Station Review #89: Arrott Transportation Center (SEPTA)


Arrott Transportation Center is a station on SEPTA's L line, located at Frankford Avenue and Arrott street in the center of Frankford, a neighborhood in Lower Northeast Philadelphia. The station is a regional bus hub as well. 

History

75 bus at the busway

Arrott Transportation Center is a very old station, its existence going back to 1922. Originally, the station was named Margaret-Orthodox-Arrott, but the Arrott was dropped after SEPTA took over in favor of what is simply "Margaret-Orthodox". Meanwhile, the bus terminal was called "Arrott Bus Terminal". It was around the time of this renaming that the last trolleys in the area, the 59 and 75, were replaced by trolleybuses. 

For decades, this change stuck, confusing people who were not familiar with the area all the while. This finally changed in 2014, when Margaret-Orthodox station was renamed to Arrott Transportation Center. This was a hallmark for a major change to come for the station: complete rebuilding. Rebuilding the station allowed for it to finally be made accessible. Not only that, but both sections of the station were finally unified under one name as well. 

There are plans to rename the station again, this time to Arrott Transit Center as part of a major rebranding for many of SEPTA's "Transportation Center" stations. Even after that change, there will still be people calling the station "Margaret-Orthodox Station" as there is now. 

Tour

Two L trains at both platforms

The eastbound platform

The westbound platform

Arrott Transportation Center has LED displays at the train station section and at the bus bays, but they usually tend to be broken or useless.

View from one of the crossovers

Elevator

Passageway to one of the elevators

Stairway over the lobby

There are no actual photos here of the lobby itself, and that's on purpose. The entire thing is designed like a panopticon. The sales office is in the very middle and can see everything that goes on at any angle in the lobby. There's no way to keep the privacy of the person in the booth and keep them out of the photo, so there's no real point of doing so. 

The busway from the stairs

The outside of the station

Bus Connections

 
The busway

There are five buses that stop at Arrott Transportation Center and two that go immediately past it, these are: 

• J: Richmond-Orthodox (Bridesburg) to Chelten-Wissahickon (Chelten station). This is a crosstown bus that's meant to serve areas like Olney, Logan, and Germantown, linking to the B at Logan station.

• K: Arrott Transportation Center to Ridge-Midvale (East Falls). This is another Crosstown route, this one instead going north of where the B ends. 

• 3: Frankford Transportation Center to 33rd-Cecil B Moore. This bus both paralells the L and acts as a crosstown along Berks Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. This bus links Frankford Transportation Center directly to Temple University, as well as large swaths of North Philadelphia. The route 3 bus links indirectly to Regional Rail at Temple University station, and directly to the B at Cecil B. Moore station. The bus passes by Arrott Transportation Center on Frankford Avenue.

• 5: Frankford Transportation Center to 2nd-Market/Penns Landing Loop. This bus only really exists to serve the southern portions of Frankford Avenue. It passes by Arrott Transportation Center as well along Frankford Avenue. 

• 59: Arrott Transportation Center to Bells Corner Loop (Bustleton-Castor) via Castor Avenue. This is a trolleybus route. It serves not only as a feeder bus for people in neighborhoods like Rhawnhurst and Oxford Circle but also as a bus service for the bustling Castor Avenue. 

• 75: Arrott Transportation Center to Wayne Junction. This is yet another crosstown route, this one instead going via Wyoming Avenue and serving Northwood, Feltonville, Logan, and Wayne Junction in the process. The 75 links to the B at Wyoming station. Despite this, the 75 has fairly low ridership due to the fat that it passes through a now empty area called Logan Triangle that once was entirely dense and residential. This bus is also a trolleybus route.

• 89: Arrott Transportation Center to Front-Dauphin. This bus takes 50 minutes to go between two points that only take about 12 minutes for the L train. The 89 meanwhile spends its time meandering, serving every single neighborhood in the River Wards except for Bridesburg. This is because it entirely exists to serve various zones with little public transit service, doing the work of at least three bus routes. Many of the people who use this route entirely use it just to get to the Walmart in Port Richmond from places like Juniata. The 89 is being cut in the SEPTA bus revolution, and the 53 will be extended to serve the area, serving that demographic. This comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone since the 89 bears more resemblance to an abstract drawing of a snake than a useful bus route. 

Points of Interest near Arrott Transportation Center

Many of the things nearby Arrott Transportation Center are local amenities. There are stores and restaurants nearby, but little to nothing of note if you're from outside the area. 

Nearby is the store Video, which is most likely one of it not the last video store in the entirety of the Delaware Valley. 

Statistics


Name: Arrott Transportation Center 
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): L
Locality: Frankford
Municipality: Philadelphia 
County: Philadelphia 
State: Pennsylvania 
Ridership: 4737 per average weekday (2018)

Amenity Checklist


Accessible: ✓
Bathrooms: ×
Bicycle parking: ×
Clean Station: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Convenience Store/similar place inside: ×
Easy passage for each side: ✓ 
Fare Payment Kiosks (if applicable): ✓
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Indoor Shelters: ✓
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Adequate Parking: ✓ (none)
Seating: ✓ 
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓ (bus bays are not)
TVMs: ✓
Ticket Offices: ✓
TOD: ✓
Train Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): × (they exist but most are broken)
Updated/Useful Signage: ✓ 

Final Verdict: 6/10

Station Directory

--------Philadelphia County--------
Frankford Transportation Center
Arrott Transportation Center
Church
Erie-Torresdale
Tioga
Somerset
Huntingdon
York-Dauphin
Berks
Girard
Spring Garden
2nd Street
5th Street
8th Street
11th Street
13th Street
15th Street
Drexel Station at 30th Street
40th Street
46th Street
52nd Street
56th Street
60th Street
63rd Street
--------Delaware County--------
Millbourne
69th Street Transportation Center 

--------Philadelphia County--------
Alma
Arrott Transportation Center

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