From the General Manager
Message from General Manager
To our Customers and Commissioners - June Report
SERVICE
Water, Water Everywhere – The deluge of rain on June 20 caused wash-outs in several sections of the track, loss of signals, and water streaming into Ashland and Woodcrest Stations. In the morning, PATCO maintained shuttle service among the subway stations only. Despite significant challenges, PATCO had resumed service by noon and even reopened Ashland Station by early evening.
Within a week, PATCO experienced two other service suspensions related to police activity and a medical emergency. Promptly communicating with our customers and resuming service just as quickly as possible resulted in feedback such as:
PATCO did a great job handling the trains during the incident this morning. The morning helpers at Broadway were very helpful in assisting customers.
Ridership – Ridership in June, 2019 was 901,148, a decrease of 28,638 (3.08%) when compared to June of 2019. On the day of the flooding, our ridership was just 14,208, compared with a weekday average of 38,400, accounting for some of the variance; furthermore, a comparison of calendars reveals that June of 2018 had one more weekday and one fewer Sunday than June of 2019, contributing to the negative variance in ridership. Year to date as of 6/30/2019, ridership is 5,500,204, an increase of 164,574 (+3.08%) compared to the same period in 2018.
Ferry Avenue Celebration of PATCO’s 50th Anniversary – On June 18, PATCO celebrated its 50th anniversary at Ferry Avenue Station. Each customer received ear buds and had an opportunity to spin for prizes, among which were preloaded ($50) FREEDOM cards, round-trip tickets, free rides, and assorted promotional items. Customers also enjoyed delicious free samples from PJ Whelihan’s food truck and Dunkin’ Donuts and soft pretzels. One customer even took the time to call PATCO to say thank you for the celebration at Ferry Avenue.
The next 50th Anniversary event will be held at Haddonfield Station on July 23rd.
On-Time Performance – In June, 2019, we had scheduled 5,461 trips. Our on-time performance was 95.22% for the month and 97.12% for the year to date. Our service was 100% on time for 14 weekday mornings and 12 weekday evenings, with one streak of 10 mornings in a row.
Unfortunately, as referenced above, several special situations occurred in the last two weeks of the month. The one with the greatest impact was the severe rain on June 20. Recalculating without this very unusual circumstance gives us an on-time percentage of 96.96%, higher than the 96.53% for June of 2018.
Availability of Transit Equipment – PATCO closely monitors the availability of equipment to meet the needs of our peak service customers. In June we met the loadline requirement for every weekday’s morning and evening peak service.
FREEDOM Service Center - In June, the Service Center replaced 306 FREEDOM cards that had reached their 10 year expiration mark. In addition, 160 seniors (age 65 and above) and disabled customers signed up for the Reduced Fare Program, enabling them to take advantage of reduced fares during off peak hours. Sixteen (16) students signed up for a FREEDOM card this month, saving the $5 cost of the FREEDOM card by showing their educational ID.
COMMUNITY
Alex’s Lemonade Stands – As has been the custom for the past several years, PATCO employees manned Alex’s Lemonade Stands at PATCO stations. They volunteered their time and provided the supplies to make this a successful event at Lindenwold, Ashland, Woodcrest, Haddonfield, and Ferry Avenue. A total of $1,380.89 was raised to support pediatric cancer research and projects seeking better treatments and cures for children with cancer. We sincerely appreciate the generosity of our customers.
School Field Trips – As June brings warmer weather and the end of the school year, many teachers plan field trips on PATCO. Some travel to Philadelphia; some travel to New Jersey destinations. In the month of June, PATCO hosted a total of 344 students, escorting groups through the stations and onto the trains.
STEWARDSHIP
Elevators / Escalators
· Availability – Primarily because of the storm damage to Ashland and Woodcrest Stations, we failed to meet our goals for escalator availability in June. Availability of all escalators was 94.45% for the month and 97.03% for the Year to date. Work to replace virtually all wiring of the Ashland escalator progressed as quickly as possible, and the unit was returned to service on July 3 ahead of schedule. Availability of all elevators was 95.45% for the month of June and 98.63% for the Year to Date.
· Performance of Preventive Maintenance - Monthly preventive maintenance was performed on all elevators and all but one escalator in June. The escalator at Ashland was out of service as a result of the flood damage and was not available for preventive maintenance this month. Note that the new elevator at Collingswood is under warranty.
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