SEPTA meets Penn students' transport needs around town

Compiled by DP staff Mass transit in Philadelphia is operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA has a guaranteed funding base, which means riders can travel on either the buses or the subway-surface rails for a fare of $1.60. SEPTA employees are not permitted to make change, so exact change is required to use the system. Penn's campus is also served by several bus routes to Center City, South Street, Chinatown and other locations throughout the city. Buses are accessible at virtually every corner along the route. The No. 40 bus runs through campus down Spruce Street, which becomes South Street near Franklin Field and the University Museum. It continues down South Street until 2nd Street, stopping in front of New Market in Society Hill. The No. 21 bus runs along Chestnut Street through campus and continues downtown into the historic district. The route returns to West Philadelphia via Walnut Street. In addition to serving the historic district, it also takes its riders to Liberty Place, several shops along Chestnut Street and the Ritz movie theaters. The No. 42 bus runs along Spruce Street west of 38th Street and then runs south for a few blocks before returning to campus along 33rd Street near the Penn Tower Hotel. The route then continues along Chestnut Street into Center City. While buses can be accessed easily, they are often crowded and generally slow, since they stop at almost every block. The underground subway and subway-surface rail lines also offer an equally inexpensive, but much quicker way to get around the city. The Market-Frankford El (the blue line) is the fastest route to Center City, and with new train cars out this week, travel should be more convenient than in the past. Students can pick up the line on Market Street at either 34th or 40th streets. It stops at 30th Street Station, City Hall, Reading Terminal Market, The Gallery, Independence Mall and Penn's Landing. Heading west, the line stops every few blocks until 69th Street and is an easy, though somewhat unsafe, to get the Tower Theater, 69th Street movie theater and surrounding shops in Upper Darby. The subway-surface rails (or green line) stop at several locations on and around campus. Stops include the corner of 37th and Spruce streets, in front of the Quadrangle, the corner of 36th and Sansom streets near Kings Court/English House and the corner of 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue. The subway-surface rails wind around most of Philadelphia, including Center City. The Broad Street line (or orange line) runs north-south along Broad Street. The line can be boarded with a free interchange from the green or blue lines at the City Hall station. Heading south, riders can reach the Philadelphia sports complex of Veterans Stadium, the CoreStates Spectrum and Spectrum 11. Temple University can be reached by taking the orange line north to the Columbia stop. SEPTA also offers commuter rail lines which leave the 30th Street Station, Market East and Penn Center stations and head into the Philadelphia suburbs, including Haverford and Bryn Mawr colleges. Also, the University City Rail Station, located next to Franklin Field at South Street and Convention Venue, opened last year and serves the airport, among other places. Students can reach Atlantic City by taking SEPTA into New Jersey and transferring to New Jersey Transit. Finally, SEPTA can be taken to Trenton, N.J., where New Jersey Transit trains travel to New York City's Penn Station. A New Jersey Transit bus to Manhattan also leaves from the Greyhound bus terminal at 10th and Filbert streets, behind The Gallery mall. Last year, SEPTA initiated a new program for Philadelphia-area college students. With the free College Weekend Pass (available at CUPID and Houston Hall, and also from SEPTA), students can travel for a mere $1.00 on the city's trains and buses on weekends, while transportation on the Regional Rail Lines costs $2.00. However, the pass is not valid on travel to Trenton.