SEPTA: Lots of papal passes left, so c'mon down

Sobered by modest sales of rail passes for next month's papal visit, SEPTA officials changed their tune Thursday from dire warnings to warm invitations.

"We want you to be there," SEPTA general manager Joseph Casey said. "We are doing everything possible to make it easy for you to come see the pope."

Gone were the warnings of lack of parking or long waits or lengthy treks. The "traffic box" around Center City is now the "Francis festival grounds."

The new message: C'mon down, there's lots of room.

About 200,000 passes remain for Regional Rail trains on Sept. 26 and 27. SEPTA originally had 350,000 available, and officials are now hawking bulk sales to try to move the rest.

The passes sell for $10 for each day.

"I think our expectations were a little higher," Casey acknowledged. "But we still have a month, and we hope people decide to come."

While city and SEPTA officials had warned of severely limited parking, Casey said Thursday that about 23,000 parking spaces will be available near the 18 Regional Rail stations that will be open for the pope's visit. The spaces will be provided by local governments, businesses, and other organizations, Casey said.

And the warnings of treks of at least two miles have given way to less strenuous descriptions.

From 30th Street Station to Logan Square "is little over a mile stroll," Casey said.

New SEPTA maps show the walking distances from various Center City stations to the papal destinations, all under two miles.

"None of these distances are marathon walks," Casey said.

And SEPTA emphasized that other transit modes will also provide "easy access" for the papal visit.

Many bus and trolley routes will operate on weekday schedules to provide more frequent service. Buses will stop about a half-mile short of the no-vehicle zone around Center City, but will drop passengers off near subway stations to make it easier to continue into the restricted zone.

The Market-Frankford El will operate express trains only from the 69th Street Transportation Center and the 52d Street station to 30th Street Station, as well as from the Frankford Transportation Center and Girard Avenue, express only, to the Second Street station.

The Broad Street Subway will operate express trains only from the Fern Rock and Cecil B. Moore stations to the Spring Garden station, and from AT&T Station express only to the Walnut-Locust Station.

Passengers can use regular tokens or passes for travel on the subways, trolleys, or buses, or can buy special papal passes good for Sept. 26 through 28. The three-day papal passes will cost $10.

"We have a lot of capacity on all of our service," said Casey, whose agency is posting updated information at www.septa.org/papalvisitphilly. "If you're coming into Center City during the papal visit weekend, come on SEPTA."