Philadelphia announces transit plans for papal visit

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia leaders have announced their new plans to deal with the massive crowds expected during the pope's historic visit in September.

The hope is to help people navigate the gridlock when tourists pack the streets for a glimpse of Pope Francis.

Tuesday's announcement was billed as an event focusing on transportation for the World Meeting of Families, but also specifically on the papal visit, which is expected at the end of the gathering, on September 26th and 27th.

One to two million people are expected to be in Philadelphia, possibly more.

We did not get a lot of detail Tuesday. This was more a day for broad-stroke warnings.

For instance, do not expect to be able to drive into Philadelphia in a private car, the mayor said. It will not be practical.

Do be prepared to walk long distances once you get into the city and be prepared to use mass transit.

As the mayor repeated several times, if you're thinking about coming into the city on those two days in September, plan ahead.

"We need to really help people understand this is a very different event," said Nutter. "So what you would normally do to go to an Eagles game or something? Forget that. This is different."

"So even how you get to mass transit... we need to help the public better understand you need a different way, you need a different mode," the mayor continued. "Maybe someone can drive you in the car to the mass transit station and drop you off. But they should not necessarily anticipate that you're just going to pull up and park your car and jump on the train. That's not happening with this."

Regional rail is expected to be a big player during the papal visit, but a very different kind of player from what commuters are used to.

Visitors are going to need special passes, which will cost $10 each that will go on sale in July..

Trains will only depart from 18 select stations, with no extra parking at those stations.

Example, the Paoli Thorndale line has 18 non-center city stations, but during the visit trains will stop at just two of those stations, Paoli and Radnor.

Further details on the city's transit plan were not made available Tuesday. The plan is still a work in progress, officials said.

But officials said the city will be putting out several brochures, one called 'Know Before You Go,' another called 'The Papal Visit Playbook.'

The brochures are due out later this summer.