Eagles parade: Tracking SEPTA, PATCO, other transportation as Philadelphia celebrates Super Bowl
The latest on SEPTA, PATCO, the highways and the hour by hour weather forecast.
The parade ended. Then the challenge was getting home. Hundreds of thousands headed for the exits about the same time. As expected, there were very long lines at the subway, Regional Rail and PATCO stations, though the transit crush was easing by shortly after 6 p.m.
Here's a look at how transportation around the region was faring by early Thursday evening:
HIGHWAYS
Traffic departing the city was heavier than usual for a weekday afternoon, PennDot officials said. There were crashes and disabled vehicles on I-95 after the parade ended. Backups occurred on that highway and on I-676 leaving the city. Westbound traffic on I-76 was heavy from the city all the way to King of Prussia as of 4:55 p.m.
From South Jersey, the Ben Franklin Bridge was operating normally, according to the DRPA.
The city is cleaning up along the parade route, so some roads may remain closed.
SEPTA
Subways: The Cecil B. Moore stop on the Broad Street Line was back open for travelers in both directions as of 5 p.m. The 13th Street stop, which was closest to the parade route, was especially packed in late afternoon, and riders were directed to other stops.
A mix of local and express trains are running on the Broad Street Line. (Broad Street and Market Frankford Lines are free today.) The two subway lines were busy but running steadily, according to riders. Trains were intermittently bypassing some stations during the afternoon to move people more quickly away from the busiest stops.
"We're doing that type of thing as needed at some Center City stations as we go through this, so riders might see a train bypass their station occasionally," SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said.
Upper Darby police asked riders coming to the 69th Street Transportation Center to be picked up a few blocks away from the station there, as car traffic was backing up on the roads.
Trolleys: Some trolleys were delayed due to manpower shortages. By 5 p.m. the Route 10 trolley was experiencing delays due to overcrowding.
Regional Rail: By 5:30 p.m., lines at some of the Regional Rail lines were beginning to thin. At Jefferson Station there were no waits for the Norristown, Fox Chase, and Lansdale/Doylestown lines, and waits were short for the Warminster Line.
SEPTA's general manager Jeff Knueppel predicted most of the lines will have dissipated by 6:30 p.m. SEPTA will stop all train service at 9:30 p.m.
The biggest trouble that arose Thursday was a medical emergency on a train on the Warminster Line that delayed other vehicles on that route by an hour and a half, as well as causing delays on the Doylestown Line, he said.
Some riders also were confused about where to catch their train home; they were asked to go back to the station where they arrived.
SEPTA estimates that 65,000 to 70,000 people used the Regional Rail Thursday morning.
PATCO
PATCO will resume normal service at 7 p.m.
UBER
Rides on Uber in Center City were more than three times more expensive than usual due to surge pricing. A ride out of Center City cost about 3.5 times as much as it typically would.
BRIDGES
Traffic on the Ben Franklin Bridge was running smoothly, once people got out of the city street jam. There was a backup of pedestrians, though, on the New Jersey side of the bridge. Just before 5 p.m., that backup was well onto the span of the bridge.