Patco originally planned to have branches to Woodbury and Mt Holly. Those plans should be dusted off and make Patco a truly regional system for south Jersey. The extension to west Philly would be a great idea, and the connection with the Broad-Ridge spur should be re-established for a better regional network .
The 2 Ben Franklin Bridge tracks constitute a bottleneck that prevents further expansion over former Pennsy and PRSL rights of way. To build more branches would require a tunnel under the Delaware River. Woodbury and Glassboro will be built by New Jersey Transit using diesel LRV rolling stock. Much of the Mt. Holly-Pemberton right of way has been torn up for a bike path.
Thank you for touching on the homelessness problem on PATCO! I’ve been taking it since I was a child and it’s incredibly apparent the situation has gotten worse. Because the DRPA pays rent to SEPTA to use the Philadelphia stations, they aren’t able to police outside the mezzanines before paying the fare, and given SEPTA’s chronic lack of funding they aren’t doing much of anything about it. I took the PATCO from Philadelphia during rush hour a few weeks back and was blown away by how many homeless and aggressive panhandlers had made it onto the platform!! My dad took the PATCO to work for years and he never experienced anything like that during his commute. Really hope SEPTA gets its act together because 20 person homeless encampments and panhandlers on the platform is actively keeping people from riding an amazing transit line
it's really sad that so many people go without help. The ultimate onus is on the city (as with the local governments in other stations, like in Camden and Lindenwold) to get people the assistance they need. Still, there must be a collaborative effort (shelters, public aid, outreach organizations, etc.). It's a disservice to the homeless residents and also needs to be addressed far beyond just the transit systems
@@TheHungryTransitFan drpa tries to get people help, but that requires those people to accept the help. if septa/city funded security guards/officers in the underground station areas near patco then they'd be better off.
@@philnaegely I know that SEPTA has an outreach program. They post intermittently about its success stories, though there isn't much about its statistics publicly available. I'm sure than many would welcome a similar program with PATCO. For what it's worth, I've seen a noticeable improvement at PATCO stations recently as far as police and non-police staff presence goes
@ yes even when they aren't seen they are there watching etc. just tough for patco to patrol areas that aren't there's like the paths near 12/13 locust station. I hate that the underground path to Bsl station closed. They better have it open by 2026 for World Cup
@ that section could be so useful. Just before COVID, they were focusing on art installations there and had renovated a good chunk of the concourse. I'd love to see it come back to life as a useful space.
After watching another transit You Tuber I decided to follow their trail that was from NY to Philidelphia, not using Amtrak, but a collection of public lines. The last connection was the PATCO. I took the commuter from Penn NY to Trenton, then the River Line to Walter Reed…then things got a bit sketchy. Transferring from River Line to PATCO at Camden was done with the assistance of a local who was not under substance influence. He will have my eternal thanks. The Camden PATCO station really needs more signage explaining how to purchase a ticket and where…and how to access the subway. It was a fun trip but the Camden station was a bit scary. The great thing was that the PATCO dropped me off a block from my accomodation.
@@davidhayter8516 Broadway could certainly use a bit of an upgrade. I know there are plans for improvements. Some of the access closure there is also frustrating for some folks connecting with the River Line (the second headhouse closer to the River Line platform). I know there are also future plans to modernize the payment systems, hopefully that may mean open payment/paying by phone tap, which would be easy for some folks as an option. I'm glad you enjoyed it! There's certainly work to be done in some places.
Originally from North Jersey. PATCO is your version of the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) system, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 😃👍
@@djpetesake there's a whole rabbit hole to travel down about PA announcements. For fun, look up the ATL Plane Train on Wikipedia, it has some great history
4:40 I broke that train in Trenton once, took it out of service for like 8 months, it got a new engine and generator. Also at the RiverLINE, out of the 20 trains we got, only 13 can run, 2 are in upstate NY, one is paper weight (caught fire), 2 were in bad accidents, 1 is undergoing tests after a repower they rarely do, and the final one has too much rust or something, also theyre afraid to start it
The Path trains and bridges in North Jersey / NY. Have their own Police dept with jurisdiction in both states . Doesn’t Patco have the same type setup ?
One glaring weakness is the lack of bus support from NJT, they need more lines to connect to job centers, and to make some lines run more frequent to make the buses useful.
@@markdeloatch9796 some type of circulator around Woodcrest or even Ashland/Lindenwold could be helpful for a number of the job centers there, plus all the new residential spots coming in. Haddon Twp, too
Half of everyone in the contest (all ages) have made PATCO vids, lol! Anyway, I never knew people called PATCO “the PATCO”. I think this video has definitely confirmed my thoughts that PATCO is kind of the best subway in the country, honestly. Also, are the trains automated still? I heard that they added operators, im not sure
@@GobbiExists there are a ton of colloquial names people have, technically PATCO is the overseeing corporation, and their only line is the Speedline (or as some of us still call it, High-Speed Line). And yes! The trains are still automated and only technically need operators to open/close the doors. The operators are required to do one manual operation per day, for proficiency I definitely think it's the best, but I'm a bit biased 😂
One unfortunate thing about PATCO is the 2 mile gap between Ferry Avenue Station and Broadway Station in Camden. It really sucks that there is an entire urban neighborhood that lives right by the train line but is not within reasonable walking distance of a station.
Patco had been interested in a branch to Glassboro before the GCL really picked up steam, but what about a branch following NJ 38 to Mt Holly. The suburban branches could be every 10-20mins, making the Bridge Line "core" would be every 5-10. Even if getting to reach University City, it should probably terminate at Penn Medicine station since the trollies, busses, and regional rail do decent at covering points west. You can transfer to an Airport Line train here and even walk to 30th St if you wanted instead of transferring at 8th/ Market (which is a hike) at worst
@@history_leisure there's some interesting history in the PATCO's original three-line plan. Funding, political opposition. If everyone had been on board in the 60s and since, it's fun to think about what the system could be today and what expansion projects we could be talking about at present
No, Penn Med station is a 5-10 minute walk to anything, and the trolleys are even further. The walk to 30th street is prohibitively long. And extension needs to prioritize direct access to the HUP/CHOP/UPenn at 33rd/Convention and direct connection to the trolleys and VA at 38th/40th. The connection to Penn Med Station is a bonus, but *that* should be the thing that’s a short walk down the street.
@@jonathanstensberg I'm interested to see when (or if) the city releases a routing plan for their proposed extension to the 40th St Portal. There's certainly a lot there and my non-architect/planner assumption would be some deep/expensive stations would be needed. They could, however, do good if they can make proper connections to the hospitals and VA (and not let it get pushed back a few decades)
@@qjtvaddict yes. We're certainly not alone in Philly, NYC, or the northeast in general. Portland, Vancouver, Paris, and Brazil have documented effective strategies for intervention/outreach. SEPTA even has specialized teams, I believe their program is called SCOPE. The International Transit Union (UITP) has some comprehensive information on their website
Patco originally planned to have branches to Woodbury and Mt Holly. Those plans should be dusted off and make Patco a truly regional system for south Jersey. The extension to west Philly would be a great idea, and the connection with the Broad-Ridge spur should be re-established for a better regional network .
Connection to the broad ridge spur is still there at 8th and market
The actual tracks have been removed but could be restored easily
The 2 Ben Franklin Bridge tracks constitute a bottleneck that prevents further expansion over former Pennsy and PRSL rights of way. To build more branches would require a tunnel under the Delaware River. Woodbury and Glassboro will be built by New Jersey Transit using diesel LRV rolling stock. Much of the Mt. Holly-Pemberton right of way has been torn up for a bike path.
Thank you for touching on the homelessness problem on PATCO! I’ve been taking it since I was a child and it’s incredibly apparent the situation has gotten worse. Because the DRPA pays rent to SEPTA to use the Philadelphia stations, they aren’t able to police outside the mezzanines before paying the fare, and given SEPTA’s chronic lack of funding they aren’t doing much of anything about it. I took the PATCO from Philadelphia during rush hour a few weeks back and was blown away by how many homeless and aggressive panhandlers had made it onto the platform!! My dad took the PATCO to work for years and he never experienced anything like that during his commute. Really hope SEPTA gets its act together because 20 person homeless encampments and panhandlers on the platform is actively keeping people from riding an amazing transit line
it's really sad that so many people go without help. The ultimate onus is on the city (as with the local governments in other stations, like in Camden and Lindenwold) to get people the assistance they need. Still, there must be a collaborative effort (shelters, public aid, outreach organizations, etc.). It's a disservice to the homeless residents and also needs to be addressed far beyond just the transit systems
@@TheHungryTransitFan drpa tries to get people help, but that requires those people to accept the help. if septa/city funded security guards/officers in the underground station areas near patco then they'd be better off.
@@philnaegely I know that SEPTA has an outreach program. They post intermittently about its success stories, though there isn't much about its statistics publicly available. I'm sure than many would welcome a similar program with PATCO. For what it's worth, I've seen a noticeable improvement at PATCO stations recently as far as police and non-police staff presence goes
@ yes even when they aren't seen they are there watching etc. just tough for patco to patrol areas that aren't there's like the paths near 12/13 locust station. I hate that the underground path to Bsl station closed.
They better have it open by 2026 for World Cup
@ that section could be so useful. Just before COVID, they were focusing on art installations there and had renovated a good chunk of the concourse. I'd love to see it come back to life as a useful space.
After watching another transit You Tuber I decided to follow their trail that was from NY to Philidelphia, not using Amtrak, but a collection of public lines. The last connection was the PATCO.
I took the commuter from Penn NY to Trenton, then the River Line to Walter Reed…then things got a bit sketchy. Transferring from River Line to PATCO at Camden was done with the assistance of a local who was not under substance influence. He will have my eternal thanks. The Camden PATCO station really needs more signage explaining how to purchase a ticket and where…and how to access the subway. It was a fun trip but the Camden station was a bit scary.
The great thing was that the PATCO dropped me off a block from my accomodation.
@@davidhayter8516 Broadway could certainly use a bit of an upgrade. I know there are plans for improvements. Some of the access closure there is also frustrating for some folks connecting with the River Line (the second headhouse closer to the River Line platform).
I know there are also future plans to modernize the payment systems, hopefully that may mean open payment/paying by phone tap, which would be easy for some folks as an option.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! There's certainly work to be done in some places.
Originally from North Jersey. PATCO is your version of the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) system, operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 😃👍
Nice! I always wonder who does the announcement voices for transit systems.
@@djpetesake there's a whole rabbit hole to travel down about PA announcements. For fun, look up the ATL Plane Train on Wikipedia, it has some great history
4:40 I broke that train in Trenton once, took it out of service for like 8 months, it got a new engine and generator.
Also at the RiverLINE, out of the 20 trains we got, only 13 can run, 2 are in upstate NY, one is paper weight (caught fire), 2 were in bad accidents, 1 is undergoing tests after a repower they rarely do, and the final one has too much rust or something, also theyre afraid to start it
@@marcmercuri2003 incredible
Hope they get new ones
@@dannythunder3180 🤞🤞
The Path trains and bridges in North Jersey / NY. Have their own
Police dept with jurisdiction in both states .
Doesn’t Patco have the same type setup ?
Yes, they have the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) PD policing the bridge facilities and PATCO trains
One glaring weakness is the lack of bus support from NJT, they need more lines to connect to job centers, and to make some lines run more frequent to make the buses useful.
@@markdeloatch9796 some type of circulator around Woodcrest or even Ashland/Lindenwold could be helpful for a number of the job centers there, plus all the new residential spots coming in. Haddon Twp, too
They should extend the Patco past 15-16 & Locust via Rittenhouse Square and Penn Medicine Regional Rail Station to the University of Pennsylvania.
@@simonsv9449 the city would like it to eventually go all the way to the 40th St Trolley Portal
Half of everyone in the contest (all ages) have made PATCO vids, lol! Anyway, I never knew people called PATCO “the PATCO”. I think this video has definitely confirmed my thoughts that PATCO is kind of the best subway in the country, honestly. Also, are the trains automated still? I heard that they added operators, im not sure
@@GobbiExists there are a ton of colloquial names people have, technically PATCO is the overseeing corporation, and their only line is the Speedline (or as some of us still call it, High-Speed Line).
And yes! The trains are still automated and only technically need operators to open/close the doors. The operators are required to do one manual operation per day, for proficiency
I definitely think it's the best, but I'm a bit biased 😂
@@TheHungryTransitFanthey also have to do it manually when construction or speed restriction or rain/snow out :)
@@philnaegely yes, I forgot that point
One unfortunate thing about PATCO is the 2 mile gap between Ferry Avenue Station and Broadway Station in Camden. It really sucks that there is an entire urban neighborhood that lives right by the train line but is not within reasonable walking distance of a station.
it certainly is a bit of a desert, not that it's a perfect solution but the (eventual) GCL can help somewhat for that area
2:13 dude the announcements are a male voice not female. nvm figured it out.
Patco had been interested in a branch to Glassboro before the GCL really picked up steam, but what about a branch following NJ 38 to Mt Holly. The suburban branches could be every 10-20mins, making the Bridge Line "core" would be every 5-10. Even if getting to reach University City, it should probably terminate at Penn Medicine station since the trollies, busses, and regional rail do decent at covering points west. You can transfer to an Airport Line train here and even walk to 30th St if you wanted instead of transferring at 8th/ Market (which is a hike) at worst
@@history_leisure there's some interesting history in the PATCO's original three-line plan. Funding, political opposition. If everyone had been on board in the 60s and since, it's fun to think about what the system could be today and what expansion projects we could be talking about at present
No, Penn Med station is a 5-10 minute walk to anything, and the trolleys are even further. The walk to 30th street is prohibitively long. And extension needs to prioritize direct access to the HUP/CHOP/UPenn at 33rd/Convention and direct connection to the trolleys and VA at 38th/40th. The connection to Penn Med Station is a bonus, but *that* should be the thing that’s a short walk down the street.
@@jonathanstensberg I'm interested to see when (or if) the city releases a routing plan for their proposed extension to the 40th St Portal. There's certainly a lot there and my non-architect/planner assumption would be some deep/expensive stations would be needed. They could, however, do good if they can make proper connections to the hospitals and VA (and not let it get pushed back a few decades)
Sounds like you need a cough drop
@@blue9multimediagroup lol nah
Homeless go into subways globally??
@@qjtvaddict yes. We're certainly not alone in Philly, NYC, or the northeast in general. Portland, Vancouver, Paris, and Brazil have documented effective strategies for intervention/outreach. SEPTA even has specialized teams, I believe their program is called SCOPE.
The International Transit Union (UITP) has some comprehensive information on their website