PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

The SEPTA Board Thursday voted to approve a series of contracts to begin the reconstruction of the Cheltenham-Ogontz Bus Loop.

The loop, which serves about 3,400 riders every weekday, acts as a terminal for four different bus routes and as a transfer point for two additional routes.

The construction will provide new passenger shelters and add other rider amenities.

Richard Burnfield, SEPTA treasurer and CFO, also announced that the authority reported a $5.8 million loss to start fiscal year 2011 owing to a required change in SEPTA's accounting standards.

Ridership for the first two months of the new fiscal year was slightly under projections, with riders bringing in about $800,000 less revenue than budgeted.

The authority is running with a $270,000 surplus for the fiscal year and closed fiscal year 2010 with a $488,000 surplus.

The SEPTA Board also approved a series of other contracts and a labor agreement that were reviewed by board committees last week.