Burning SEPTA Buses Have Us Thinking About the Future
About 25 buses are burning at the Midvale depot in Nicetown, and SEPTA doesn't know why.
This morning, let’s just watch the SEPTA buses burning. / Screenshot from the CBS3 video/meditation aid embedded below
Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. Victor Fiorillo usually writes these posts; Patrick Rapa is filling in this week. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail.
Burning Buses Have Us Thinking About the Future
As you read this, if you’re reading it right away, some 25 SEPTA buses are burning at the Midvale depot in Nicetown. The cause of the fire is unknown at the moment. A SEPTA spokesperson has made the rounds in the media this morning, explaining that these vehicles were out of service and headed for the scrap heap anyway. Nobody is believed to have been hurt, or even been in the area.
Nonetheless, firefighters and emergency crews are still working hard to battle the blaze and keep the flames from spreading to what appears to be 75 or more other vehicles in the area. And fire is no joke. We cannot look away.
As you may know, SEPTA is already in a financial bind, and is awaiting word about the state budget. Will it include the funding increases necessary to keep our non-burning buses running, or are we looking at massive cuts to existing service? These issues, we’ve survived them before. But are we we on a lucky streak? Maybe this is just the natural movement of the budgetary tides, the push and pull, the ebb of crisis and the flow of funding? If they got rid of the 32, will I just not see my South Philly friends anymore? Also: What if there’s a garbage strike?
Let’s just watch this 30-minute video of burning buses — shot by a CBS3 helicopter and mesmerizingly devoid of commentary or narration of any kind — and think about the future.
Cars Hitting Bikes on Purpose?
Are drivers targeting bicyclists just for funsies? There’s a new fear unlocked. It’s much better to think they’re just bad at driving. The evidence is small and anecdotal — and I know from experience that most car-vs.-bike incidents don’t become police reports. Nonetheless, this is the scenario described by at least two different Philadelphia-based Redditors yesterday.
- “To the person that intentionally hit me with their car while I was riding my bike on Wises Mill Rd.” The poster goes on to describe a rather brutal hit and run, lots of scrapes and a head injury saved by their bike helmet.
- “Game to bump people on bikes with your car” This poster describes multiple incidents. “Each time it’s been like a bump or a nudge, not enough to knock me off the bike.”
By the Numbers
1st: Is this YouTuber the first Philadelphian to buy a Nintendo Switch 2? I want to know what you think. Leave a comment down below. Like and subscribe for more content like this. And smash that bell. And consider supporting the Patreon.
2 guitars: Two guitars belonging to the band Heart were stolen from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City where the band played last weekend. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers — famous for “Magic Man,” “Barracuda,” “These Dreams” and lots more — are asking for thief to return the instruments “no questions asked.” If I were them I’d go crazy on you.
8 companies: The new Fortune 500 list is out, and eight Philly-area enterprises are on the list. Comcast, Campbell’s, Aramark — most of the list makes sense. But Steak ’Em-Up? That one surprised me.
2nd and 3rd degree burns: West Philly kids attacked a woman with “a corrosive acidic fluid” on Sunday, burning her face, legs and arms. Props to the witnesses who rushed her to a shower and called an ambulance. Nonetheless, she’ll be in the hospital for three to four weeks. Here’s her GoFundMe.
100 percent: Philly schools say they have now replaced all water fountains with bottle filling stations that dispense filtered water, to reduce lead contamination, in compliance with a deadline set in 2022. The District now has until 2027 to stop serving paint chips in the cafeteria.
