Students who wish to stay in Philadelphia after graduation may now have an easier time commuting to jobs in the suburbs.
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) has announced that a federal grant of almost $1.5 million will go to the Philadelphia Unemployment Project for a new van-pool program to connect city residents to suburban jobs.
The program, announced March 7, is intended to make vans available to those whose commute to the suburbs takes an unusually long time using SEPTA. Planners say the buses will not travel along main SEPTA routes.
SEPTA officials were not available for comment.
"We want the longest commute to be under an hour," PUP representative Will Maus said.
The service will be available to those travelling within 60 miles of Center City, excluding New York, Washington and Baltimore.
It is aimed at allowing inner-city workers opportunities at higher-paying suburban jobs, and Maus said that Penn students deciding to stay in the area could use the vans.
"We're aiming not at specific types of people, but at geographic areas," he said. "We're not going to deny anybody a ride."
Victoria Lilga, who received a graduate degree in nursing from Penn in 2004, said that the program, called Commuter Options, could be useful to nursing students completing requirements at area hospitals or working after graduation.
"There were students who lived in Manayunk and carpooled to [hospitals] when I was in school," she said.
Lilga works in Sellersville, Pa., and until recently commuted from Philadelphia.
Patricia Rose, director of Penn's Career Services, said that the University gets many recruiters from suburban Philadelphia. She added that job accessibility is an important factor in choosing among different job offers.
"The easier it is to get to the job, the better it is for our students who want to stay in Philadelphia," she said.
But whether or not students decide to use the service, Maus said he believes that the campus will benefit from the program.
"It is going to relieve economic pressure on neighborhoods where everyone lives together on the fringe of Penn's campus," Maus said.
He added that the program could even advance the connection between the two groups.
"The commuter program gives students and residents working in similar areas a system to come together," Maus said.
Get on the bus - A $1.5 million federal grant will support the new van service - Organizers say the program aims to keep all commutes to the suburbs under one hour - Penn officials say the service may make it easier for Penn graduates to live in the city and work outside of it
