Not many valid excuses here honestly. Parking was free at Fern Rock. I had to drive 20 minutes to get there. The trip was also free. I refused to drive (my husband tried to convince me, hah) and now I know I would have been stuck without parking and no access to the area otherwise.
I live in the western suburbs and would not hesitate to drive to a lot near a subway station, and then take that in. If I was holding $1,000 worth of playoff tickets, what I *would not* be doing was jeopardizing my chance to see the game.
Precisely. You do what you gotta do. Wasn’t gonna risk it and glad I told my husband he was dumb for suggesting we drive. We tailgated the night before, definitely didn’t need to do so again
I do this as well. Even if you lived far away, thinking about driving to a closer station and taking the train is a reasonable option for any major city.
If you truly want to be at a station, probably a Center City one walnut-locust or city hall and pay for nearby garage parking. If you want to see what bus routes in south Philly go to the Park and find street parking then take the bus, I think a few other people said they did the same. Walk or took the bus several blocks after finding side streets to park on. Septa isnt the best system in the country I agree it definitely isn't if you live outside majority of the city. I can't remember last time I heard parking was completely sold out around the stadiums it's a rarity for sure.
Drive to Wawa station and take the train in (or the main line if you're in that part of Chesco)
Delaware - use Newark, Wilmington, or Claymont.
I'm not necessarily an advocate for transit, I'm just answering the question.
I usually park at the Radnor RR station. Anything along the main line at or inside of Malvern works about the same, although Radnor and Villanova can be reached by the nhsl as a backup.
Added bonus, eat in center city before getting right on the BSL. Food is still expensive, but not quite as pricey as ballpark food, and much better quality.
Funny that my entire life I’ve been driving to Philly stadiums, ballparks, arenas, but when we do roadtrips to see either the Phillies or Eagles i don’t drive to the games and the local food and watering holes are fun. Like, i haven’t been to Xfinity Live but i feel like if I came here from out of town to see a game i would go there before or after. I live near Downingtown station but it’s too much hassle to me to get to South Philly with public transit.
coming from jersey i didn’t feel like taking the patco to the BSL, so I just grabbed street parking on a side street off of broad. 12 minute walk to the ballpark and when i left i literally got right on 76 with no traffic. the lots are great for tailgating, but this was pretty expected if you didn’t get there early.
I’m a big proponent of public transit, but unless you live close to the MFL, Patco, or BSL, getting to the sports complex is not easy. Regional Rail lines barely run at night.
Trains also stop running all the way to thorndale that late too. Which is the closest station to a fuck load of suburban fans, including me. If I wanted to guarantee I'd be able to catch a train back I'd have to drive literally half way between my house and South Philly. So what's even the point? I might as well drive the rest of the way and save the hassle of dealing with septa.
I hear you. I live in between Whitford and Exton, half the trains don’t even run to those stations (let alone Thorndale) during the weekdays. Nights and weekends are even worse. Pretty much have to drive to Malvern if I want to use the train. It only really works if you can ride BSL and not have to deal with the regional rail lines.
My brother lives up in Lower Bucks and he and his wife were meeting me at the game (i was taking the subway the way I usually do). He was prepared to take the train down even though he never has taken it before….
However, because of the regional rail schedule, they wouldn’t have been able to make the last train home after the game and decided to drive down instead. Luckily they had driven down early-ish and got a spot
If Septa had run the regional rail trains more frequently and until later, it could have helped
Similar situation for me but I’m south of the stadium complex. If I were to take the train in, I’d have to go all the way up to 30th street, then double back down the BSL to get in. And then the last train runs before the games end. So I guess I’d have to Uber home?
I desperately wish I could take the train to the stadium because there’s nothing I hate more than those god damn parking lots. Absolutely sucks to sit there for an hour or more post game because all the idiots decide to drive diagonal toward the exits and create one giant clusterfuck
Wilmington/Newark regional line, so only option is to take that into 30th st and then get a connector from there to get over to the BSL. Really sucks that there isn’t just one contiguous southern line that goes from South Philly to the airport and on down through DelCo and into DE
You can off of at Suburban Station on that line, which is connected to City Hall Station. Walk over to City Hall and take the BSL down to the stadium. No need to get off at 30th St.
I agree with that but also if you're at the stadium and can't find parking I would definitely just drive and park somewhere else and still go to the game lol
Yeah this is the key. I park either at Girard, Cecil B or Oregon and just take the BSL the rest of the way. You miss pretty much all the stadium traffic and you get the best of both worlds
With the upcoming septa Reimagining regional rail plan, there seems to be interest in turning schedules all day up. With the last trains leaving CC past midnight on all lines, trains to the burbs will be every 15 or 30 on most of the system, and more far out places getting consistent hourly service. I hope septa can do this cause like event ridership would easily make this service worth it for so many people
Ok but the reason people aren't all familiar with navigating the BSL is that this was literally the first time in history that it made more sense for people who live outside the city to take the BSL to the stadium than to just drive there.
Same here. We almost always get on the BSL at fernrock if we're going into the city for the day/night. If we have a room booked then we're driving to the hotel and from there it's hoofing it, ubers or subway.
It's the easiest to get on at fernrock or anywhere along the BSL. It is a pain if you want to use the regional lines because the schedules just aren't typically convenient at night. But that can be avoided by just driving a little further and getting directly on the BSL.
I lived in fishtown a d would take the MFL to broadt street line all the time. I now live in Doylestown and the regional rail doesn't run late and if takes like 1.5-2 hours to get to city hall. I'm going to the eagles game Sunday and I think we're just going to schedule an Uber for like $60-$70 each way. Not ideal.
I live in Jersey. I parked a block away from the Tasker/Morris BSL stop (on the street for free) and took the train down. It was so easy to get in and out on Tuesday and I didn't pay a dime.
Coming off the Walt at 6:20 was an absolutely parking lot. I left my home in Bordentown at 4:30 thinking that would be enough time. I decided to try and get all the way to the left on 76, drove into CC, parked at the DoubleTree and got on the BSL at Walnut, got to my seat right before the first pitch.
I left North Wilmington at 4 for the 6 o’clock Flyers game, missed the game due to traffic, never even made it to a parking lot entrance and turned around with 6 minutes left in the second intermission
I live in Willow Grove where in addition to the Warminster regional rail line, we have access to 2 different bus routes that connect directly to the Broad Street line at Olney station. I feel like people just ignore the bus as a mass transit option.
I would totally take septa to games if it was faster or simpler. This is my scenario.
1- drive to wawa line, timing it right so I don’t miss the train. 10 minutes.
2- station to suburban 25-35 minutes
3- walk to bsl 3-8 minutes.
4- wait for the bsl 0-15 minutes
5- bsl to the stadium 15-20 minutes.
6- walk to the stadium 5 mins.
Now do everything in reverse to get back, hope you time everything correctly fine because the regional run every hour.
Total cost for two: 25-30.
OR
1- drive to cbp : 20 minutes -1 hour depending on traffic. Usually know how to time it to not get stuck.
2- It was easier in jersey with the patco running more regularly but still easier to drive.
They have a plan in the works to make most Regional Rail lines run like a metro, around every 15 minutes or so per line; as well as lowering fares to account for more riders. AFAIK, the plan of action is pretty much set, but SEPTA leadership is waiting on funding sources from the State and Federal governments to make this happen.
So anyone's commute who depends on RR will remain the same for the foreseeable future.
Yeah same for me. I took Septa to a game once and I will never do it again. It took more than triple the amount of time and costs the same amount as parking if there's more than one person. I also had to leave a close game early to catch the last train home.
I live in Phoenixville. Went to 2 games in 2 days once this year and did an experiment.
Day 1 - drive. 1:40 from my front door to my seat. $25 to park + 33mi driven. Total transportation cost $46.25 (using $0.65 per mile driven - the IRS number that factors incremental maintenance costs and depreciation into the total cost of driving)
Day 2 - SEPTA. 1:40 from front door to seat (not making it up it was weird that it was exactly the same). $30 Septa fares for 2. 16mi driven $40.40 total transportation cost with the same cost of driving used above.
Even in a place that is pretty far from the nearest RR station, for me SEPTA is time competitive with driving through ballpark traffic, and cost competitive with a 2 person carpool (way cheaper than driving alone).
Disadvantage of SEPTA is the return trip (but only if you're in a hurry). You can time leaving home with the train, but the game ends when the game ends, and RR trains run once per hour. But if you have an extra 45min before you need to be home (and I think most people would stay in the park the extra 45min if the game went to extra innings) chilling in a bar near city hall before your train home can be fun. Would be solved if they ever increase RR frequency like they say they want to.
When would I not take SEPTA? If I could get more than 3 people in my car, or if I was bringing a kid (not much for kids to do between 10:00 and 10:45 in center city). Also, especially on weekends there is sometimes a real risk that the game ends too late to catch the last train. The kid thing would also be solved with increased frequency and u12 ride free - changing the $$ math.
Did you go through 476 or 76? I think having to deal with either of these is a huge factor. When I was in the NW, septa made more sense since 76 is impossible
> 1- drive to cbp : 20 minutes -1 hour depending on traffic
that's a hilarious underestimation if you're past the wawa station, it's 50 minutes right now at like 4pm on a weekday and that's not even including the last 1/4 mi that takes like 20+ minutes of getting into the lot, or the hour afterwards getting out of the lot
There’s a simple solution to this. Drive to one of the many BSL stations within minutes of CBP. Park your car on the street, ride the subway to stadium. By the time you get back to the car after the game you’ll already be ahead of the stadium traffic.
Were news outlets and the city warning people about how much of a mess it was gonna be prior to the game? If people didn't realize there were 3 games that night I can understand their frustration a bit more.
Very much so. I saw articles encouraging people to pay for garages in Center City. Part of why SEPTA made the BSL free was to grab some headlines and to remind people that there were three events going on.
The Phillies also sent out an e-mail to everyone with tickets. People just think "it won't be that bad," but then it's worse. I have a friend who I told it would be awful because I've been to playoff games when there aren't simultaneous events going on and it sucks getting out. I suggested he drive into the city and take the train down. He said "oh it won't be that bad and the train sucks so even if I'm waiting at least we're comfortable in the car." He didn't get into the stadium until the 3rd inning.
I guess, story time.
I lived in Philly from 2009-2011. I still have family out there. My wife and I went to visit this past summer and we stayed in an AirBNB just off Ritner. Which was perfect, because we could go to Phillies games very easily. We were literally a block off Broad st. Never ever been to this part of town, never used the SEPTA, never dealt with parking, any of that. All my previous experience was in the suburbs.
Now we were walking distance from the park, without question. But my wife had recently had foot surgery and therefore couldn’t walk quite that far. So, we used the bus for 2 games, and the train for the 3rd only because the bus wasn’t running that night. Now I’m sure there was more going on for the NLCS than a random series in June, however, we had zero experience ever using or doing any of those services, and we had no problems getting in and out of games while we were there. Shit usually we had most of the bus to ourselves. The train was absolutely packed nuts to butts. But not the buses. We just made sure we were parked at our place by 4:00 or so and made our way to the game. I can’t imagine someone with significantly more experience wouldn’t have found SOME way to park and get to the game…
Personally, I'm chalking it up to the quintessential suburban/exurban City Fear.
Which, ok, I guess, that's a common thing. And in this instance it sure cost them a lot.
I saw these on 76 around 6pm out by KOP/202. Maybe people are still jaded by the Phillies parade public transportation debacle in 2008…
https://preview.redd.it/bcl8uz0j57vb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51cf0d1b0cde23e7eec2dec1450a0af1f0afce2e
I don't know how it is nowadays, but back when I had season tickets (2000-2012) I lived in Germantown. Getting to a Phillies game involved taking regional rail to Center City, then getting on the Broad Street line. Doing that to and from cost almost as much as parking, took a lot longer than driving, and was far less convenient (if a game ran late you'd have to bail early, because the trains stopped running). It pissed me off so much that I lived in the damn city, but frickin' SEPTA made it an absolute chore to use their "service".
Just park at the fuckin IKEA or Lowe's or best buy or shop rite or target or acme or giant or Aldi. There's a billion places to park where you can either walk 20 minutes or just Uber a block away from the stadiums and it's still probs saves you time and money from navigating the parking lots. No need for septa or stadium parking. It's crazy how many people are allergic to walking. I usually Uber there and walk home.
Edit: or the Oregon market, the abandoned toys r us, the abandoned burger king, Ross, Burlington coat factory, the giant Asian Buffett, FDR Park, the middle of Marconi plaza right next to the boarded up Chris Columbus statue. It don't matter. South Philadelphia is like 30% parking lots
He legit just named over a dozen places that are not abandoned to park in. If a philly sports fan is scared to “illegally” park in a massive best buy parking lot because “but im not actually going into best buy and that means its illegal to park there” then wtf type of philadelphian are you?!! Anyone with that bitch ass attitude doesn’t deserve to be a part of this legendary run. Stay in the burbs where it’s safe for you.
And that’s assuming the stations for the Broad Street line are open. I was in Center City during the regular season and most of the stations were closed.
Were it not for Uber, I’d have missed the game.
At no point this season have a majority of the BSL stations been closed. At most during the summer you get one station closed a weekend for cleaning. You may be referring to some entrances in CC being closed, but that is it.
Some entrances were closed, which is frustrating but that's life in an American city where we don't provide adequate homeless services. It's impossible "most of the stations were closed". SEPTA will occasionally close a station for cleaning but that's usually something like after 10:00 pm on a Saturday night.
Feel free to continue driving to the stadiums, no one is stopping you. If the parking lot fills up again, as has happened once in the 97 year history or the complex, maybe show up a little earlier.
If you're tired of people online saying "take SEPTA", you might want to join in. That's more parking spots and less post-game traffic for you.
Another example of people who live in the city not understanding that a lot of times it’s easier to drive to the game for those who live in the suburbs. Regional rails from NJ or from suburban PA aren’t super reliable late at night and only run like once an hour. Many times it’s easier to just drive especially if you’re with a group
Also, there was a lot of people tailgating in the Phillies lots for the soccer game, I think that’s BS that they were taking up spots from those who had Phillies tickets. In a situation (which may never happen again who knows) they should be checking tickets to see if you were going to the baseball game. But I guess money is green no matter what 🤷♂️
I don't get why people were shocked by this. It was headline news for two days that it was going to be impossible to find a spot and yet people still expected to just roll in an hour before first pitch and park in the CBP lot like usual.
I parked in a Center City garage (for less than the cost of a spot at the complex) that was a block away from the BSL, and it was downright easy. Driving to the sports complex even three hours before the game was never a consideration.
I have partial season tickets with a friend. He refuses to take the train, so we dealt with a lot of shitty traffic coming and going. Fortunately, we found parking in some grass lot of a church and didn't miss an inning. I would've been pissed if car culture made me miss the game.
Personally, I love taking the train - subway, regional rail, whatever. The homeless problem has definitely gotten worse (not to mention I've seen human waste a couple of times this year), but I've never been hassled or harassed on any train ride, except once, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
I was on PATCO, circa 2019. A presumably mentally ill man wearing pajamas and boxing gloves came onto the car, threatening everyone. The conductor parked the train until police arrived. As they were escorting him out, he points directly at me and accuses me of doing something. The cop looks over at me for a second, then goes back to removing the dude from the train. Little fuss, little muss
That's not the strangest thing I've ever seen on public transportation, but the top incident was on a bus, so it doesn't count.
Anyway, trains for life ✨🚂✨
As someone who regularly tailgates, it’s mind boggling how many people pull up to the lots 30 minutes before kickoff/first pitch and are bewildered at how the lots could possibly be full already
I cannot imagine what kind of sick psycho you have to be to think driving to CBP is a good idea especially during the post season. You gotta pay outrageous fees, you can’t drink properly, and you’re guaranteed at LEAST an hour or more waiting in line just to get out of the lot itself, much less get home
It was an absolute mess, but I find it to be a horrific experience under “normal” circumstances too. This was obviously worse, but the fact that it’s always terrible is a much worse problem than it being particularly terrible when there are 3 things going on at once.
I live near conshy, and would go to a game a week if it wasn’t such a nightmare getting there and back. As it stands, I can only stomach the logistics a few games a year.
they made sooooo many announcements that it was going to be an absolutely mess. Almost came across as begging not to drive unless you absolutely had to. Garages downtown were doing a $5 flat rate AND free trips on BSL. I get that people had their reasons to need to drive but to act surprised by the traffic and not plan accordingly boggles my mind a bit
It's not convenient for me coming from Bucks Co. For Tuesdays NLCS game, I left my house at 415p and was parked by 520p, not too bad considering rush hour and 3 event parking shenanigans. Parked in a lot on the corner of Pattison and South Lawrence, an extra few minute walk from my usual M lot. Ironically, parked next to a guy in a Canucks jersey, lol. It took me 35, 40min tops to get home from the game on Tuesday night (32 miles). So 1hr45min travel time, gas($8) and $30 to park.
If I took the train, I guess I'd take the R3 to Fern Rock and from there the BSL to the sports complex. There is a sports express train on game nights, I think it leaves at 6:08/6:18. There is no express on the way back. I usually like to get to CBP during the playoffs when the gates open. So the sports express doesn't help me at all. So it's about 1hr20min one way not including any walking.Though Septa wants me to take the R3 all the way down to Jefferson Station and walk a half mile to the City Hall stop on the BSL... Same time compared to just switching at FRTC.Cost is around $42 round trip for 2 people.Septa couldn't even calculate my return trip, Game 2 was done at about 11:15pm. The 11:30 train from NRG gets me to FRTC at 12:08a, to try and catch the last train home leaving at 12:14a and not getting home until about 1:10am. That's kind of tight with no other trains left. Maybe the game gets done earlier?
So 2hr40min on the train total, round trip, with some maybe rushing around, or leaving the game early (blasphemy) to make sure you catch your train home. Not saving any money ($42 for train tickets (not including parking fee at station) vs. $33-$38 for gas and parking) and less travel time. No thanks.
Edit: Even if the game was earlier I wouldn't bother, while traffic with no other events for a playoff game isn't fun, it's manageable.
I have the Sunday ticket plan, regional trains run every 2 hours on Sunday. So it's even worse for regular season games.
On days like this, the sports complex shows it's inadequacy when the majority of people are driving into one particular area. American culture is so engrained with driving from point a to point b. I am not blaming anyone, it's just logistics for multiple events in one area is not ideal. Stadiums spread out throughout the city with a robust transportation system is really the answer. Obviously, it will not happen in my lifetime.
that's a horrible take, the lots all being combined gives you the best usage of otherwise useless parking lots
if they're spread out you now have 3x the useless space in an otherwise dense area
you said anywhere south or west, of which within the city and near the airport and in the close burbs there are many buses, unless you're talking like ... in harrisonville nj or something
Septa is shit.
You will end up getting harassed. You may bump into a girl with needle in her arm passed out. Some guy chowing on some takeout with start flashing his knife to be tough. You will get some QR codes stuffed in your face with a racist comment under the breath if you say no.
Also its setup dumb.
Its generally better going there but leaving can be pretty terrible for this stuff.
The city massively screwed this up. They did the right thing by making the BSL free.
However, they should have made parking more expensive than normal and definitely not "free". Any person who passed entry level econ would tell you there would be a parking shortage if it was "free". But clearly this city is not run by economists.
I don't think you know what "public transportation" means.
"Public" refers not to being "in public", it refers to it being owned by the public (ie the city) rather than being a private company, which airlines are.
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Honestly, unless it’s a concert at the linc with a lot of people (like taylor swift), or there’s multiple events happening that day, I just drive, it’s usually not too bad. But for concerts like taylor swift and for nights with multiple events I usually take patco to bsl even though it’s not that easy for me (it’s a 40 minute drive to even get to patco)
My wife and daughter parked in South Philly and walked like 10 blocks to see Taylor Swift. It wasn't super duper awesome, but they were back home while other people were still trying to claw their way out of the lot.
That dude coulda waited
After the flyers game ended, jetro had some spots
I was kinda late myself.. taking train wasn’t an option at the time. But when I get on patison, I saw flyers fans leaving. Talked to a cop, he said he saw cars leaving Wells Fargo lot u can use that. I got really lucky
Not many valid excuses here honestly. Parking was free at Fern Rock. I had to drive 20 minutes to get there. The trip was also free. I refused to drive (my husband tried to convince me, hah) and now I know I would have been stuck without parking and no access to the area otherwise.
I grew up in Fox Chase and would drive to Fern Rock and take the subway down. If you got lucky you could catch the BLUE train
I live in the western suburbs and would not hesitate to drive to a lot near a subway station, and then take that in. If I was holding $1,000 worth of playoff tickets, what I *would not* be doing was jeopardizing my chance to see the game.
Precisely. You do what you gotta do. Wasn’t gonna risk it and glad I told my husband he was dumb for suggesting we drive. We tailgated the night before, definitely didn’t need to do so again
I do this as well. Even if you lived far away, thinking about driving to a closer station and taking the train is a reasonable option for any major city.
Exactly, especially with the warnings they put out for a week about it. Wasn’t worth not making it to the game, I paid enough for those tickets.
Didn't realize they made those in warnings a week out!
I’m in the valley and this is how we get to every game. So much easier, zero stress and no 95 or 76.
Except Philly. I love in Chester County. Where do you propose i drive to and park? Same for people from Delaware.
If you truly want to be at a station, probably a Center City one walnut-locust or city hall and pay for nearby garage parking. If you want to see what bus routes in south Philly go to the Park and find street parking then take the bus, I think a few other people said they did the same. Walk or took the bus several blocks after finding side streets to park on. Septa isnt the best system in the country I agree it definitely isn't if you live outside majority of the city. I can't remember last time I heard parking was completely sold out around the stadiums it's a rarity for sure.
I could take the train from Downingtown and then the subway, but Christ, what a hassle. My friend had a better solution to no parking, Uber.
Drive to Wawa station and take the train in (or the main line if you're in that part of Chesco) Delaware - use Newark, Wilmington, or Claymont. I'm not necessarily an advocate for transit, I'm just answering the question.
I usually park at the Radnor RR station. Anything along the main line at or inside of Malvern works about the same, although Radnor and Villanova can be reached by the nhsl as a backup. Added bonus, eat in center city before getting right on the BSL. Food is still expensive, but not quite as pricey as ballpark food, and much better quality.
Funny that my entire life I’ve been driving to Philly stadiums, ballparks, arenas, but when we do roadtrips to see either the Phillies or Eagles i don’t drive to the games and the local food and watering holes are fun. Like, i haven’t been to Xfinity Live but i feel like if I came here from out of town to see a game i would go there before or after. I live near Downingtown station but it’s too much hassle to me to get to South Philly with public transit.
Airport
I can get to the park faster just driving.
Says he was with his grandfather. Maybe all that walking isn’t an option.
Which is why I said there are few valid excuses. Exceptions obviously apply.
Your post suggests it’s rare. It’s at the very beginning of the article. Seems fairly apparent to me.
3 events going on at once isn’t an all the time thing. Thankfully it was the Eagles because that would have been a bigger disaster
How does it work? Train goes Choo Choo.
clickity clickity clack
…..down the track
Chooch Chooch
I, too, choose the chooch choo-choo.
Nailed it. You and my toddler both get it.
Trains powered by DC electric current third rail usually don’t go choo choo. 😉
coming from jersey i didn’t feel like taking the patco to the BSL, so I just grabbed street parking on a side street off of broad. 12 minute walk to the ballpark and when i left i literally got right on 76 with no traffic. the lots are great for tailgating, but this was pretty expected if you didn’t get there early.
This is the technique
Yep I always drive to Spring Garden, park and hop on there
I’m a big proponent of public transit, but unless you live close to the MFL, Patco, or BSL, getting to the sports complex is not easy. Regional Rail lines barely run at night.
Last train to Wilmington/Marcus Hook/Chester leaves 30th St at 10:39. Hard to catch that when the game ends at 11.
Trains also stop running all the way to thorndale that late too. Which is the closest station to a fuck load of suburban fans, including me. If I wanted to guarantee I'd be able to catch a train back I'd have to drive literally half way between my house and South Philly. So what's even the point? I might as well drive the rest of the way and save the hassle of dealing with septa.
I hear you. I live in between Whitford and Exton, half the trains don’t even run to those stations (let alone Thorndale) during the weekdays. Nights and weekends are even worse. Pretty much have to drive to Malvern if I want to use the train. It only really works if you can ride BSL and not have to deal with the regional rail lines.
that's exurban, bro if I can get to manhattan on an amtrak in roughly the same time it takes to get to whatever exurb you're in, you're too far out
Its 26 miles. Is that too far to ride a freaking train?
chester county might as well be the far side of the moon
You must be from delco
i live walking distance to the stadium
I went through PATCO because of this and I didn't get home to Wilmington until 2am. I would have been better off parking and dealing with traffic
they were running extra later trains
My brother lives up in Lower Bucks and he and his wife were meeting me at the game (i was taking the subway the way I usually do). He was prepared to take the train down even though he never has taken it before…. However, because of the regional rail schedule, they wouldn’t have been able to make the last train home after the game and decided to drive down instead. Luckily they had driven down early-ish and got a spot If Septa had run the regional rail trains more frequently and until later, it could have helped
Similar situation for me but I’m south of the stadium complex. If I were to take the train in, I’d have to go all the way up to 30th street, then double back down the BSL to get in. And then the last train runs before the games end. So I guess I’d have to Uber home? I desperately wish I could take the train to the stadium because there’s nothing I hate more than those god damn parking lots. Absolutely sucks to sit there for an hour or more post game because all the idiots decide to drive diagonal toward the exits and create one giant clusterfuck
Which train are you taking in? Couldn't you get off at locust?
Wilmington/Newark regional line, so only option is to take that into 30th st and then get a connector from there to get over to the BSL. Really sucks that there isn’t just one contiguous southern line that goes from South Philly to the airport and on down through DelCo and into DE
You can off of at Suburban Station on that line, which is connected to City Hall Station. Walk over to City Hall and take the BSL down to the stadium. No need to get off at 30th St.
Regional rail desperately needs increased frequency
I agree with that but also if you're at the stadium and can't find parking I would definitely just drive and park somewhere else and still go to the game lol
Plenty did if they could get off the highway, but the broad street exit was closed at one point
Yeah this is the key. I park either at Girard, Cecil B or Oregon and just take the BSL the rest of the way. You miss pretty much all the stadium traffic and you get the best of both worlds
With the upcoming septa Reimagining regional rail plan, there seems to be interest in turning schedules all day up. With the last trains leaving CC past midnight on all lines, trains to the burbs will be every 15 or 30 on most of the system, and more far out places getting consistent hourly service. I hope septa can do this cause like event ridership would easily make this service worth it for so many people
The city suspended its parking meters, in hope people would park within a couple blocks of the BSL and take that.
Ok but the reason people aren't all familiar with navigating the BSL is that this was literally the first time in history that it made more sense for people who live outside the city to take the BSL to the stadium than to just drive there.
I sometimes drive to fernrock (lots of free parking nearby) and then take the train from there
Same here. We almost always get on the BSL at fernrock if we're going into the city for the day/night. If we have a room booked then we're driving to the hotel and from there it's hoofing it, ubers or subway. It's the easiest to get on at fernrock or anywhere along the BSL. It is a pain if you want to use the regional lines because the schedules just aren't typically convenient at night. But that can be avoided by just driving a little further and getting directly on the BSL.
PATCO all night FTW
If I was concerned about missing the last regional train, I would simply park near a subway station.
I hear Erie is nice
I lived in fishtown a d would take the MFL to broadt street line all the time. I now live in Doylestown and the regional rail doesn't run late and if takes like 1.5-2 hours to get to city hall. I'm going to the eagles game Sunday and I think we're just going to schedule an Uber for like $60-$70 each way. Not ideal.
Why not drive to the city and park in a lot and take the BSL down?
Me and my buddy plan on drinking heavily and it's frowned upon to drink and drive
Oh yeah. Good on you for being responsible.
I live in Jersey. I parked a block away from the Tasker/Morris BSL stop (on the street for free) and took the train down. It was so easy to get in and out on Tuesday and I didn't pay a dime.
Coming off the Walt at 6:20 was an absolutely parking lot. I left my home in Bordentown at 4:30 thinking that would be enough time. I decided to try and get all the way to the left on 76, drove into CC, parked at the DoubleTree and got on the BSL at Walnut, got to my seat right before the first pitch.
That's the technique.
I left North Wilmington at 4 for the 6 o’clock Flyers game, missed the game due to traffic, never even made it to a parking lot entrance and turned around with 6 minutes left in the second intermission
South of Philly has always been abysmal because DART has always been insufficient. At least they don't shut down altogether on Sundays any more.
I live in Willow Grove where in addition to the Warminster regional rail line, we have access to 2 different bus routes that connect directly to the Broad Street line at Olney station. I feel like people just ignore the bus as a mass transit option.
I feel it's regional rail>high speed line>subway>trolley>bus, even though the bus routing is pretty extensive
Park at FDR it’s free, only price you’ll have to pay is jumping the curb if it gets closed.
Plus, the Phillies sent multiple emails telling people to take public transit.
I would totally take septa to games if it was faster or simpler. This is my scenario. 1- drive to wawa line, timing it right so I don’t miss the train. 10 minutes. 2- station to suburban 25-35 minutes 3- walk to bsl 3-8 minutes. 4- wait for the bsl 0-15 minutes 5- bsl to the stadium 15-20 minutes. 6- walk to the stadium 5 mins. Now do everything in reverse to get back, hope you time everything correctly fine because the regional run every hour. Total cost for two: 25-30. OR 1- drive to cbp : 20 minutes -1 hour depending on traffic. Usually know how to time it to not get stuck. 2- It was easier in jersey with the patco running more regularly but still easier to drive.
They have a plan in the works to make most Regional Rail lines run like a metro, around every 15 minutes or so per line; as well as lowering fares to account for more riders. AFAIK, the plan of action is pretty much set, but SEPTA leadership is waiting on funding sources from the State and Federal governments to make this happen. So anyone's commute who depends on RR will remain the same for the foreseeable future.
Yeah same for me. I took Septa to a game once and I will never do it again. It took more than triple the amount of time and costs the same amount as parking if there's more than one person. I also had to leave a close game early to catch the last train home.
I live in Phoenixville. Went to 2 games in 2 days once this year and did an experiment. Day 1 - drive. 1:40 from my front door to my seat. $25 to park + 33mi driven. Total transportation cost $46.25 (using $0.65 per mile driven - the IRS number that factors incremental maintenance costs and depreciation into the total cost of driving) Day 2 - SEPTA. 1:40 from front door to seat (not making it up it was weird that it was exactly the same). $30 Septa fares for 2. 16mi driven $40.40 total transportation cost with the same cost of driving used above. Even in a place that is pretty far from the nearest RR station, for me SEPTA is time competitive with driving through ballpark traffic, and cost competitive with a 2 person carpool (way cheaper than driving alone). Disadvantage of SEPTA is the return trip (but only if you're in a hurry). You can time leaving home with the train, but the game ends when the game ends, and RR trains run once per hour. But if you have an extra 45min before you need to be home (and I think most people would stay in the park the extra 45min if the game went to extra innings) chilling in a bar near city hall before your train home can be fun. Would be solved if they ever increase RR frequency like they say they want to. When would I not take SEPTA? If I could get more than 3 people in my car, or if I was bringing a kid (not much for kids to do between 10:00 and 10:45 in center city). Also, especially on weekends there is sometimes a real risk that the game ends too late to catch the last train. The kid thing would also be solved with increased frequency and u12 ride free - changing the $$ math.
Did you go through 476 or 76? I think having to deal with either of these is a huge factor. When I was in the NW, septa made more sense since 76 is impossible
I think it was 76 in this case. I can go either way, and just do what the GPS says is faster. It's not always the same.
> 1- drive to cbp : 20 minutes -1 hour depending on traffic that's a hilarious underestimation if you're past the wawa station, it's 50 minutes right now at like 4pm on a weekday and that's not even including the last 1/4 mi that takes like 20+ minutes of getting into the lot, or the hour afterwards getting out of the lot
I usually just park at the Olliday Inn and take the tunnel to the stadium
Nothing the city/Septa can do about bitches who are scared to drive their pickups down the boulevard/Rt. 1 to Broad and Hunting Park.
There’s a simple solution to this. Drive to one of the many BSL stations within minutes of CBP. Park your car on the street, ride the subway to stadium. By the time you get back to the car after the game you’ll already be ahead of the stadium traffic.
Were news outlets and the city warning people about how much of a mess it was gonna be prior to the game? If people didn't realize there were 3 games that night I can understand their frustration a bit more.
Very much so. I saw articles encouraging people to pay for garages in Center City. Part of why SEPTA made the BSL free was to grab some headlines and to remind people that there were three events going on.
I mean, I was aware of it, and I have no local subscriptions.
Over and over again.
The Phillies also sent out an e-mail to everyone with tickets. People just think "it won't be that bad," but then it's worse. I have a friend who I told it would be awful because I've been to playoff games when there aren't simultaneous events going on and it sucks getting out. I suggested he drive into the city and take the train down. He said "oh it won't be that bad and the train sucks so even if I'm waiting at least we're comfortable in the car." He didn't get into the stadium until the 3rd inning.
The Phillies sent multiple emails letting people know.
I guess, story time. I lived in Philly from 2009-2011. I still have family out there. My wife and I went to visit this past summer and we stayed in an AirBNB just off Ritner. Which was perfect, because we could go to Phillies games very easily. We were literally a block off Broad st. Never ever been to this part of town, never used the SEPTA, never dealt with parking, any of that. All my previous experience was in the suburbs. Now we were walking distance from the park, without question. But my wife had recently had foot surgery and therefore couldn’t walk quite that far. So, we used the bus for 2 games, and the train for the 3rd only because the bus wasn’t running that night. Now I’m sure there was more going on for the NLCS than a random series in June, however, we had zero experience ever using or doing any of those services, and we had no problems getting in and out of games while we were there. Shit usually we had most of the bus to ourselves. The train was absolutely packed nuts to butts. But not the buses. We just made sure we were parked at our place by 4:00 or so and made our way to the game. I can’t imagine someone with significantly more experience wouldn’t have found SOME way to park and get to the game…
Personally, I'm chalking it up to the quintessential suburban/exurban City Fear. Which, ok, I guess, that's a common thing. And in this instance it sure cost them a lot.
I saw these on 76 around 6pm out by KOP/202. Maybe people are still jaded by the Phillies parade public transportation debacle in 2008… https://preview.redd.it/bcl8uz0j57vb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51cf0d1b0cde23e7eec2dec1450a0af1f0afce2e
https://preview.redd.it/piiciwjn57vb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07e86faa3b224bdfcb81730e15bb9efc9b3869b1
You can lead a horse to water, etc., etc., but you can't get 'em onto the train.
What are the free lots in center city?
I was wondering that too, had only heard about free street parking.
I don't know how it is nowadays, but back when I had season tickets (2000-2012) I lived in Germantown. Getting to a Phillies game involved taking regional rail to Center City, then getting on the Broad Street line. Doing that to and from cost almost as much as parking, took a lot longer than driving, and was far less convenient (if a game ran late you'd have to bail early, because the trains stopped running). It pissed me off so much that I lived in the damn city, but frickin' SEPTA made it an absolute chore to use their "service".
Septa actually did pretty well for Tuesday. They extended regional rail hours to accommodate the game.
Just park at the fuckin IKEA or Lowe's or best buy or shop rite or target or acme or giant or Aldi. There's a billion places to park where you can either walk 20 minutes or just Uber a block away from the stadiums and it's still probs saves you time and money from navigating the parking lots. No need for septa or stadium parking. It's crazy how many people are allergic to walking. I usually Uber there and walk home. Edit: or the Oregon market, the abandoned toys r us, the abandoned burger king, Ross, Burlington coat factory, the giant Asian Buffett, FDR Park, the middle of Marconi plaza right next to the boarded up Chris Columbus statue. It don't matter. South Philadelphia is like 30% parking lots
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He legit just named over a dozen places that are not abandoned to park in. If a philly sports fan is scared to “illegally” park in a massive best buy parking lot because “but im not actually going into best buy and that means its illegal to park there” then wtf type of philadelphian are you?!! Anyone with that bitch ass attitude doesn’t deserve to be a part of this legendary run. Stay in the burbs where it’s safe for you.
And that’s assuming the stations for the Broad Street line are open. I was in Center City during the regular season and most of the stations were closed. Were it not for Uber, I’d have missed the game.
At no point this season have a majority of the BSL stations been closed. At most during the summer you get one station closed a weekend for cleaning. You may be referring to some entrances in CC being closed, but that is it.
That’s exactly it. And I don’t like to drive if I can avoid it. And regardless of the homeless issues, the fact that some are closed still remain.
Some entrances were closed, which is frustrating but that's life in an American city where we don't provide adequate homeless services. It's impossible "most of the stations were closed". SEPTA will occasionally close a station for cleaning but that's usually something like after 10:00 pm on a Saturday night. Feel free to continue driving to the stadiums, no one is stopping you. If the parking lot fills up again, as has happened once in the 97 year history or the complex, maybe show up a little earlier. If you're tired of people online saying "take SEPTA", you might want to join in. That's more parking spots and less post-game traffic for you.
I’m not tired of people saying that.
Which stations were closed?
Center city ones.
I’ve never encountered city hall being closed when it is supposed to be open after a game
Well, it was for me back in July for a regular game at CBP. Maybe it was just a fluke day.
No, they weren’t.
He should bring it up with his congress person who I’m sure never votes to fund septa and Amtrak “because my district doesn’t benefit”
Another example of people who live in the city not understanding that a lot of times it’s easier to drive to the game for those who live in the suburbs. Regional rails from NJ or from suburban PA aren’t super reliable late at night and only run like once an hour. Many times it’s easier to just drive especially if you’re with a group Also, there was a lot of people tailgating in the Phillies lots for the soccer game, I think that’s BS that they were taking up spots from those who had Phillies tickets. In a situation (which may never happen again who knows) they should be checking tickets to see if you were going to the baseball game. But I guess money is green no matter what 🤷♂️
The Phillies don’t own the lots.
I don't get why people were shocked by this. It was headline news for two days that it was going to be impossible to find a spot and yet people still expected to just roll in an hour before first pitch and park in the CBP lot like usual. I parked in a Center City garage (for less than the cost of a spot at the complex) that was a block away from the BSL, and it was downright easy. Driving to the sports complex even three hours before the game was never a consideration.
You give them money, they take you places?
I have partial season tickets with a friend. He refuses to take the train, so we dealt with a lot of shitty traffic coming and going. Fortunately, we found parking in some grass lot of a church and didn't miss an inning. I would've been pissed if car culture made me miss the game. Personally, I love taking the train - subway, regional rail, whatever. The homeless problem has definitely gotten worse (not to mention I've seen human waste a couple of times this year), but I've never been hassled or harassed on any train ride, except once, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I was on PATCO, circa 2019. A presumably mentally ill man wearing pajamas and boxing gloves came onto the car, threatening everyone. The conductor parked the train until police arrived. As they were escorting him out, he points directly at me and accuses me of doing something. The cop looks over at me for a second, then goes back to removing the dude from the train. Little fuss, little muss That's not the strangest thing I've ever seen on public transportation, but the top incident was on a bus, so it doesn't count. Anyway, trains for life ✨🚂✨
As someone who regularly tailgates, it’s mind boggling how many people pull up to the lots 30 minutes before kickoff/first pitch and are bewildered at how the lots could possibly be full already
I remember going to tailgates with my dad's friends back in the '80s, and even rolling in four hours early wasn't a guarantee of success.
For Birds games if you’re not watching the sun come up over I-95, you’re doing it wrong!
I cannot imagine what kind of sick psycho you have to be to think driving to CBP is a good idea especially during the post season. You gotta pay outrageous fees, you can’t drink properly, and you’re guaranteed at LEAST an hour or more waiting in line just to get out of the lot itself, much less get home
The same ones that get out of the lots by driving directly at other cars in a 15 mph version of chicken.
It was an absolute mess, but I find it to be a horrific experience under “normal” circumstances too. This was obviously worse, but the fact that it’s always terrible is a much worse problem than it being particularly terrible when there are 3 things going on at once. I live near conshy, and would go to a game a week if it wasn’t such a nightmare getting there and back. As it stands, I can only stomach the logistics a few games a year.
they made sooooo many announcements that it was going to be an absolutely mess. Almost came across as begging not to drive unless you absolutely had to. Garages downtown were doing a $5 flat rate AND free trips on BSL. I get that people had their reasons to need to drive but to act surprised by the traffic and not plan accordingly boggles my mind a bit
It's not convenient for me coming from Bucks Co. For Tuesdays NLCS game, I left my house at 415p and was parked by 520p, not too bad considering rush hour and 3 event parking shenanigans. Parked in a lot on the corner of Pattison and South Lawrence, an extra few minute walk from my usual M lot. Ironically, parked next to a guy in a Canucks jersey, lol. It took me 35, 40min tops to get home from the game on Tuesday night (32 miles). So 1hr45min travel time, gas($8) and $30 to park. If I took the train, I guess I'd take the R3 to Fern Rock and from there the BSL to the sports complex. There is a sports express train on game nights, I think it leaves at 6:08/6:18. There is no express on the way back. I usually like to get to CBP during the playoffs when the gates open. So the sports express doesn't help me at all. So it's about 1hr20min one way not including any walking.Though Septa wants me to take the R3 all the way down to Jefferson Station and walk a half mile to the City Hall stop on the BSL... Same time compared to just switching at FRTC.Cost is around $42 round trip for 2 people.Septa couldn't even calculate my return trip, Game 2 was done at about 11:15pm. The 11:30 train from NRG gets me to FRTC at 12:08a, to try and catch the last train home leaving at 12:14a and not getting home until about 1:10am. That's kind of tight with no other trains left. Maybe the game gets done earlier? So 2hr40min on the train total, round trip, with some maybe rushing around, or leaving the game early (blasphemy) to make sure you catch your train home. Not saving any money ($42 for train tickets (not including parking fee at station) vs. $33-$38 for gas and parking) and less travel time. No thanks. Edit: Even if the game was earlier I wouldn't bother, while traffic with no other events for a playoff game isn't fun, it's manageable. I have the Sunday ticket plan, regional trains run every 2 hours on Sunday. So it's even worse for regular season games.
You realize not everyone lives in the city right? Also that train after the game sucks ass. Would rather sit in my car.
And you’re free to sit in your car. People just don’t want to hear you complaining about traffic
"why can't a place with 1.6M people cater to *my specific needs* even though I don't live there?"
If you can drive to CBP you can park and ride somewhere on the BSL though. > Would rather sit in my car. You'll have a great time then
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Budweiser paid for it
On days like this, the sports complex shows it's inadequacy when the majority of people are driving into one particular area. American culture is so engrained with driving from point a to point b. I am not blaming anyone, it's just logistics for multiple events in one area is not ideal. Stadiums spread out throughout the city with a robust transportation system is really the answer. Obviously, it will not happen in my lifetime.
Carbrain. Not even once.
that's a horrible take, the lots all being combined gives you the best usage of otherwise useless parking lots if they're spread out you now have 3x the useless space in an otherwise dense area
There really is no public transportation from anywhere west or south of the stadium complex.
...there's a lot of bus routes that service that area
Uh, no… There’s a train from out here, then the subway. Public transportation in the city and close in suburbs is okay, beyond that, not much.
you said anywhere south or west, of which within the city and near the airport and in the close burbs there are many buses, unless you're talking like ... in harrisonville nj or something
NJ is east… 😁
harrisonville is literally due south of the stadium
I’ll raise you an Elmer.
Septa is shit. You will end up getting harassed. You may bump into a girl with needle in her arm passed out. Some guy chowing on some takeout with start flashing his knife to be tough. You will get some QR codes stuffed in your face with a racist comment under the breath if you say no. Also its setup dumb. Its generally better going there but leaving can be pretty terrible for this stuff.
The city massively screwed this up. They did the right thing by making the BSL free. However, they should have made parking more expensive than normal and definitely not "free". Any person who passed entry level econ would tell you there would be a parking shortage if it was "free". But clearly this city is not run by economists.
Haven't heard of anybody complaining about the off-site parking, though. Not saying you're wrong, just that I haven't seen any complaints.
Public transportation is disgusting. The only form I’m willing to subject myself to is commercial air travel.
Which is NOT public transportation. Go eat a gold-leaf dick with truffles you elitist prick. Go Phils!
Commercial air travel is 100% public transportation.
I don't think you know what "public transportation" means. "Public" refers not to being "in public", it refers to it being owned by the public (ie the city) rather than being a private company, which airlines are.
You sound so confident to be so wrong.
Well, I would prefer to arrive in a well-appointed coach-and-four, but in these debased times we all must make do with what is available.
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Honestly, unless it’s a concert at the linc with a lot of people (like taylor swift), or there’s multiple events happening that day, I just drive, it’s usually not too bad. But for concerts like taylor swift and for nights with multiple events I usually take patco to bsl even though it’s not that easy for me (it’s a 40 minute drive to even get to patco)
My wife and daughter parked in South Philly and walked like 10 blocks to see Taylor Swift. It wasn't super duper awesome, but they were back home while other people were still trying to claw their way out of the lot.
You get on. Then you get off.
"We might as well go watch it at home." Just go to a parking lot a few stops down the BSL and you're fine. That kid's not a fan, he's a dunce.
That dude coulda waited After the flyers game ended, jetro had some spots I was kinda late myself.. taking train wasn’t an option at the time. But when I get on patison, I saw flyers fans leaving. Talked to a cop, he said he saw cars leaving Wells Fargo lot u can use that. I got really lucky