NBC10’s Monique Braxton has details on what we can expect.
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Transportation officials warned Thursday that more than one third of the 2 million people going to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families on the weekend of September 26-27 are expected to travel through New Jersey.
For those who plan not on seeing the pope, but will go about their ordinary activities, officials cautioned against unnecessary driving and noted closures on two main arteries connecting South Jersey to Philadelphia: the Admiral Wilson Boulevard (Route 30) and I-676, both of which end at the Ben Franklin Bridge, which will be closed.
People should be prepared to walk least five miles or more and that includes the 135 foot climb across the Ben Franklin bridge.
Many will be funneled through Camden, where buses will park.
These special tickets will go on sale beginning Saturday, August 15th at noon on NJTransit.com and ticket agents.
As many as 250,000 vehicles are expected to travel New Jersey for weekend events. River Line trains between Trenton and Camden will run every 15 minutes with limited stops; buses will be added to fill in gaps. But because parking will be limited in Camden, many travelers will face even longer walks.
The pope is also holding an invitation-only event at New York’s Madison Square Garden on September 25th that is expected to pose a much smaller challenge, though the United Nations General Assembly meets in New York that week and the New York Giants and New York Jets have games at MetLife Stadium in northern New Jersey on Thursday and Sunday.
There will be up to 1,875 available tickets for the River Line for each two-hour block of time between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. for a total of 7,500 tickets each day for Saturday and Sunday. “We want people to come and enjoy it, but be prepared”, Schwartz said. Those tickets will cost $30 round trip, and the AC line train will depart from Atlantic City hourly, starting 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The River Line, NJ Transit buses, and hundreds of charter buses will carry tens of thousands to Camden, said Capt. Handy, where they will then need to walk across the bridge. Variable message signs will be set up to provide real time traffic information and the 511nj.org traffic website will have a special section with papal visit information.
Atlantic City LineSpecial tickets will be needed to travel on the Atlantic City Line on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27 when the pope is in Philadelphia. Likewise, the Access Link paratransit service will also stop running to Philadelphia when the Ben Franklin Bridge closes.
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“Representatives from New Jersey’s four transportation agencies, along with our partners at the New Jersey State Police and local law enforcement, have been working together for months to put plans in place to accommodate the unprecedented amount of people that will be utilizing our transportation network”, said New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox.
