16 hours ago After SEPTA drivers and other employees spoke out about threats to their safety experienced on the job at stations and while operating vehicles, the authority contracted security guards from AlliedBarton for deployment along the Market-Frankford Line to assist SEPTA police with patrolling the line. The 90-day contract is worth up to $1.5 million. The new budget proposal also allotts funds for up to 200 new cleaners assigned to stations and vehicles. Cleanliness has also become an issue of contention for riders and workers during the pandemic, and became an urgent issue recently when needles and urine contributed to the destruction of elevators at the Somerset Station, leading to a sudden, temporary closure.