Cynwyd Station Could Lose SEPTA Bus Service

Beginning next year, SEPTA plans to discontinue weeknight bus service to the Cynwyd Regional Rail terminal, citing low ridership, agency officials announced at a public meeting in Center City.

Route 44 currently stops twice each weeknight at the station, turning off City Avenue at Conshohocken State Road to make the top, then turning down Bala Avenue to reach the Bala station and resume the route on City Avenue.

“The intention of this spur routing is to provide alternate service to the Cynwyd Regional Rail line,” said SEPTA official Steve D’Antonio. “However over 20 counts were taken from November to December 2010, with only one passenger alighting at the station. The Cynwyd spur is an inconvenience for (other) riders on the bus because of the added travel time.”

The Cynwyd Regional Rail line is a short spur off the Paoli-Thorndale line that connects the Main Line region with Philadelphia. Cynwyd station is the terminal.

Other routes throughout SEPTA are being eliminated or extended, based on current rate of ridership or requests from the public.

The station is in Commissioner George Manos' Ward 9, and he objects to the prospect of bus service departing, particularly with the prospect of a bustling Cynwyd Heritage Trail in the not-too-distant future.

"A little-known fact is that there are commuters who use the trail now to get from points in (Bala Cynwyd) west of the Cynwyd Station to the station—either by walking or biking—to get to the R6," Manos wrote to township officials and media in a recent e-mail. "The number of these commuters will only increase in the future, particularly if the "M" District is developed as planned, where residents of up to 580 multi-family dwelling units will be directly connected to the trail."

"Ending evening service in 2012 would deprive both current and future commuters any way of getting home from work—in either direction—safely, late at night. This would essentially strand Bala Cynwyd and not be good mass transit policy," Manos wrote. "I think retention of evening service to Cynwyd needs to be supported as strongly as possible and at the highest levels."

Friday’s meeting was an informal session. An official public hearing on the agency’s many route-change proposals for 2012 will follow sometime in April, and the board would vote in June or July, SEPTA official Charles Webb said.