Nutter assures of more pope visit details, SEPTA cancels update

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- People are getting excited about the pope's upcoming visit, but many are also concerned about what it will mean for them as it concerns security and transportation.

"People need to come to work. They need to plan what they are going to do," Marco Iannuzzzi of Fairmount said.

On Monday, Mayor Michael Nutter held a news conference along with other World Meeting of Family organizers to assure the city's citizens that they will get the details they need in good time and in an official manner.

Over the weekend, a map circulated on some websites purporting to show a possible security perimeter extending around and beyond the Ben Franklin Parkway. The mayor says that is not an official map.

"I want to be very, very clear with all of you. No official perimeter has been announced or fully and finally determined," Nutter said.

The mayor said the city is working with the federal government to strike a balance between security, safety, and accessibility while hosting the leader of the Roman Catholic Church who is also a head of state.

"I am not planning to give every nutcase in the universe a significant amount of advanced information from a security standpoint as to exactly where and when or what route Pope Francis is going to be transported," Nutter said.

The mayor said additional information will be released next week in an official manner.

"I am sure our city has an exact plan. As for the citizens, we'll find out eventually. I am going with the flow. I think people should be happy he's coming, it's great thing," Sophia Wakefield of Fairmount said.

Action News did expect more information Monday on SEPTA's planned resumption of Regional Rail passes, but that news conference was abruptly and inexplicably postponed until possibly sometime later this week.

The first attempt to sell the passes last Monday resulted in the crash of their website.

SEPTA officials told Action News last week that they brought in outside contractors to help with the process and their site was tested for 1,700 hits per second.

They believe the site was receiving three times that amount of traffic after tickets went on sale.

SEPTA is selling a total of 350,000 passes for the weekend - 175,000 for both Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27. The passes are $10.