – PATCO continues to look for ways to communicate with our customers about working together in the interest of health and safety for all. In the stations, on the trains, and through social media, numerous messages urge our customers to do their part by wearing masks and practicing good hygiene.
We have continually collaborated with other transit agencies to develop strategies to minimize the spread of the virus. On February 25, we participated with SEPTA in the Mask Force Philly campaign. At 8th/Market Street Station, our Passenger Services staff handed out hand sanitizer and a key-shaped stylus for touchless ticket purchase and touchless door opening. In addition, we promoted adherence to the mask mandate with our portable dispensers of free, disposable face covers.
Response to Snowstorms – After nearly no snow in December and January, we experienced several instances of more typical winter weather in February. We used a variety of equipment to clear the access drives, parking lots (both those with and without solar panel canopies), sidewalks, and platforms. Staff worked around the clock. In addition to clearing away snow and ice, we operated the “ice train” to prevent icing up of the third rail and we utilized third rail and switch heaters.
Milestones – Ten years ago, after decades of service, the first car of our legacy fleet rolled out of PATCO’s Lindenwold facility on its way to Alstom in Hornell, New York, to be extensively refurbished. Our “new” fleet has now reached a major milestone: ten million miles.
SERVICE
On-Time Performance – In February, our on-time performance was 98.01%, achieving our goal of 98%. Of the 4,320 scheduled trips, 6 were cancelled, 78 were late, and 28 stations were bypassed. Our on-time performance for the year to date was 97.95%, just missing our objective. Equipment defects account for fewer delay incidents than in previous years. Reliability has improved significantly as the inevitable growing pains of new systems on the refurbished fleet have been resolved.
Availability of Transit Equipment – PATCO closely monitors the availability of equipment to meet the needs of our peak service customers. We achieved 100% for all 20 AM and 20 PM rush hours in February.
Ridership – COVID-19 continues to significantly affect travel patterns. February’s ridership was 180,888, a decrease of 718,683 (-79.89%) when compared to February of 2020. Ridership year to date as of the end of February was 376,309, a decrease of 1,465,564 (-79.57%) when compared to the same period of 2020.
FREEDOM Service Center - The following services were provided to our FREEDOM Card customers in February. Service is available every weekday at Broadway Station between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. In addition, many customers take advantage of our FREEDOM website to add value to their cards, report lost cards, and change credit card information.
|
Service |
# of Customers Served |
|
Calls |
399 |
|
Walk-Ups |
144 |
|
Replacement Cards Issued |
163 |
|
SHARE Card Sign-ups |
13 |
|
Reduced Fare Program Sign-ups |
9 |
|
Student Sign-ups |
1 |
|
“T” Card sign-ups |
2 |
STEWARDSHIP
Elevators / Escalators
- Availability – Availability of all elevators was 97.86% for the month of February and 98.16% for the year to date, exceeding our goal of 97%. Availability of all escalators was 88.26% for the month and 92.58% for the year to date, failing to reach our goal of 96%. Sixty percent (60%) of the escalator outage was attributable to a single unit - the escalator at Lindenwold Station - which required a part that was unavailable. During the outage, though, our elevator at Lindenwold was available to serve our customers.
- Performance of Preventive Maintenance - Monthly preventive maintenance was performed on all elevators and escalators in February except those under warranty.
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