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Create a World Class Transit Hub

Principle 1: Create a world-class transit hub that attracts city and suburban riders, convinces drivers to leave their car at home, enhances daily use, and exceeds the goals of 40% of attendees arriving via public transit.

Jefferson Station is an incredible asset where all of our transit lines come together. Can the arena be designed to allow for a truly grand civic hall with a gracious Market Street entry, creating a sense of arrival into a beautiful, well-lit active station that incentivizes transit use? We need only look to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden in New York as a cautionary tale wherein Penn Station is unceremoniously lodged beneath the bulk of the arena development above. The majestic Penn Station had been demolished to make room for the Garden in 1963-66 causing the eminent architectural historian Vincent Scully to lament that “one entered through the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat.” Philadelphia must get this gateway right. 

Figure 1: Jefferson Station Platform

Figure 2: Entrance to Jefferson Station from the Fashion District

Figure 3: A Penn Station Corridor ca. 2008 

Figures 1-3: Jefferson Station stands to lose its limited natural light in the proposed Arena design. Lack of design consideration for the transit ridership experience risks creating an environment similar to New York’s Penn Station, which has been widely panned as uninspiring and difficult to navigate. 

​Photos by John Phelan, Dough4872 and Joe Shlabotnik

How have other cities done this?

It is important to keep in mind that, historically, transit hubs were designed as uplifting departure/arrival points. Think Grand Central Station, Union Station, our own 30th Street Station. Over time, as air travel and especially automobiles rose to prominence, some of these majestic spaces gave way to decay and relegated the train passenger to narrow, dingy underground concourses.

But, in recent years, many cities have begun to reconsider the importance of the transit hub. Cities have witnessed how the facilities in and around transit hubs, when designed with dignity, can make the area a destination in and of itself and, importantly, can initiate a ripple effect of renewed investment and new revenue streams ultimately boosting prosperity. Cities like New York, Boston, and London are three cities that- in rethinking key transit hubs - have breathed new life into the city.

Figure 4: Moynihan Train Hall

Figure 5: Moynihan Train Hall

Figure 6: North Station and TD Bank Arena

Figure 7: Kings Cross Station

Figure 8: Kings Cross Station

Figures 4-5: Opened in 2021, Moynihan Train Hall represents the first phase of a larger revitalization of Penn Station. The hall offers New Yorkers a single concourse with high ceilings, wide corridors that let daylight in, and improved circulation routes. The hall has been praised for delivering on the promise of “giving the city the uplifting gateway.” In addition, the hall includes art installations by Kehinde Wiley, Elmgreen & Dragset, and Stan Douglas. The hall successfully addresses connectivity, placemaking, and economic development. Importantly, Moynihan Hall occupies the former US Post Office Building that was a companion neoclassical building to the landmark Penn Station across the street.

Photos by MTAPhotos and D. Benjamin Miller

Figure 6: Within the past decade, Boston’s original Boston Garden and its surrounding neighborhood has experienced significant reinvestments. A mixed-use development built on the footprint of the Boston Garden incorporated a grand new entrance to the TD Garden arena and Boston’s North Station. The soaring entrance provides access to new connections between Causeway Street and the local and regional transportation network. The project has been labeled as catalytic and successful in re-defining “the idea of a neighborhood and community hub.”

Photo by Pi.1415926535

Figures 7-8: London’s major train stations have seen significant investment since the early 2000s and the improvements at Kings Cross/St Pancras have led to some of the most transformative changes beyond the station itself. The station specific upgrades of a free spanning, transparent roof allowed for a wide-open concourse with daylight. In addition, improvements to passenger circulation and access helped make station areas safer, more secure, and welcoming. The focus on quality station improvements set the tone for distinctive placemaking and the stations and their surrounds benefited from investment in the urban grid, promoting accessibility, delivering on a wide mix of uses, and honoring historic buildings.

Photos by Dasprincecow and Colin 

What to Know

By not enhancing connectivity, accessibility, or the public transit experience, the current arena proposal falls short of creating a transit hub that effectively serves both arena attendees and the public.

Lack of Transit Expansion: The arena project does not incorporate plans to expand or enhance existing transit options, despite the 76ers' projection that over 40% of attendees will rely on public transit. Currently, SEPTA is already operating on a constrained budget and cannot reasonably be expected to increase capacity for event-related surges without additional funding, which to our knowledge, has not offered.

Missed Opportunity for Transit Hub Integration: Although the arena is located around and atop Jefferson Station, it does not engage directly with station entrances or the station mezzanine. This lack of integration means passenger flow is limited to current station layouts, with no improvements in accessibility, convenience, or connection brought by the arena. Instead, a substantial portion of the arena’s ground floor space has been designated for operational back-of-house functions, further limiting public accessibility or opportunities for a truly public space.

Reduction of Natural Light at Jefferson Station: The proposed arena structure would reduce natural light reaching the Jefferson Station platforms. The reduction in natural illumination diminishes the quality of the station environment, making it less inviting and potentially impacting visibility and comfort for daily riders and event attendees alike.

Limited Accessibility and Improvements at Nearby Stations:

  • 11th Street Market-Frankford Line Station: The closest subway station to the arena is outdated, cramped, and lacks ADA accessibility. Although SEPTA has planned upgrades to address some of the most pressing accessibility issues, the arena project team does not propose any further enhancements to streamline passenger movement or improve user experience.

  • Jefferson Station: Similarly, no improvements are planned to enhance passenger flow within Jefferson Station itself or create a more seamless transit experience to and from the arena. 

Unenhanced Connections Between Transit Points: The arena project does not aim to improve connectivity between Jefferson Station and 11th Street Station, relying instead on existing pathways. This represents a missed opportunity to create a more inviting public space through a well-designed and architecturally significant transit facility.  

Questions We Should Be Asking

  • To provide more space and light to the transit station, can arena operations be minimized on the ground floor and the bowl of the arena raised sufficiently to allow a truly civic space and entry to Jefferson Station and the 11th St. El stop?

  • Can we invest in additional rail infrastructure to allow for trains to be available at peak usage times to maximize movement of passengers through the network?

  • Can the concourse retain retail and gain additional space for movement to avoid the Penn Station-effect of cramped transit access?

  • How can we encourage the developer to use best-in-class building materials to develop a design that can help create a sense of arrival into a beautiful, well-lit active station that incentivizes transit use on game days and every day?

Best Practices

While the Arena might be the core focus of this development plan, it is undeniable that 76Place is also, by its very location, a transit-oriented development. This means that it is a development based on a central transit stop and surrounded by a high-density, mixed-use area. To be successful this project must be undertaken with care for the surrounding area. When done right, this type of development can enable the rest of Market Street and the nearby Chinatown neighborhood to become destinations, offer a higher quality of life, and have the added value of attracting new people and businesses. Philadelphia will miss a once-in-a-generation opportunity if the arena is considered as a single, stand-alone development project.

The examples above highlight that other cities have successfully capitalized on transit to initiate revitalization efforts. This arena project represents Philadelphia’s moment to create a development that forms a more cohesive whole and maximizes the potential of Market Street as a successful commercial and social space. In other cities, transit-oriented development has focused on connectivity, the urban environment, sense of place, and economic development and this comprehensive focus has resulted in successful and transformative projects. 76Place has the potential to take this same approach and become the project that can redefine Market Street.