Roll to Live 8 on SEPTA's 'Steel Wheels'

Roll to Live 8 on SEPTA's 'Steel Wheels'

SEPTA Riders Should Buy Passes and Tokens Now and Avoid Long Lines at Ticket Offices

PHILADELPHIA, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- With hundreds of thousands of people expected to fill the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for Saturday's Live 8 concert, SEPTA's Broad Street and Market-Frankford subway/elevated lines, Subway- Surface trolleys and Regional Rail Lines are highly recommended as the fastest and most convenient way to get to and from the concert site.

SEPTA strongly urges riders to purchase passes and tokens now at SEPTA ticket and sales offices and avoid long lines expected on the day of the event (see special Live 8 Day Pass below).

SEPTA rail routes will provide the most convenient access to the concert as traffic will be closed off in the northwest quadrant of Center City (bounded by Broad Street to the east, Market Street to the south, Fairmount Avenue and Poplar Street to the north and the Schuylkill River to the west). Because of the concert SEPTA bus Routes 2, 7, 17, 31, 32, 33, 38, 43, 44, 48, 124 and 125 will be operated on local detours throughout the day in Center City. SEPTA bus riders should anticipate delays and changes in detour routes in Center City due to the expected traffic congestion.

Live 8 Day Pass: A special Live 8 Day Pass is now available at all major SEPTA sales offices and regional rail ticket offices. The $8.00 pass is good for unlimited travel on all SEPTA routes on Saturday but it cannot be used for travel to and from Trenton. Due to the volume of riders expected, passes will not be sold on trains during the day of the event. Locations of SEPTA ticket offices are listed on the Live 8 link of http://www.septa.org/. Regular SEPTA weekly passes for the week of June 27 and July monthly passes are also valid for Live 8.

Market Frankford Line: The Market-Frankford Line provides convenient access to the Parkway concert site from the 15th Street Station. The Market- Frankford Line will operate every six minutes throughout the day. The El is the best bet for people coming from West and Northeast Philadelphia and is convenient for many Delaware and Montgomery County residents who can access the line at 69th Street Terminal (69th & Market Streets) via SEPTA Route 100 (Norristown High Speed Line). Route 100 will operate every 20 minutes while Routes 101 and 102 will run every 30 minutes during the day.

Broad Street Line: The Broad Street Line offers three stations with convenient access to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway including Spring Garden, Race-Vine and City Hall. Trains will be operating every six minutes through 11 p.m. After 11 p.m. trains will operate every 10 minutes until train service ends for the day at 12:30 a.m.

Regional Rail: Access to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is convenient from Suburban Station at 16th Street & John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City. Most regional rail lines will operate on hourly Saturday schedules and extra cars will be added to trains to provide additional passenger capacity. The R1 Airport and R5 Paoli lines operate every half-hour on Saturdays. Free parking is available at all SEPTA lots on weekends.

Heavy ridership is anticipated on the R7 Trenton line with riders traveling from North Jersey. A special $14.00 round-trip pass for service between Trenton and Center City will be sold to R7 passengers only at Trenton Stations. Passengers from Bucks County and the far northeast could also consider driving to the expansive 1,900-space parking lot at the R7 Cornwells Heights Station, where the special Live 8 Day Pass will be available for sale.

Subway-Surface Trolleys: The five subway-surface trolley routes (Routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36) that connect Southwest and West Philadelphia to Center City are convenient to the concert site with stations located at 22nd, 19th, and 15th Streets on Market Street.

The trolley routes will operate about every 12 minutes or less throughout the day to and from Center City.

Mann Music Center bus: While people traveling from outside Center City Philadelphia are strongly advised to park at outlying regional rail stations and take the train into Center City, free parking will be available at Mann Music Center in Fairmount Park. SEPTA will operate a bus route between the Mann Music Center parking lot and the 52nd Street Market-Frankford Line Station, where riders will transfer to the El to Center City. A special $4.00 round-trip pass will be available only at the Mann Music Center Box Office on the day of the event.

Information about SEPTA services and pass and token sales locations are available on the SEPTA web site at http://www.septa.org/.

SEPTA Customer Service, 215-580-7800, will be staffed with live agents from 8 a.m. until midnight on Saturday. They will be available to provide information to customers about SEPTA services, detours, and fares.

Source: SEPTA

CONTACT: SEPTA Public Relations: Richard Maloney or Jim Whitaker, +1-215-580-7842

Web site: http://www.septa.org/

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