As a current resident of the great city of Philadelphia, I wanted to do my small part to help attendees of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. As such, I will be writing a series of guide diaries to provide key information to anyone traveling to Philadelphia for the convention — delegates, staff, engaged citizens, and all others!
The City of Philadelphia, via their tourism outlet VisitPhilly.com, has produced their own website with plenty of detail, but it’s pretty cumbersome. As such, I will focus on several key topics throughout this mini-series and also provide a 7-year Philly resident’s perspective (that may be missing from the tourism branding).
I hope that our longer term Philly residents will provide additional insight, and I will update each diary with extra information gathered from the comments.
Travel & Public Transit:
Traveling to Philadelphia
By air: — Philadelphia International Airport (IATA code: PHL) is our major airport. PHL is located ~8 miles southwest of Center City. Attendees can travel to Center City by regional rail Airport Line or taxi. Special Note — there was a planned strike for PHL workers, but it’s been called off for now. But be alert in case it is suddenly called back on.
For Airport Line, follow airport signs to SEPTA Airport Line.
Trains run every 30 minutes into Center City and stop at all terminals. Depending on where your housing accommodations are, your destination will be 30th Street Station, Suburban Station (16th & Market), or Jefferson Station (11th & Market). The train also goes to Temple University, if you are staying near campus. Tickets cost $8 and fares can be paid on the train (cash only).
Also indicated is the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is the location for many day events.
For taxi, follow airport signs for taxi pickup. Flat rate to Center City is $28.50, $1 surcharge for each additional passenger. UberX and Lyft are now able to pick up at the airport as well — you will have to notify driver where you are located when using these services, since there is no line like for taxis.
By Amtrak:
Amtrak rail stops at 30th Street Station — this will be your arrival destination. Once arrived, you can travel to your housing accommodations via taxi/Uber/Lyft, subway, bus, or walking. More information to come below. It’s pretty simple and has low potential for traveler mistakes, hence the small paragraph.
By Regional Rail:
Local attendees can travel to Philadelphia via regional rail. Trains that service the Philly metro area are run by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). Trains operate on a fairly regular schedule, but be aware that service has been disrupted due to discovery of structurally deficient rail cars earlier this month. About 30% of SEPTA rail fleet are out of service, causing significant schedule changes and delays.
Please check contingency regional rail schedules at this link and plan accordingly based on your departure location (see map below). As a quick aside, major applause to SEPTA for doing the right thing and ensuring passenger safely. This is a major disruption and kudos to engineers and managers who valued passenger safety over the appearance of “nothing to see here” with the major event DNC coming to town.
Fares are dependent on zone. Tickets can be purchased at select stations or on train (cash only, $1 surcharge).
Passengers traveling from NJ/NYC can also use regional rail for traveling to Philadelphia. NJ/NYC passengers should travel to Trenton via the Northeast Corridor Line on NJ Transit, then transfer to the SEPTA Trenton line cross-platform. Separate fares are needed, but if you purchase from NJ Transit ticket machine, you can select Philadelphia 30th Street Station as your destination and you will receive two tickets — one for NJ Transit and one for SEPTA. Note that there is a $5 surcharge for tickets purchased on train for NJ Transit, so purchase beforehand.
There are some other “travel hacker” methods of traveling from NJ/NYC to Philadelphia (like Trenton River Line, transfer to PATCO), but if you know them already you won’t need this guide!
By bus:
Travelers can use Megabus, Bolt Bus, or Greyhound to arrive in Philadelphia. The Greyhound terminal is at Filbert and 11th Sts., about 1 block away from the Philadelphia Convention Center. Megabus and Bolt Bus pickup and drop off passengers street side across from 30th Street Station on the small outlet of JFK Blvd.
By car:
Admittedly, this is the method I am least familiar with, since I don’t have a car. Extra information kindly appreciated from comments. Keep in mind that there will be many road closures and detours, so I highly recommend taking some form of public transit to get into Philly, even for locals.
There are several routes into Philadelphia via New Jersey — the Ben Franklin Bridge (I-676, enters Philly by Vine St.) and Walt Whitman Bridge (I-76, enters Philly down south near the sports complex). There is also the Betsy Ross Bridge, which enters Pennsylvania near Bridesburg, and connects to PA I-95. Be aware of bridge tolls.
From the northwest in Pennsylvania, travelers can use I-76. Southwest, travelers can use PA I-95 driving past PHL. From the west, travelers can use PA State 3 and travel along Market Street from Upper Darby and Millbourne.
Parking is tough, like in any city. Lots associated with hotels are most expensive, but also lower frequency of problems that sometimes appear with other private lots.
Traveling within Philadelphia
You made it! Now, how do you get around in the city? Luckily, Philadelphia has extensive public transit options. They are more rugged and show more wear than other cities in the northeast, but overall it’s pretty efficient.
For transit within Philly (subway, trolley, bus), each ride uses one token. Yes, we still use tokens… But our SEPTA Key RFID system will be up and running soon (hopefully...). Cash fare is $2.25, or a single token is $1.80, and can be purchased in packs of 2, 5, or 10 from major subway stops.
A Weekly TransPass could be a good option for many attendees. It costs $24, is valid for subway, trolleys, and buses, runs for 7 days starting Monday 12:01am, and is super convenient — just swipe and go. Unless you use public transit ~13 times it won’t equal cost of tokens, but getting/using tokens can be annoying. Plus, it gives you the freedom to explore the city if you have time.
Subway/Trolleys:
Philadelphia has two main subway lines — the Market-Frankford Line (MFL, or “The El”) which runs east-west from 69th to 2nd Streets and then takes a turn northeast, and the Broad Street Line (BSL), which runs north-south (see the above SEPTA map). Many of you will likely take the BSL to the Wells Fargo Arena for nightly convention events; the southern-most stop (AT&T Station) is the sports complex station, just a quick ~5 minute walk to the Wells Fargo Arena.
Trolleys run east-west in two locations — West/Southwest Philly (and into Center City) and Girard Ave. You likely won’t use trolleys unless you take some time to explore the city or are participating in local events, like voting registration or PA State Reps. events.
Buses:
SEPTA operates an extensive bus system for Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs. There are way too many routes to list, but here are some ones you may find useful.
Routes 21 and 42 travel east-west throughout Center City on Walnut and Chestnut Sts. Within Center City, you can also use Routes 9 and 12. Route 4 is the main route up and down Broad St.
There are A LOT of bus detours planned for the DNC, so your best bet is to avoid them for travel to/from Wells Fargo Arena (BSL subway far quicker), and only use for select Center City travel east/west.
Walking/Biking:
Philadelphia is fairly condensed, particularly in Center City. Your best bet might just be walking, depending on your location and intended destination, especially when at the Philadelphia Convention Center for day events.
If you want to explore a bit, you can use our new Indego bike share service! It costs $4 for 30 minutes of riding. A map of stations is below:
I’m super excited to be living in the host city for the 2016 Democratic National Convention! For those of you traveling for DNC duties, I hope this first guide was informative for you. Please share to whomever you think would benefit from this information.
I plan on writing additional guides later today — next up is one about quick and fun activities/spots to check out, should you have some available time. Look for that later tonight.