PHILADELPHIA -- Things could get more chaotic in Philadelphia as students return to school without public transportation. Public schools were off on Tuesday because of the election and an in-service day, reports WKYW radio here.

UTU members who operate SEPTA's Red Arrow bus and trolley division, who have a separate contract, were honoring pickets by the strikers who are represented by the striking Transport Workers Union.

As of Wednesday morning, there was no sign of when talks between SEPTA and the Transport Workers Union will resume.

SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams says the agency is ready to resume talks anytime: "We never left the table so figuratively we're still there, sitting there at the table, waiting for the union to come back."

The union, though, seems in no rush. Shortly after he declared the strike, union president Willie Brown said SEPTA had been unwilling to bargain on pension issues and work rules: "It's to the point where they came in and said 'well look, we're not going any further.' We said 'okay, you're not going any further, we have no choice in the matter.'"

Brown says the issues are complex and he would try to explain them at a news conference late Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, SEPTA buses of the Victory division, formerly known as the Red Arrow, were being blocked by striking Transport Workers Union workers of the Philadelphia division on Wednesday morning.

The Victory division was not part of the striking Philadelphia city division.

On Wednesday morning, picketers showed up at the Victory terminal at 69th Street and for a time allowed only about one bus out of the terminal every 45 minutes. Victory buses serve all of Delaware County and the Mainline.

Their drivers are part of a different bargaining unit known as the United Transportation Union, which has a separate contract from that of TWU.

Also, the Sharon Hill and Media trolleys (routes 101 and 102) were not operating in Delaware County as of Wednesday morning.

The effects of the transit strike will soon start rippling through the entire Philadelphia community. 

We know commuters are affected, but if they're not riding the buses, trolleys, and subways, they're not stopping at the nearby coffee shop or picking up a paper at the newstand according to Rob Wonderling, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce: "The longer a strike goes on, the more disruption there will be and individuals who are now forced to find other ways to get to work, all of their habits and routines now change."

(The preceding report was published by WKYW radio.)