SEPTA, Trolley Modernization Project

Project Overview

Manufactured by Kawasaki during the Reagan administration, SEPTA’s current trolleys have now reached the end of their useful lifecycle. The current 53-foot, 112 car system will now be replaced by an 80-foot, 120 new car system that will hold nearly twice as many people. This complete overhaul is known as SEPTA’s Trolley Modernization project, aiming to transform Philadelphia’s current system into a new state-of-the-art light rail system.

Along with the much-needed car upgrades taking effect throughout Philadelphia and Delaware County, SEPTA is also aiming to install station and stop upgrades to meet the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Additional upgrades include extending current curbs to form station platforms, promoting designated bike lanes, and to form islands to allow for automobile traffic to get around newly proposed trolley stops.

For this project, Envision created numerous GIS datasets, aerial imagery collection, compiled site distance measurements, and conducted site visits along the routes for accuracy in their creation of maps depicting existing conditions of trolley stops. Envision created route specific ridership and station recommendation workshop maps to stakeholders to identify trolley stop location alternatives.

With stakeholder input, Envision created graphic analysis renderings (using Adobe Illustrator and InDesign) for each route’s outbound and inbound trolley stop alternatives. Lastly, the culmination from pre- and post-trolley route workshop information resulted in the creation of a Stop Analysis Document for each trolley route. Envision worked on trolley routes 10, 11, 13, 36, and the 101 & 102 lines.