Letter to the Editor

A SEPTA solution to I-495 gridlock

The I-495 closure has led to crippling traffic standstills that many of us have already been caught in, but even before the closure, traffic in this region was often bad. It is easy to feel powerless to do anything about traffic.

But we already have a way to alleviate traffic on I-95, both through the closure and after: SEPTA train service to Wilmington and Newark. During the four years I lived in Delaware, and the three years since moving to Philly, I would have used SEPTA more, thus taking my car off I-95, if the service had run more often. I was often prevented from using SEPTA by the fact that it did not continue into Delaware late at night or on weekends.

If the state of Delaware, New Castle County, the cities of Wilmington and Newark, and even large employers in downtown Wilmington or the University of Delaware, each chipped in a little money, SEPTA train service could be made excellent. If trains ran all day long, until midnight, and on weekends, far more people would regularly use the service to travel. This would greatly alleviate I-95 traffic, which would even benefit people who never ride the train.

Alex Zorach

Jenkintown, Maryland