The Cheltenham Bus Is In Trouble!

Just in case you haven't heard, our beloved Cheltenham Bus is in danger of being cancelled!

On Wednesday, December 16, 2009 the board of commissioners had a public hearing that was listed on the Cheltenham calendar. The next day a notice was printed stating it was the decision of the board to not continue the Cheltenham Transit Bus. As an alternative the board has recommended that residents and seniors - especially seniors - take either Septa or another form of transportation called TransNet.

When it was learned of the board's decision to cut the Cheltenham Transit bus residents of the area started a petition to get the signatures of both the residents of Cheltenham and LaMott, Lynnewood Gardens and stores and businesses that are along the route that the Cheltenham bus travels including the Shoprite of Cheltenham, the Cedarbrook and Cheltenham Malls and the area apartment complexes.

So far over 100 signatures have been gotten!

It is planned to present this petition to the board during a meeting that is scheduled for January 6, 2010. The petition was going to be presented to the commissioner board yesterday but for some reason none of the commissioners were present that day!

In a related piece of news it was found out that the contract for the Abington transit service would be renewed!

This news about the Cheltenham Bus service is still relatively new and all the details aren't known yet but what IS known is that the more people that show support for the Cheltenham Bus the better the chance that the residents will be able to continue to have it!

To show your support for the Cheltenham Bus service please call the Township Building at:

215-887-1000

I will post more news about this as I get it.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2010 a public meeting will be held at Curtis Hall 1250 W. church Road 215-887-1000 215-887-1561 is the Fax number If you are not able to attend the meeting then we ask that you please show your support by sending a fax explaining your support of keeping the Cheltenham Township Bus running. You can also show your support by contacting the commissioners for the area and telling them of your support for the Cheltenham Transit Bus. Board Of Commissioners Michael J. Swavola - Ward 5 1115 Coventry Avenue Cheltenham, PA 19012 email: mswavola@cheltenham-township.org Charles D. McKeown, Sr. - Ward 7 424 Township Line Road Cheltenham, PA 19012 email: cmckeown@cheltenham-township.org Harvey Portner - Ward 3 Melrose Court Apartments 1308 Willow Ave Elkins Park, PA 19027 email: hportner@cheltenham-township.org Public Information Officer - Nancy Gibson 215-887-1000

Update!

January 8, 2010!

The results of the meeting above resulted in the fact that the Cheltenham Board of Commissioners have scheduled another meeting to discuss further the fate of the Cheltenham Transit Bus. The exact date and time of the meeting is not yet known.

Please continue to email, phone and fax your commissioners to let them know that you are in support of keeping the Cheltenham Transit Bus!

Update - February 11, 2010! A 3rd meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 17th at 7:30 at Curtis Hall. It has come to my attention that at the 2nd meeting more residents showed up to protest the canceling of the Cheltenham Transit Bus. At the end of this meeting a vote / poll was taken from the commissioners and 3 out of 7 voted for bringing back the Cheltenham Bus. One of those commissioners that voted in favor of the Cheltenham Transit Bus was Harvey Portner. So yet another meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 17, 2010 and the more residents and potential riders that show up - the better! We still face a very good chance of being able to save our beloved Cheltenham Transit Bus!

Update March 2010!

Although the details are a little sketchy to me, it seems that the commissioners' board has decided to give Transnet a try. It is supposed to be a trial period kind of thing and it will start in April 2010.

However this solution requires that residents call and make a reservation first. And this is one of many negatives about this chosen decision.

It is very unfortunate that the public hearings for the Cheltenham Township bus were held during the evening at a location - to my knowledge - that is not accessible by public transportation. Another fact is that the seniors who have taken the Cheltenham bus had no way to get to these meetings because they do not have cars and some of the meetings were held during the coldest days of the winter here in Philadelphiawith some snow involved. It is very ironic that the very bus that could have taken the seniors to the public hearings was the very same bus that was cancelled by the commissioners.

However please do not consider this issue a closed one! I strongly urge all the residents of LaMott and Cheltenham to keep this issue opened! Just because the commissioner's board has made this trial period decision it doesn't mean that the issue is over. I encourage everyone to call their ward commissioners, send them a fax, send them an email, write them a letter stating your support of the Cheltenham Transit Bus.

We can still get our beloved Cheltenham Transit Bus BACK!



April 2010! - Unfortunately these new transit rules do not include the residents Cheltenham that are under the age of 55/65 who are not disabled!

Like I have said before We can still get our beloved Cheltenham Transit Bus BACK!

Changes In The Cheltenham Bus Schedule? - Let's Put The Rumors To Rest!

The Cheltenham Bus schedule has changed in only one way!

The last scheduled run that ran one-way has been discontinued as of January 2009. Everything else about the schedule remains the same!

I had been hearing rumors about the schedule being changed but I have talked to the township and found out that the ONLY thing that has changed was that last scheduled run (around 4-5pm) has been discontinued.

So for those of you that ride the Cheltenham Bus (and for those of you who are hopefully considering taking it), there are still the 3 remaining scheduled round trip runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Feeling The Need To Fish!

In the past I have made a post about a fishing derby that is held every June in this area for the kids!

This got me to thinking about how much I missed fishing myself! So I did a little calling around and found out that as long as I have been living in the area there is a lot about it that I don't know!

The annual Fishing Derby is held at the Tookany Creek Park but what I didn't know is that one could fish there other times as well! - DUH!

Now I'm going to have to find out more about that! I'll let you know what I have found out!

More And More People Are Asking Me About The Cheltenham Bus!

The last time it happened was when I saw one of my more newer neighbors at the Shoprite at the Cheltenham Mall. That particular day I was waiting for the Cheltenham bus to take me home from the supermarket but I saw my neighbor instead and they graciously offered to take me home. On the way home I told them about the local Cheltenham bus that goes all around the Cheltenham Area. It even has a stop at the local train station (the one in Glenside I think) and it has a stop at the Rowland Community Center.

I was telling my new neighbors about the Cheltenham bus and they seemed very interested in becoming riders. Since one of them is aged 55 or older they can ride the Cheltenham bus for FREE! So since they didn't know the scheduled times of the bus I volunteered to bring them a copy of the bus schedule. That also reminded me that I promised another neighbor that I would bring them a copy of our local bus schedule. The second neighbor I promised the bus schedule to has lived in this area for a very long time but didn't quite know the scheduled times of the Cheltenham bus routes.

Well that's 2 new recruits / riders for our local Cheltenham bus! The more people that ride our local bus the more it will likely stay for the area. There was a time when our local Cheltenham bus ran 5 days a week but due to the area's "budget" cuts we were at a risk of losing it altogether! But the township came up with the idea of splitting the routes with Abington so now our Cheltenham Bus rides 3 times a week now instead of 5!

I am very glad that we are able to have this local bus for our area and I know that a lot of the older residents appreciate it too!

Lots of friendly chatter on the Cheltenham Bus Today

The Cheltenham Bus was full of friendly chatter today as we each went to our different stops. Just in case you don't know the Cheltenham Bus is our local bus that runs throughout the Cheltenham area. It goes to the Cedarbrook Mall, the Cheltenham Mall, and the train station. For area residents that are over 55 the fare is free. For residents under 55 the fare is $4 per trip But you can buy a 10 trip ticket for $10 - that makes it $1 per trip.

There was a time back where our beloved local bus was in threat of being cancelled but the township decided to split the week with Abington so now our Cheltenham Bus runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I think that this is much better than not having the bus at all. I do wish that that Shoprite logo was on the bus because that was advertising revenue for the bus - thus helping us to keep it running.