Pope's visit to Philadelphia and Amtrak's 30th Street Station

[Cho Cho Charlie]

2. Whether or not you think it's "disrespectful" is beside the point. It's simply inaccurate. I'm not a current resident of Philadelphia, but I have lived at no less than four different locations in Philly over the years. Of those four, only one of those would be directly affected by the street closures [and I didn't own a car while I lived there anyhow.] Of the jobs I worked while in Philly, NONE of them would have been affected by the mass transit changes...largely because I worked M-F but also because most of the transit routes I used will still be operating. Yes, that's simply my personal experience. And yes, I have no physical impairments that make it difficult to walk a few extra blocks. But the bellyache about the "whole city" being shut down marginalizes the hundreds of thousands of people whose neighborhoods are outside the core.

While you might strictly be a M-F worker, its being pretty myopic to assume that every single job in Philly is M-F too, especially those who jobs will have the addition load of supporting all those attending the sensationalized event (hotels, restaurants, etc). And to assume that all private and public transit routes will still be running just-like-normal, is simply being in denial.

And all this because one single man likes to bath himself in the limelight of public attention. Ah, vanity run amok.

 

[RPC]

"And all this because one single man likes to bath himself in the limelight of public attention." Odd that he can go just about anywhere else in the world without all this security brouhaha.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I don't think this Pope would want all this hoopla/security either. It's OUR people who are going overboard.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Yep, TSA is probably even trying to get in on the"action!"

 

[PRR 60]

"And all this because one single man likes to bath himself in the limelight of public attention." Odd that he can go just about anywhere else in the world without all this security brouhaha.

The Pope's visit to Philadelphia was declared a "National Special Security Event (NSSE)" by the Department of Homeland Security. This is a legal designation that puts the US Secret Service in charge of all security arrangements. Now in charge, the USSS does not answer to the Mayor, the Philly Police, to PennDOT, SEPTA, or anyone other than the Secretary of Homeland Security and the President. They pretty much do what they want, and we now have what we have. They are charged with keeping the Pope safe, and what better way than to discourage as many people as possible from attending. From the standpoint of the Secret Service, if no one attended, that would be the ideal security situation.

The city and tourism people are really concerned about how this event is unfolding. It is next weekend (9/26 & 27). Amtrak has lots of seats available. American Airlines (US Airways), the primary PHL carrier, says they have not seen any significant increase in bookings to PHL and have not upgauged or added flights. Hotels, even in center city, have lots of unbooked rooms and have lowered prices. SEPTA had 350,000 one-day rail passes for sale, and they have sold about 150,000 so far. They went from holding a web lottery to handle the expected huge, well over 350,000 demand, to begging people to buy them at staffed stations. The inner zone, where the emphasis was on how tight security would be to enter, has been renamed the "Francis Festival Area" to make it seem, well, "festive."

Eleven days from now it will all be over except for emptying the port-a-potty's and clearing the trash. I can't wait.

 

[fairviewroad]

While you might strictly be a M-F worker, its being pretty myopic to assume that every single job in Philly is M-F too, especially those who jobs will have the addition load of supporting all those attending the sensationalized event (hotels, restaurants, etc). And to assume that all private and public transit routes will still be running just-like-normal, is simply being in denial.

And all this because one single man likes to bath himself in the limelight of public attention. Ah, vanity run amok.

You are putting words in my mouth. I never once "assumed" that "every single job in Philly is M-F" nor did I "assume" that "public transit routes will still be running just-like normal." [And by the way, the shift for one of my M-F jobs was 4:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m., so I know a thing or two about taking transit during off-peak hours in Philly...a Green Line trolley connecting to Orange Line Nite Owl bus service got me to work each morning.]

I mentioned M-F in the context of others stating that the "entire city will be shut down for four days" which is simply incorrect. People who work M-F will see little to no changes in their routines. This accounts for the vast majority of SEPTA Regional Rail commuters.

And you probably missed my post where I linked to the SEPTA website that outlines transit changes during the papal weekend visit. In no way am I "assuming" or am in "denial" about transit. I am getting the info straight from the horse's mouth. The fact is that Blue/Orange Line trains will still be operating into Center City, albeit with limited stops. For those who need to get into Center City from outlying neighborhoods over the weekend, transit is still a viable option. Yes, some people will have to walk further to the nearest operating station. As I stated before, it's clear that simply coming into Center City for a non-pope related leisure trip is probably not a good idea. I don't count myself among those who classify that as "horrifying."

 

[Acela150]

"And all this because one single man likes to bath himself in the limelight of public attention." Odd that he can go just about anywhere else in the world without all this security brouhaha.

The basic reason is simple... They don't want the pope "knocked off" on U.S. soil..

 

[neroden]

Shutting down 90% of the stations on both Regional Rail *and* the subway-elevated lines *and* the trolley lines amounts to shutting down the public transportation system. You may have been lucky enough to live next to one of the stations which isn't closing, but for people who live near the stations which are closing, the massive closures make the system pretty much unusable over the weekend.

It's not a sane public transportation plan. I've seen public transportation plans for huge events, and this is simply not how you do it. Sometimes you close some of the center city stations, but you *never* close *any* of the suburban stations; you're trying to distribute traffic amongst them.

The Thursday, Friday, and Monday alterations look like typical event-schedule changes and probably won't wreck things too much. The Saturday and Sunday changes are designed to shut the city down. I know there are places where seasonal agricultural workers will typically hike to work long distances, but urban workers are less accustomed to this...

Seems like the Secret Service is going to achieve its goal: low attendance.

Shutting down freight rail service for the weekend isn't good either, though it depends on how far the freight exclusion extends. If the freight yards in Frankford and in Delaware are operating, and the bypass routes around Philadelphia are operating, it's probably not too bad; if the freight exclusion zone is larger than that, it would cause a problem

 

[Chucktin]

Departed Philly thru 30th St Station this morning. No more than what I would call the usual amount of confusion. Traffic control going up all over near the outdoor venues though.

 

[Thirdrail7]

1
Seems like the Secret Service is going to achieve its goal: low attendance.

I think Neroden may actually be on to something. I think all of this hoopla is having an impact and causing people to stay away. Unless something dramatic occurs, I seriously doubt you'll see the extra NJT runs to PHL this weekend.

 

[Acela150]

Some people are starting to wonder (And I'm one of them) if this is being blown out of proportion. Septa still has tickets available for the trains. Hotel rooms are available by the thousands right now. It's looking like a major failure in the works. We shall see soon.

 

[Chaz]

"Papal Jam," Andrew Marantz sits in on New Jersey Transit's apocalyptic preparation for Pope Francis' visit.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/21/papal-jam (Sept 21 issue)

"Skip the idiotic first sentence, and this is a perfectly Talk of the Town way to cover the papal visit. The protagonist is dee-lightful. Marantz underlays his laughter at (not with) his subjects with the nagging sensation that they may not be overpreparing at all."

[via the email briefing us which articles in The New Yorker to reaad, skim or skip: ]

http://tinyletter.com/NYerMinute

 

[peconicstation]

Some people are starting to wonder (And I'm one of them) if this is being blown out of proportion. Septa still has tickets available for the trains. Hotel rooms are available by the thousands right now. It's looking like a major failure in the works. We shall see soon.

While some of us has stated how this event has shades of the July 4, 1976 debacle written all over it, there is a huge difference between then and now, and that being the surge in Center City's population. This surge has allowed Philly to reverse a 40 plus year population decline, yet most of these new residents do not work in Center City (which is still loosing jobs), they commute to other areas of Philly, and the 'burbs. All of these folks, plus all the people who work in service jobs will see their lives disrupted all week, and that is beyond wrong.

As for Amtrak hopefully the corrider can run at some level of normalcy, someone travelling to Boston should not wind up held hostage because of the Pope

Ken .

 

[Eric S]

This surge has allowed Philly to reverse a 40 plus year population decline, yet most of these new residents do not work in Center City (which is still loosing jobs), they commute to other areas of Philly, and the 'burbs. All of these folks, plus all the people who work in service jobs will see their lives disrupted all week, and that is beyond wrong.

Is Center City actually losing jobs? Or just gaining new residents far more than it's gaining jobs?

 

[Chucktin]

Arrived 30th St from Harrisburg @ 09:35. Somewhat congested but no more than I'd expect for a large event. No Goose stepping ***** obvious. Still glad we are only here to change trains and be on our way.

 

[haolerider]

After all the jabbering about the Pope's visit, I would expect to hear exactly what happened and what did not happen! Any factual reports?

 

[Rob Creighton]

So how did it play out?

 

[CHamilton]

Big transit crowds - but far below predictions

 

[jis]

I am still wondering why Philadelphia became such a giant CF while New York and Washington stayed pretty much on even keel even though the Pope visited multiple places/gatherings in each including a Madison Square Garden event and a 9/11 Memorial event and a UN General Assembly event in New York.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

I don't know what "CF" means here (I did look it up, but there are about 30 meanings for this acronym), but I get the general idea, so here are my two theories (both completely unsubstantiated, but I think logical, guesses):

The noncynical theory: The secret service thought that, although Philly has hosted large events, it doesn't have the steady stream of political figures and events that the other two cities have, so might need more help with security measures.

The cynical theory (and my favorite): The secret service wanted a city to bully and show off its power and thought that Philly would put up less resistance than DC or New York.

 

[jis]

Fortunately I don't think the sense in which CF is used here is listed too often as a standard use. It is used as a short form of "cluster f**k", often also referred to as "Charlie Foxtrot".

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

You're right--that one wasn't one of the definitions listed!

 

[MikefromCrete]

One of the factors is that SEPTA and PATCO wildly overestimated the number of persons who would use their services. The draconian measures of drastically limiting the number of stations and advance presale of tickets served to cut down the number of "casual" visitors, those who might attend out of curiosity, rather than actually wanting to see the pope and attend the activities. On another website, it was stated that SEPTA serves about 175,000 riders on its weekday rush hour regional trains, and since SEPTA train service employees had to have one day off over the weekend to meet federal time of service rules, SEPTA could only handle about 87,000 riders on regional rail trains. Since the actual numbers seem to be in the 55-60,000 range, then there was plenty of cushion. I imagine the estimate of 1 million persons attending Sunday's mass was also wildly overestimated.

 

[Bob Dylan]

MRD: CF is an old military term, that in polite society would be "Cluster Flub", as situation all messed up beyond repair! ( also see "Snafu" and "Fubar"))

And I like your theory, all people that are in paramilitary outfits like to throw their weight around.

As for Philly, guess its not what it used to be back when it was the Capitol of the US, and our Founding Fathers basically created our Country in that fair city!

 

[RPC]

Report from the trenches: my family attended the Papal Mass on Sunday. We got to the designated remote parking area around 09:30, only to be waved off and told to go to the regular parking lot. Ten minutes after we parked we were on a train rolling toward Jefferson station. The station itself was chock-full of friendly SEPTA personnel. Of course we had to hike around downtown to reach the northwest entrance to the site, but it was kind of a "holiday" experience, what with the major streets being closed to vehicular traffic. The security checkpoint could best be described as "airport lite" - walk-through metal detectors (keep your shoes on) and package inspection, but no package X-rays. Security during the event was unmistakable: Ospreys and helicopters overhead, armed personnel stationed on top of nearby buildings, lots of police and Secret Service and soldiers driving about on motorcycles and horses and golf carts. That said, my chief complaint was the dust kicked up after a million people had worn the grass off the ground! The trip back was similarly smooth: the hike around town, getting into the three-block long cattle chute and walking all the way to the top of the stairs to the train (i.e. no line!). After a few hundred people had accumulated (maybe fifteen minutes), SEPTA rolled in a train and sent us home. We got back in our car about 20:00 (8PM).

My evaluation: SEPTA ended up grossly overestimating the load they were going to carry, but that made for a pretty pleasant experience in the event. Now, they chose my regular stop as the designated station for my line, so your mileage may have varied!