In 1979, I was among the millions who celebrated mass with Pope John Paul II when he visited Washington, D.C. Pope Francis is making his first visit to the United States as pontiff starting on September 22, with stops in Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.
Security will be tight, with roads closed and transportation systems making major changes to accommodate visitors. If you're flying into any of these cities, here are your options for getting from the airport to the city center.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The D.C. area has three airports: Reagan National, Washington Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington International. All have good public transportation options, from subway, bus and rail, which will be your best options as many streets will be closed and traffic restricted between September 22-24.
From Washington Dulles, catch the Silver Line Express Bus, an easy, cheap connection from the front of the main airport terminal and the Silver Line's Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail station, which will take you right to downtown D.C. Reagan National has its own stop on the Blue Line to Largo Town Center and the Yellow Line to Fort Totten. Metrorail fares range from $2.15 and $5.90 between peak hours of 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and $1.75 and $3.60 during off-peak times.
From BWI Airport, there are several options to get to D.C. The cheapest is Metro's $7 BWI Express/B30 service, which runs every 40 minutes, 7 days a week to the Greenbelt Metro Station, located on the Green Line of the Metrorail.
Buses run 25 times each weekday and 21 times on Saturdays and Sunday, every 40 minutes. There are two WMATA Bus Stops. One is located on the lower level of the International Concourse and the other stop is located on the lower level of Concourse A/B.
A second option is the commuter MARC trains, with a stop at BWI Marshall Rail Station, where free shuttles run from the airport terminal.
The service operates seven days a week and costs $7.00. Shuttle stops are located on the lower level terminal roadway in between door numbers 1 & 2, 8 & 9, 14 & 15, and 17 & 18. Shuttle buses from the BWI Marshall terminal building to the rail station operate daily as follows:
5am-8pm – Every 6 minutes
8pm-1am – Every 8 minutes
1am-5am – Every 25 minutes
Buses stop adjacent to the rail station garage, directly in front of the rail station. The BWI Rail Station is located one mile from the terminal building.
The third option is Amtrak, which also has a stop at the BWI Rail Station. Travelers can take the Northeast Regional or the Acela train directly to Washington Union Station. Fares on the Northeast Regional range from $11.00 and $30.00 for a reserved seat. Acela fares range from $29.00 and $82.00.
NEW YORK CITY
The region is also served by three airports: LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy International. Pope Francis will be in the city September 24-26. There are myriad options to get to downtown New York City from JFK Airport. Your first stop will be the AirTrain ($7.50 one way), which takes travelers to numerous connecting public transit services at two off-airport locations -- Jamaica Station and Howard Beach Station. From the Jamaica station, you have access to the Long Island Rail Road, the NYC subway's E, J and Z trains and more than a dozen bus lines. From the Howard Beach station, catch the subway A train for southern Queens, Brooklyn, and lower Manhattan or the Q11 bus.
From LaGuardia, travelers can catch the regular and Select M60 bus, which stops at all the airport's terminals via Astoria Blvd. in Queens to West 106 Street and Broadway in Manhattan. From there, connections can be made to the N and Q subway trains at Hoyt Avenue/31st Street; the 4, 5, and 6 subway trains at Lexington Avenue; and the Metro-North Railroad at Park Avenue. The bus fare is $2.75 (MetroCard or exact change required), except $3.00 whenever a single-ride ticket is purchased.
And from Newark, one option is the AirTrain Newark, which connects to NJ Transit and Amtrak with Newark Liberty International Airport for $5.50.
Regular bus service is available through NJ Transit Bus Lines go28, 37, 62, 67, 107. There's also the Newark Airport Express bus to New York City for $16 one way. It runs every 15 minutes during the day, 365 days a year, with departures every 30 minutes before 6:45 AM and after 11:15 PM.
The bus stops at Grand Central Station (41st Street between Park and Lexington avenues); Bryant Park (42nd Street and 5th Avenue); and the Port Authority Bus Terminal (41st Street between 8th and 9th avenues). The bus can be caught at Terminal A on Level 1, outside at bus stop 5; Terminal B on Level 1, outside at bus stop 2; Terminal C on Level 1, outside at bus stop 5 & 6.
PHILADELPHIA
If you're flying into Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 26 or 27, your best option to get to Center City is the SEPTA train. But be warned: only 18 train stops will be open, and you must buy tickets in advance. Click here to see the complete SEPTA train schedule.
The first train will leave from the city to the airport at 5:00 a.m. and the last train will run at 5:30 p.m. from Jefferson Station, University City, Terminal A/B and Terminal C/D. Trains will operate every 30 minutes.
For those going from the airport to the city, the first train runs at 5:30 a.m. The train will run every 30 minutes and stop at Terminal C/D, Terminal A/B, University City and Jefferson Station. Tickets need to bought in advance from SEPTA sales agents and papal passes are required for travel between 5:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Information about SEPTA services is available at its website.
No comments:
Post a Comment