SEPTA riders angry after rides arrive late or not at all following safety training
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some SEPTA riders are angry. They're saying rides arrived late or not at all and that service has gotten worse since safety training started for SEPTA workers last Monday.
READ MORE: SEPTA to require training for employees amid recent crashes
"This is a crisis in Philly," Wendell Zellars said.
Zellars lives and works in West Philadelphia. He says timely SEPTA service has been an ongoing issue.
"It just got worse during the training," he said.
He is talking about safety training after recent crashes involving SEPTA buses and trolleys. The training started last Monday, Aug. 14.
Zellars said he planned to use SEPTA last Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
Instead, he ended up walking more than three miles.
"I walked from 76th and City Line Avenue – three nights in a row – to 51st and Market. Not a 31 come," Zellars said.
Zellars also says the inconsistent service is costing him more money in fines for picking his daughter up from daycare.
RELATED: SEPTA training could bring delays beginning Monday. What riders need to know
"The going rate is $4 a minute. I'm lucky I'm paying $2 a minute. The highest I paid one day was $120. I was an hour late."
Rider AJ Johnson says Zellars is not alone.
"We use SEPTA to go to work, appointments, and we actually leave out early enough to get to our appointments on time, and they still can make us late," Johnson said.
SEPTA Chief Operating Officer Scott Sauer says the agency is training operators first in hopes service will return to normal by the first day of school.
"Right now, we are seeing probably about a 10% absence rate as a result of the training on bus service. But, we are managing it in such a way to try to spread it out so that no one route or one depot is taking the full hit," SEPTA Chief Sauer said.
With eight weeks left to go in the training, SEPTA is asking customers to stay on top of delays by downloading the agency's app and following the agency on social media.