NJ Transportation Officials Unveil Plans For Increased Ridership, Traffic During Papal Visit

NEWARK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New Jersey transportation officials are urging people going to Philadelphia or New York City for Pope Francis' visit next month to be prepared and be patient or, possibly, stay home.

They laid out plans Thursday to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people expected to pass through New Jersey next month for the pope's visit.

LINKS: NJ TRANSIT Papal Visit Plans | NJ DOT Papal Visit Plans

"If you don't have to be on our system between Thursday and Sunday, the 24th to the 27th, you may want to consider a staycation and staying put," said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Ronnie Hakim.

As CBS2's Christine Sloan reported, the Pope will be busy when he visits Manhattan.

He has a mass at Madison Square Garden, and will be speaking to the United Nations, the situation could be compounded by a Giants game at Met Life Stadium that Thursday.

To help regulate crowd numbers, NJ TRANSIT will be offering limited special service on its Atlantic City Rail Line and River Line for people headed to Philadelphia that weekend, the agency said.

Hakim said they will "accommodate as many passengers as its system safely allows."

"Unfortunately, these safety and capacity limitations mean only a fraction of the anticipated passenger demand can be met," she said. "We have put forth a transportation plan that will get as many people as possible, as close as possible to Philadelphia, all with an eye on safety."

NJ Transit had problems with the Super Bowl, and more recently electric wire issues on Amtrak tracks caused delays and cancellations.

Hakim said they will be ready with extra bus and rail service.

"We have 30,000 rail seats going in and out between 4 and 7 p.m.," he said.

During the weekend of the papal visit, trains will not be operating regular weekend service on either the Atlantic City Rail Line or the River Line, NJ TRANSIT said.

Special tickets will go on sale at 12 p.m. on Aug. 15 for people planning to use those lines during the Pope's visit. Tickets must be purchased in advance and no one will be allowed to ride those lines without a special event ticket.

No other fares, including monthly passes, Family SuperSaver or cash, will be accepted on the Atlantic City Rail Line or River Line.

"It's also important to note for people new to our system and especially our regular customers that this will not be a typical weekend travel experience and we urge everyone to plan accordingly," Hakim said.

Many will be funneled through Camden, where buses will park. Attendees will be required to walk several miles from Camden over the Ben Franklin Bridge and to the site of Sunday's Mass on Ben Franklin Parkway.

Officials said Thursday that anyone not ready to walk a significant distance should consider staying home.

"Wear comfortable shoes, you'll be doing a lot of walking. Wear light-colored clothing," said traffic engineer and former New York City Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz. "While we're not so worried about people getting to the event, it's the return that will be likely be in darkness."

Schwartz recommended that trekkers make sure to have cellphones charged, carry flashlights for a return walk likely to be in the dark, bring comfortable shoes, light clothing and extra medicine.

"We want people to come, but we want them to be prepared,'' he said.

About 1,100 parking spaces will be available in Camden, according to Sal Cowan, the state DOT's director of traffic operations; there will be "several thousand'' more in Philadelphia but only for those that have registered, he said.

Given the possibility that not all buses will have registered and be able to find parking spots in Camden, officials said it was conceivable that they would have to park outside Camden, adding to the distance people would have to walk.

State Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox and others urged groups planning to travel by bus to register with the World Meeting of Families, which is sponsoring the event.

Before heading to Philadelphia, the pope will be addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 24 and will be holding an invitation-only event at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 25th.

Hakim said Thursday the agency would add buses and augment rail service to add 30,000 train seats for Friday between New York and New Jersey.

"We are beefing up our bus service in and out of the bus terminal," Hakim said. "If we have to, we'll be put a couple of train sets on, but again, that is a ticketed event -- there are 25,000 tickets to Madison Square Garden."

Because the event at Madison Square Garden is by ticket or invite only, Cowan said they have no intention to close roadways leading into the city, 1010 WINS' Rebecca Granet reported.

"Construction projects to repair our infrastructure will go on," he said. "We expect traffic to move throughout the region."

With the papal visit coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly, Schwartz said to expect a gridlock alert all week, WCBS 880's Levon Putney reported.

"If you take public transportation, just expect big crowds," he said.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said the convergence of the events calls for unprecedented security, 1010 WINS' Al Jones reported.

"We've got 160 world leaders coming in at the same time as the pope and almost as he's leaving, the president is coming in," he said.

Adding to the challenge, the New York Giants and New York Jets have games at MetLife Stadium on Thursday and Sunday.

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