Transportation : Development News

A few weeks ago, over one hundred professionals from the fields of design, public policy and neighborhood leadership came together with area high school students to take part in a design charrette, envisioning a new and improved intersection at 46th and Market Streets.

Called the Urban Remix Design Charrette, the event was put on by a number of West Philly stakeholders, including the Community Design Collaborative, LISC Philadelphia, AIA Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Water Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

According to Beth Miller of the Community Design Collaborative, the mission was clear: Use the recently renovated subway station at the intersection as a catalyst for new investment and growth. With the improved transit asset, a number of key institutions close by and a significant amount of real estate prime for development, the opportunities gave the charrette participants plenty to work with. But there were also formidable limitations: This section of West Philly is fractured by superblocks of institutional buildings and public housing, an unusual amount of topography and the elevated subway system cutting right through it. 

To turn these opportunities and constraints into design solutions for the neighborhood, the charrette teams were assigned to three different section of the district—two north and one south of Market Street. An additional team was in charge of connecting the different areas through a network of open and public spaces.

Miller says the designs that came from the teams were diverse. Significant ideas include sustainability features, green promenades, artwork under the El, infill development, and public realm cohesion. Some of the plans included options for early action, while others had an eye on longer-term partnerships and development.

One notable idea to come out of the process was the creation of a new health and human services district at the intersection. With the future headquarters of the Philadelphia Police Department, the new Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Karabots Center, the Youth Study Center and West Philadelphia High School joining community institutions like the Enterprise Center in the area, Miller says the idea has some legs.
 
That idea and many others are in the process of being refined and will eventually be published in a final conceptual master plan. From there, LISC will be able to shop the plan around, gaining community-wide buy-in and lining up potential investors to turn the planning work into results.   

Source: Beth Miller, Community Design Collaborative
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

The City Planning Commission recently approved the Penn Street section of the Central Delaware River Trail. Paired with current improvements being made to the Washington Green section of the trail, this represents a major step towards implementing new design standards for the multipurpose trail. 
 
The Washington Green trail, built in 2010, was laid with basic asphalt and meant to be temporary. Now folks with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation are taking the next steps to make it permanent. "The route is being straightened to bring it closer to the river," explains Karen Thompson of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. "We’re cleaning up the area and removing invasive species to make the trail more user-friendly."
 
Thompson says these improvements are incremental and will bring that portion of the trail more in line with the new Delaware River Waterfront Corporation design standards for the entire trail.   
 
Those final design guidelines will be showcased in the Penn Street portion of the trail. "We’re taking all the recommendations from the Waterfront Master Plan and building it here," says Thompson. "To that effect, sustainable design elements include trail-side rain gardens and solar street lights."
 
The Penn Street trail will connect the future Spring Garden Street greenway to the Central Delaware, where it will run along Delaware Avenue, connect to Penn Street and run though the Sugarhouse Casino parking lot. The Casino has agreed to build the section of the trail through its parking lot, connecting it to an existing trail on the property. 
 
The Commission’s approval was a big milestone for the project because it has allowed the Waterfront Corporation to move forward with implementation. "The project will go out for construction bid in the next few months," says Thompson. "We hope to start construction at the beginning of 2013 and have it finished by Memorial Day." 

Source: Karen Thompson, Delaware River Waterfront Corporation
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

Borne out of the ongoing Central District Plan, the Planning Commission has decided to pursue BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) for City Branch in Logan Square, an old submerged railbed that has been underutilized for years.

While not a new idea on the world stage, this would be Philly’s first foray into BRT. A mode of transit not unlike light rail (but without the rail part), BRT utilizes special buses in dedicated lanes to move people around. In true Philly fashion, the proposed BRT is getting its own spin: the Commission is billing it as a "Cultural BRT," connecting some of the city’s most important arts and civic institutions along its route. 

According to Laura Spina of the City Planning Commission, the current proposal would run buses from the Please Touch
Museum and Mann Music Center, eventually connecting to Girard Avenue where it would cross the Schuylkill and connect to the submerged City Branch cut at 30th and Poplar Streets. Eventually the line would reemerge and run along Race and Arch Streets to link up with the future transit lines along Columbus Boulevard (proposed in the adopted Waterfront Master Plan).

But before any of this happens, a lot of public education needs to take place. “This isn’t your typical SEPTA bus,” says Spina,  pointing to BRT examples in Los Angeles and Cleveland as prototypes for Philly’s new line. “It will run on a much higher frequency in dedicated lanes with enhanced stations.” 

Spina also argues that City Branch is the perfect place for implementing BRT: “It is already a dedicated right-of-way that is separate from the grid, so this cuts down on implementation costs, making it one third the cost of building light rail at a similar scope.”

City planners expect the Cultural BRT to cost about $75 million in total, but it isn’t the price tag that has some groups riled up over the Commission’s plan. “There are two groups of people who are upset over the BRT proposal,” explains Spina, “those that want to use City Branch for light rail and those that want to turn it into a park.” 

ViaductGreene is the most organized group advocating to turn the submerged City Branch landscape into open space that would connect to the long-awaited Reading Viaduct park, but they would have to convince SEPTA, the current landowner, to turn it over for such a purpose. As of now, SEPTA seems to be on the side of BRT. “SEPTA is very much in support of BRT here,” says Spina. “They want to find the best way to utilize City Branch and they want to grow their system.  For them, it’s a win-win.” 

Spina says a lot of the details still need to be hammered out through the Central District Plan, but expects Philadelphia to welcome BRT sooner rather than later. “A big part of the bus line is right there and ready to use," she explains. "Once we finalize the route and gain community support, we want to get BRT up and running to improve transportation choices in Fairmount, while connecting some of the best cultural institutions Philly has.” 

Source: Laura Spina, City Planning Commission
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

Bartram’s Garden, arguably one of Philadelphia’s most well known yet underappreciated assets, is about to become the center of a plan to reimagine one mile of currently vacant riverfront land along the western banks of the Schuylkill River between Grays Ferry and 58th Street.  Billed as “Bartram’s Mile” a roughly 8 acre section of the land will become a new public green space that connects to the Garden and provides riverfront access and recreation amenities for the surrounding community. 

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with the Schuylkill River Development Corporation and the John Bartram Association, is leading the effort to turn the land into open space as part of the Green2015 plan that specified Bartram’s Mile as an opportunity for new park space. 
 
To achieve this goal, PennPraxis was tapped to lead the community outreach process starting on Sunday, Nov. 4 with a walking tour of the site.  To ensure the process is comprehensive, a bike tour with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, a dinner conversation and design workshop will also occur through the end of November.    

“We want to conduct a really thoughtful outreach process,” says Andrew Goodman with PennPraxis, “there’s so much going on in this area right now and we need to make sure it’s done right.” 

‘A lot going on’ might be an understatement, Goodman says Bartram’s Mile will connect to the numerous other projects currently going on or recently completed in the neighborhood.  This includes the 58th Street Greenway, Grays Ferry Crescent, Bartram’s Connector Trail and a connection to the Schuylkill River Trail.   

While it is clear that the Mile will connect to these assets, Goodman says a number of questions still need to be answered.  “What does the community want?  What kind of programming do they want to see?  Trails, docks – how do people want to connect to the river?”  These issues, Goodman says, will be fleshed out during the outreach process.

Goodman says the answers to the questions and many others will be compiled and a conceptual master plan will be created.  Everything from open space programming, trail alignment and cost estimates are going to be included in the plan, eventually given to the Deputy Mayor as a marketing piece to pitch to potential donors. 

The master plan will also identify how expected private development will interact with the new open space.  That land, currently owned by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), consists of two parcels, one south and one north of Bartram’s Garden. 

“Bartram’s Mile is expected to act as a catalyst for development on these two parcels,” says Patrick Morgan with Parks and Recreation, “with the success of the Navy Yard and the desires of young professionals to have access to open space, we see potential to create a job center here.”

Morgan says PIDC is already shopping the land around to potential developers.  Meanwhile, he indicates Parks and Rec. is pursuing funding sources for the public portion, noting there is a significant amount of external interest to make the Mile a reality.  “Completing the outreach process and putting together a schematic design will only increase interest.  With a hard and fast deadline of 2015 [via Green2015] expect this project to be a top priority and move quickly.”

Source: Andrew Goodman, PennPraxis; Patrick Morgan, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

Come October 20, accessing the Schuylkill Banks from Fitler Square will be a lot easier thanks to the official opening of the Schuylkill River Parks Connector Bridge that now spans the railroad that currently separates the neighborhood from the waterfront. 
 
Say goodbye to the at-grade crossing or the moments of disappointment from running or biking down to the current Locust Street park entrance only to get brutally rebuffed and blocked by a train passing by.        
 
Say hello to a brand new prefabricated bridge which spans 95 feet over the CSX railroad line, and features a 12-foot-wide pathway and ADA accessibility on both approaches.  So it shouldn’t be too tight a squeeze for a multitude of users to be on there at once.    
 
Another bonus of the bridge is that it will provide a direct link from the Schuylkill Banks to the Schuylkill River Park.  In fact, the opening of the bridge is coinciding with that park's annual Fall Festival. 
 
This year’s festival will have a lot to celebrate.  The River Park has been under construction in conjunction with the bridge, but is now completely restored.  New features include new park paving, benches, trash receptacles, an improved dog run, new lighting, an irrigation system, new trees and shrubs and revitalized turf.
 
The bridge is one piece of a very large puzzle to connect the Schuylkill Banks to the Grays Ferry Crescent Trail Park and beyond along the Schuylkill River Trail.  As part of this plan, a half-mile boardwalk, which is currently under construction, will directly connect to the bridge’s approach and extend down to the South Street bridge.
 
If you’re in the neighborhood and interested in seeing the bridge's official commemoration, the ceremony takes place at 1 p.m. this Saturday with Mayor Michael Nutter expected to attend -- during the Fall Festival, which runs 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. The events rain date is the next day, October 21 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

Writer: Greg Meckstroth

In the coming years, increased bicycle connections, amenities and parking will be coming to transit stops across the Greater Philadelphia Region.  If the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has its way, which stops get what will be entirely up to you, the avid cyclist or bicycle enthusiast, to help SEPTA, PATCO, and NJ Transit prioritize their finite resources.

Thanks to Open Plans, the Bicycle Coalition recently created a crowdsource map that asks the general public to recommend which transit stops across Philly need better bike facilities.

The goal is noble: encourage people to bike to transit, park their bike, and then continue onto their final commuting destination.  The method is simple: visit this map and offer your opinion on which transit stops need better bike facilities.  The feedback is critical: the more data the map receives, the more accurate the results will be and the more likely commuters will utilize the new amenities.

The crowdsource map is part of a larger, more regional effort to increase trails to transit commuting.  According to Sarah Stuart, the Policy Director with the Bicycle Coalition, the group has been talking with SEPTA for some time about improving bike facilities at transit stops.  “This has been an ongoing conversation,” says Stuart, “but the challenges have been figuring out where to implement the improvements and how to better connect people to them.” 

With these unanswered questions lingering, SEPTA began collaborating with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) to conduct a ‘Trails to Transit’ study.  Stuart says once this partnership was forged, the Coalition put the two groups in contact with Open Plans, a group she was familiar with through their successful bike share crowdsource maps. 

“I was familiar with Open Plans’ crowdsourcing efforts around bike sharing locations in Philly and New York and thought a similar effort could be conducted for the ‘Trails to Transit’ study.”

Stuart says DVPRC was on board with the idea, but asked that PATCO and NJ Transit be included in the effort.  Stuart agreed, Open Plans signed on, and the map was born.  Collaboration at its finest. 

From here, Stuart says the DVRPC will gather the map’s data, analyze it, and add it to a number of contributing factors to determine which transit stops receive bicycle parking and where trails/bike lane gaps can be filled.  This will then inform the three transit agencies about how to allocate their resources in implementing transit stop amenities. 

Stuart also sees broader implications for the Coalition as well.  “Through all of this data, something we will also have access to, the Coalition will gain a better understanding on how to better advocate for improved bicycle infrastructure for quite some time.” 

The map will be up until Dec. 1, 2012 so be sure to visit the map and advocate for better bicycle infrastructure where you see fit.

Source: Sarah Stuart, Policy Director, Bicycle Coalition
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

On the 1600 block of Sansom Street, Pearl Properties is currently constructing an 8-story, 104 apartment building dubbed  "The Sansom."  It’s exciting news anytime a new mid- or high-rise construction project comes to town.  But the kicker in this project is the amount of parking the new development provides for future residents: 0. 

Low numbers like these don’t come that often with large scale residential projects in Philly.  And for good reason – it’s the law; the City’s current zoning code mandates 3 parking spaces for every 10 residential units of multi-family development projects like The Sansom (in certain overlay districts this requirement may not apply).
  
One of the problems with mandating so much parking in an urban environment is its cost, something developers incur and then pass off to potential buyers and renters. This drives up housing costs and prices out middle and lower income residents.  In high demand areas such as Center City, this means the richest among us are the only ones who can pay the additional price for parking.  Most of us simply can’t take on that burden.    

This is a problem.  Americans want to live in walkable places, but only a fraction can come up with the cash to do so.  According to a new study, the people fortunate enough to live in neighborhoods like Center City tend to also be the wealthiest among us. 

If the goal of Philly is to continue revitalizing our urban core, it does us no good if these areas become enclaves of the rich, banishing the rest of us to less walkable, less transit accessible parts of town.  Quite simply, we need more affordable housing in our walkable areas like Center City, and fast.      

One way to go about doing this is to develop like ‘The Sansom’ and forget the parking.  Poster child Portland, Oregon provides an example.  In that city, nearly two-thirds of their recent residential projects are being built without any parking spaces.  Thanks to years of investments in a robust public transit system and the City’s push to build without parking, a substantial increase in density and vitality in Portland’s downtown and nearby neighborhoods has been achieved.

It’s also led to cheaper unit costs in residential developments.  As one developer put it in a recent report, in Portland adding a parking spot to a unit is the difference between a $750/month apartment and a $1,250/month apartment.

In Philly, The Sansom is still relatively expensive due to its prime Rittenhouse location, starting at $1,895 for a one-bedroom apartment.  But other projects in less central neighborhoods like Graduate Hospital and Passyunk would likely see the most benefit from relaxing multi-family housing parking requirements.  While we can’t have it all and three spots for 10 units seems progressive enough, for now, making it even easier for developers to build without parking in the future would be a plus.  Or ensuring neighborhood groups and the ZBA don’t make developers jump through hoops to build no parking developments should be a goal.  Whether it be the City as a whole or a renter on his/her own, we can’t afford to do otherwise.

Writer: Greg Meckstroth

Pedestrianizing spaces once dominated by auto users is not a foreign concept to modern American cities.  Pop-up cafes, parklets and the well-known PARK(ing) Day jumpstarted nationwide movements aimed at improving the pedestrian experience in cities and caused numerous city leaders to implement similar, more permanent solutions in their respective cities.  Today, New York City has their now infamous pedestrian plazas in Times Square and Herald Square, San Francisco has their Pavement to Parks initiatives and Indianapolis went on a significant road diet with the completion of their innovative Cultural Trail.
 
The City of Philadelphia, too, has joined in on the movement with their Pedestrian Plaza Program, which seeks to reclaim unused stretches of asphalt and concrete by turning them into new public plazas and parks.  And now, over in University City, at 42nd and Woodland, the first plaza to be created under this Program will be unveiled later this week, with the help of Mayor Nutter and the University City District (UCD). 
 
Last year, the City awarded three grants through its Pedestrian Plaza Program. UCD was the recipient of two of those grants; next year, expect another pedestrian plaza to be unveiled at 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue.  This improvement, along with the under-construction, University of Pennsylvania-funded Spruce Street Plaza at 33rd and 34th Streets and The Porch at 30th Street Station, signifies University City gets what other cities do nationwide: there is an ever-increasing demand for pedestrian amenities in our urban cores. 
 
But the demand for creating pedestrian plazas in Philly far exceeds what these three grants cover.  And not every neighborhood can benefit from large institutions like Penn to cover the associated costs.  At the neighborhood level, groups along Passyunk Avenue have been working for years to implement or improve pedestrian plazas, with setbacks sometimes outnumbering progress. 
 
Along Grays Ferry Avenue in Graduate Hospital, the Triangles on Grays Ferry Avenue Gateway Project was formed to promote pedestrianizing traffic triangles along Grays Ferry Avenue at 23rd and South Streets as well as Bainbridge Street.  According to Tanya Seaman, Former Chair of the Grays Ferry Triangle group, the goals are in line with other pedestrian plaza efforts across the city: increase neighborhood identity, improve the pedestrian experience and spur economic development.
 
But without the backing of a citywide Pedestrian Plaza Program and no significant examples to point to, the group’s efforts have thus far been slow in progress and met skeptical critics. 
 
Seaman hopes that will soon change and believes the University City plazas will help shift the paradigm.  “The University City plazas will provide successful examples that we can point to when trying to implement our own improvements,” explains Seaman, “they will help increase awareness and excitement about what we’re trying to do in Graduate Hospital.”
 
According to Seaman, the group is in the schematic design phase of their efforts.  Once that is completed, they will take their ideas to local businesses and the community to elicit support and make the case for why pedestrian plazas will improve the Grays Ferry Corridor and the neighborhood in general.  Without the City’s Plaza Program’s help, Seaman is hopeful that if successful, the group’s efforts can be used as a model for how to implement pedestrian improvements at a neighborhood, grass roots level. 

Source: Tanya Seaman, Former Chair, Grays Ferry Triangle Group
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

Biking along Walnut Street is about to get a heck of a lot easier thanks to a new left hand, buffered bike lane that will soon appear on Walnut Street from 22nd Street to 63rd Street.  As it stands today, Walnut Street already has a right, curb side bike lane that serves parts of Center City and the biker-oriented communities of UPenn and Drexel.  But thanks to the efforts of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, The Streets Department and the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities, the bike lane is getting a serious upgrade, just in time for the beginning of school.

The main crux of the improvement is found in its one-of-a-kind status:  the bike lane is the city's first buffered bike lane next to a parking lane, as opposed to Spruce and Pine and 10th and 13th, which are next to the curb line.  This will greatly affect students and other bikers who already utilize Walnut Street for their biking needs.  According to Nicholas Mirra of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, users should immediately notice the differences. 

“It will eliminate conflicts with buses and traffic turning right on the Walnut Street Bridge to the Schuylkill Expressway,” he says. “It will also make the left turn from the 22nd Street bike lane easier for bicyclists. It should also slightly reduce conflicts with car doors since the bike lane will be next to the passenger side of cars.”   

While this leaves plenty for bike enthusiasts to be excited about, auto users, too, should be at ease over the planned improvements.  According to Mirra, the lane is being installed without the removal of a travel lane or parking. Space was made by simply narrowing the existing parking and travel lanes. 

Getting this improvement implemented was a relatively routine process and a refreshing example of cooperation at its finest. 

“The Streets Department and the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities have been considering moving the bike lanes from the right side of the street to the left side of the street as part of the routine resurfacing of Walnut Street [which is currently underway],” says Mirra. “The Coalition met with them and proposed that there was enough road space to expand the bike lane.” 

In January, armed with this knowledge, the Streets Department approached PennDOT to incorporate the improvement into the resurfacing project, and they obliged.  Nine months later, this September, the bike lane will be open and ready for public use. 
 
While there are no anticipated existing bike lane improvements slated for 2012, Mirra hopes similar enhancements will be made in the years to come as other road resurfacing contracts are announced.

Source: Nicholas Mirra, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

Much has been said about major infrastructural changes recently undertaken around the Schuylkill River, University City, and surrounding environs.  Recent projects such as the new Grays Ferry Crescent Park, the Porch at 30th Street, continued trail connections along the Schuylkill Banks, and the Walnut Street Bridge Enhancement have made dramatic improvements, in very big ways, towards better physically and emotionally connecting Center City to its westerly neighbors.  The Atlantic Cities has taken notice, recently praising the Philly for its efforts at the Porch, taking space previously promised to automobiles and turning it over to pedestrians. 

With major projects funded, the City is now hammering out the details along the river to improve aesthetics and overall quality of life.  A recent example comes to us from the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC) and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, who plan to landscape the west side embankment of the Schuylkill River along I-76 between Chestnut and Market Streets.

Improving quality of life is the name of the game for this development.  “The traffic on I-76 produces an audible and visual intrusion on Schuylkill Banks. This is especially true in the area of Market Street. The hope is that this would alleviate some of the noise and partially hide the traffic,” explains Lane Fike, Director of Capital Programs with SRDC.  “The area from Market to Chestnut has a concrete slab that offers an opportunity to install planters and screening.”

The group’s plan goes beyond screenings and plantings though, and includes sustainability and beautification measures such as green roofs and green wall features, planters with native trees, shrubs and meadow grasses and walls for climbing vines.  SRDC hopes these improvements will create a more pleasant vista and experience from the Schuylkill Banks across the river while creating a new habitat for migratory birds and other urban wildlife.     

While not as glamorous as the recent major moves, and likely not worthy of the Atlantic Cities’ attention, this smaller ticket item, and others like it, stand to have a big impact for the people who actually use the river corridor on a daily basis: residents.     

On a broader scale, small moves like this mean a lot, especially when you take a step back and look at how public spaces represent the city they reside in.  Finessing the details not only shows a desire to improve quality of life, but implementing excellence to the last detail shows the value system of a city, something Philadelphians should be proud that our civic leaders are rightfully expressing along the Schuylkill River.

A start date for the project has yet to be determined, but state funding is already lined up and Pennoni Associates is already developing schemes and putting together designs to meet expectations.  Once underway, construction should take about 3 months to complete. 

According to Fike, expect similar, smaller scaled improvements along the river in months and years to come.  “If the project proves to be successful, other areas along I-76 could be considered for treatment. However, because of varied existing conditions, treatments other than planters and screening may have to be investigated.” 

Source: Lane Fike, Schuylkill River Developmet Corporation
Writer: Greg Meckstroth

A new report released by the Brookings Institution shows that Philly's access to jobs via public transit is relatively strong, but could be better. 

Brookings' study of 371 transit providers in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas showed that nearly 75 percent of jobs in the country are accessible via public transportation.  Philly outperforms the nation in this category, with 80 percent of jobs in areas with public transit service.  This ranks Philly as the 22nd best performer overall, behind regional counterpart New York City yet ahead of Baltimore.    

But the region does considerably worse when looking at the labor access rate, with just over 22 percent of the population being able to reach their job within 90 minutes using public transportation.  This ranks the region as 54th best and is below the national average of 27 percent.  This shortcoming points to greater issues regarding transit provision, job concentration, and poor land use patterns. 

Philly's numbers were right on line with the average transit coverage in the Northeast, but fell behind Western cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles, where average coverage rates hovered around 86 percent.  The southeast metros scored the worst, with average coverage rates of 67 percent. 

While results by region varied significantly, when you break down the numbers and pit city vs. suburb, a clear national trend appeared:  urban cores have significantly higher transit coverage and jobs via transit than suburban areas.  And Philly isn't prone to this issue; whereas the city has 100 percent transit coverage, the suburbs stand at just above 74 percent.  While nearly 44 percent of city residents can get to work via transit in less than 90 minutes, only 14 percent in suburban locales can. This difference is the 10th highest among the nation's metros.     

And as more and more jobs suburbanize, this poses real problems for regional economic development as well as equitable access to decent jobs.  "The suburbanization of jobs obstructs transit's ability to connect workers to opportunity and jobs to local labor pools," the study noted. "As metro leaders continue to grapple with limited financial resources, it is critical for transit investment decisions to simultaneously address suburban coverage gaps as well as disconnected neighborhoods."   

More could be done to improve transit coverage in suburban areas, something that would prove financially burdensome given their sprawly land use patterns.  Instead,a regional focus needs to be brought to the importance of transit-oriented development, encouraging mixed-use development, and centralizing job pools to better promote the enormous transit assets Philly already has.