Papal visit parking will be available in Camden after all

CAMDEN, N.J. -- In a reversal from an announcement just a few weeks ago, officials now say there will be car parking available in Camden, New Jersey during the pope's visit to Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, they put out the welcome mat to private cars. Branding the effort "Gateway to the Pope," Camden hopes more than 8,000 cars will park there.

But, it's not free.

To able to get your car past security and road closures, you must pre-register online and purchase a special permit at a cost of $43.78.

LINK: Pre-register at GatewayToThePope.com

Last month officials said no car parking would be available, because the spaces would be used to park buses. However, those buses never materialized.

Once you park, you have three options to get to Philadelphia: PATCO, which still has 60,000 unsold passes; the river ferry; or you can make the hike over the Ben Franklin Bridge, which will be closed to traffic.

Meanwhile, PATCO announced it will no longer be selling passes online, concerned they could not get them mailed out in time.

Instead, they will now sell passes at stations and, in another change, will sell them during the Papal weekend.

New Jersey Transit, which is operating the River Line and Atlantic City trains, says customers still must buy tickets prior to the weekend.

"Please think ahead about that weekend. Those tickets will not be sold over that weekend," said Ronnie Hakim of New Jersey Transit. "You really need to make an effort to make your plans and buy your tickets today."

PATCO says it has only sold about 20% of the 75,000 passes it has issued. The hope is that the offer of additional people will encourage more people park in Jersey and ride in to Philly.