Philadelphia ? Thousands of city transit workers went on strike just after midnight, leaving nearly half a million commuters in need of alternate transportation today.

Buses, trolleys and subways operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will be idle, although rails are expected to remain in service because its employees have different contracts.

The last Philadelphia transit strike, in 1998, lasted 40 days.

Negotiations had been ongoing most of the weekend but broke off around midnight. Wages, work rules and health care were the main issues in dispute.

The mass transit system shut down is vital to mobility in a city where one in three households lacks a car. On a typical weekday, 920,000 trips are taken on the SEPTA lines shut down by the strike.