Papal visit's impact on transportation in Philadelphia, western suburbs
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Along with causing traffic restrictions, the papal visit is also having an impact on transportation in Philadelphia and the western suburbs.
Taxi cabs often line Filbert Street in Center City, waiting to pick up customers.
Drivers say while they plan to work the weekend of September 26th and 27th, it's going to be a challenge.
"It's going to be not good for me. It's going to be crowded, so I don't know what to do," said Dawit Gevarweld, 215 Get-A-Cab.
The City of Philadelphia announced Wednesday that two traffic boxes will be put into effect while Pope Francis is here.
A traffic box around Center City will go into effect at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Another box stretching from Center City to 38th Street in West Philadelphia is slated to start at 10:00 p.m. Friday.
Officials say while drivers cannot re-enter the traffic boxes once they've left, no decision has been made about taxis, Uber drivers and shuttle services.
Anthony Viscusi runs Global Limousine in South Philadelphia - which lies outside of the traffic boxes.
While he hopes the city will make special exceptions for companies like his, he does have a tentative plan to move people around.
"If all else fails, we'll bring them as far as we can from the outside area and hopefully be able to have vehicles in the box area in order to transport them to their final destination," said Viscusi.
The Independence Visitors Center says Philly Phlash buses, which take people to major attractions in the city, will not run Saturday and Sunday during the pope's visit.
But Phlash will offer extended service during the World Meeting of Families.
"We have a lot of conventioneers that'll be here that week. We want to make sure Phlash is running September 19-25 particularly for the convention, so I think we'll still service a lot of people," said Jennifer Nagle, Independence Visitors Center.
For those relying on SEPTA's Regional Rail when the pope is in town, those chosen in the lottery to purchase passes for that weekend will have until 11:59pm Sunday to buy them.
Even after the lottery, SEPTA officials say about 22,000 Regional Rail passes remain unclaimed.
Since the lottery, many passes have popped up on websites like eBay and Craigslist, selling for much higher than the original $10 cost - including a listing for two passes with a starting bid at $50 or a "buy it now" price of $2,000.
SEPTA officials say they have no way of monitoring the resale of passes, but they do warn against purchasing passes from people you don't know, or paying more than face value for them.
Information on how to buy those 22,000 remaining Regional Rail passes will be released by SEPTA on Friday August 14th.
WESTERN SUBBURBS
Over in the western suburbs, train stations in Radnor and Paoli are the only two Regional Rail stops that'll be used during the papal visit.
About 10,000 people a day will be coming to these stations which puts a lot of pressure on the local communities.
"It's going to take much more time to get to Point A to Point B within the township," said Lt. Andrew Block, Radnor Police.
Radnor Township will be opening its emergency operations center and it will be all hands on deck for the police department.
The township has two transit stations that'll be used for express rail service to the city - the Radnor Regional Rail station and the Norristown High Speed Line station at Villanova University.
Traffic and parking will be the two main issues.
Villanova is canceling classes on Friday, September 25th and Saturday, September 26th.
That will open up the huge parking lot along Lancaster Avenue but police say they'll be ready.
"We know traffic management, we know how to move traffic. We're going to be challenged on this but all our officers are ready and they will rise to the challenge," said Lt. Block.
That said, they're urging residents and visitors to be patient - the same thing goes for the Paoli area.
"Significant parking restrictions. It's a fairly dense area and the number of vehicles coming in, it's gonna be tough," said Supt. Anthony Giaimo, Tredyffrin Township Police.
There's less parking available near the Paoli station and Tredyffrin police are still working out the logistics.
They'd like everyone to hitch a ride to the station if they can.
"We're asking folks to consider dropping riders off the day of and we'll have a pattern set up where they can systematically come in, drop someone off and be on their way," said Lt. Giaimo.
In Radnor and Paoli, emergency services will be on hand and food and water will be available.
Merchants in the Paoli area will be heavily impacted by the congestion.
Some worry about the parking. Others welcome the chance for new customers.
"Was a little concerned absolutely but I just got word of all the extra communication and the things that will be taking place during that week so I definitely feel much better," said Heather Heyman, Studio H Salon.
In Radnor and in Paoli, the planning for this event is an ongoing process. The townships will be posting updated information for residents and visitors on their websites.
For more information:
www.radnor.com
www.tredyffrin.org
