On Aug. 12 we published the latest in a series of editorials raising concerns about Berks County’s lack of transportation to and from other cities ( “No end in sight to Reading’s transportation isolation”). It’s been a major issue here ever since our area lost service to New York’s main bus terminal more than a year ago.
As of right now there is no train or air service to Reading, a few bus trips each day to and from New York and minimal access to and from Philadelphia other than by car. Our view is that even though there are economic, legal and regulatory hurdles to expanding access to transportation here, it’s imperative that our leaders keep trying.
We heard from a number of readers who agreed with this, but one had a particularly strong reaction to the editorial, particularly its concluding sentence: “Reestablishing Reading’s transportation ties to the rest of the country is far too important to just throw up our hands and try to make the best of a bad lot.”
The reader was Adele Miskie, a local native who divides her time between Spring Township and New York, where she has worked for years as a dresser on Broadway shows. Her most recent job was in the Lincoln Center production of “My Fair Lady,” where she made sure the actresses playing the leading role of Eliza Doolittle always were ready to go on stage and perform comfortably.
Miskie wrote a heartfelt note expressing her years of frustration with the lack of options available to people who need to get back and forth between Reading and other cities in the region and the inability of local leaders to do anything about it.
“I must work in NYC and I must get to and from Whitfield,” she wrote. “It has been a huge burden. What is Reading waiting for?”
Miskie lost faith in the former Bieber Tourways months before it went out of business this year. Since last fall she’s been taking Amtrak trains from Lancaster or Philadelphia. There are few options for commuters wishing to get from Reading to either Amtrak station.
It is important to the Wilson High School graduate to maintain a regular presence in this area, where she has strong, lifelong ties through family and friends. But doing so is difficult given the lack of good transportation options that fit her unusual work schedule.
She also wonders why there aren’t stronger efforts to promote Berks County’s great attractions to people in other areas, which could encourage more ridership on trains or buses bringing them to and from our region.
She believes many in this area would welcome an alternative to driving to concerts, sporting events, medical specialists, etc.
Miskie has a modest proposal: A shuttle from Reading to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station and/or the Lancaster Amtrak station would not only improve access to the largest city in our region, but would make it easier for people here to reach the rest of the country, and vice versa.
Were such an endeavor to succeed, it would offer evidence that the long-sought and badly needed return of rail service to Berks County is viable. And with Drexel University opening a medical school in Wyomissing in conjunction with Tower Health, it makes sense to provide transportation to the train station that’s steps away from Drexel’s Philadelphia campus.
There are possibilities here. Amtrak’s Thruway service offers bus connections to destinations the rail line doesn’t serve itself, simplifying travel planning for consumers. In 2017 Amtrak announced it would offer the service to Reading. Its partner was Bieber. Would someone else be willing to step up and try this again?
And shouldn’t a Lancaster-Reading connection be quite possible considering that BARTA and Lancaster County’s Red Rose Transit are sister agencies run by the South Central Transit Authority? It’s certainly worth discussing.
Miskie believes there are many people out there like her – individuals who need to get back and forth from Reading to Philadelphia, New York and other destinations. She believes that if those people made their voices heard, it would lead to action.
So we’re asking readers. Are you satisfied with the status quo of local transportation? Would you ride a bus or train to Philadelphia or Lancaster if reliable service were available on a convenient schedule? Would out-of-town friends and family be more likely to visit if it were easier to get here?
Scroll down to take our survey and make your voice heard. It’s time to stop talking about this issue and to start making something happen.
