SEPTA may offer free bus route to 30th Street Station

The new University Circulator would loop between campus and the train station every 20 minutes. Starting next fall, University students may have a free ride to 30th Street Station at almost any hour of the day or night. If preliminary plans go through, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, in conjunction with Penn and several other University City institutions, will set up the University Circulator, a specially designed system of at least four buses which would loop between campus and the train station every 20 minutes. The system, likely to be free for Penn students who show their PennCard, would probably run from 6:30 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, while weekend hours might vary, officials said. Currently, Penn students have several ways to get from campus to the station at 30th and Market streets, the departure point for many Amtrak and SEPTA trains: Take the Penn Shuttle Service vans at no charge between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m.; pay $1.15 or $1.60 to take the bus, subway or trolley; or hop in a taxi cab for about $5. But the University Circular will probably be free for Drexel and Penn students, according to Penn Manager of Transportation Services Ron Ward. Ward stressed, however, that plans for the system are in very preliminary stages. Others would pay a "nominal fee, which would probably be less than the standard SEPTA fare," Ward said. Currently, SEPTA tokens cost $1.15 each, while the walk-on fare is $1.60. The next step is for SEPTA and the area institutions to formulate an official plan and come up with funding. The Circulator will likely materialize by next September, officials said. SEPTA is set to receive a grant from the federal government in July, and some of that money will be put toward the University Circulator system, Ward said. But more money is needed, and the rest will likely come from the respective institutions involved with the project. Officials said they did not know how much it would cost to operate the new buses. In addition to Penn and SEPTA, the plan may also involve Drexel University, the University City District, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Veterans' Affairs Hospital and the University City Science Center. The route is likely to begin at 30th Street Station and head west to 40th Street, then proceed east on Spruce Street to the area around HUP at 34th and Spruce streets and finally head back to the train station. According to Kimscott Heinle, general manager of business development at SEPTA, the project has been in the works before but was scrapped due to a lack of funding. "There wasn't enough money to implement the project, so it sort of went on hiatus," Heinle said. "If we look at the need that's there, then perhaps there would be a way to work with the institutions and fund the project in some way that makes sense to everyone." Heinle said SEPTA is assessing all the involved parties "to see exactly what people need in terms of transportation." SEPTA officials want to conduct a survey to see if students would use the new buses. If SEPTA officials wants to construct bus stops for the new system, the city may also have to get involved with the project. But Heinle said "80 or 90 percent" of the Circulator stops coincide with other SEPTA route stops, where bus stops are already in place. Penn also offers the PennBus, which loops around designated campus stops from 4:50 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., the Campus Loop and the Penn Shuttle Service, which brings students directly to their residences or other designated stops.

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