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Old 01-24-2013, 08:42 PM
 
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Hello all,

Perhaps someone can help me clarify some things about my brief travel plans in Philly this coming weekend. I am visiting a good friend in Baltimore, Maryland, and am using two different bus lines to get there. The first bus drops me off in Philadelphia at approximately 11:00 am this Saturday at the greyhound bus station on 10th and filbert streets, and the next bus I must catch for Baltimore is a megabus which leaves the 30th street station at exactly 11:50 am. I admittedly have little to no knowledge of the city, and did some research to see if I could get from point A to point B in the allotted 50 minute tops time frame. I found that there is a subway station on 11th street which could take me to the 30th street station. Is it true that the subway buses run every 10 minutes? I'm hoping that whether I get into the subway at 11:00 or 11:10 or 11:20 etc, depending on when I arrive, that there will definitely be a bus coming very shortly that can take me to 30th street in time. Approximately how long of a subway ride is it from 11th to 30th? Since I have such little time and am not too knowledgeable, would it be best to try and flag down a cab to take me to the 30th street station instead of using the subway, and approximately how much would the fare be? Probably making this alot more complicated then it has to be, but I figured a little clarification would ease my mind. I would hate to do something wrong and miss the bus going out of the 30th street station. Also, is the 30th street station easy to navigate once inside? With the little time I have I am going to be frantic looking for the bus terminals, the one I need is megabus. Thanks in advance for any replies, seems pretty simple but figured I'd ask. Thank you!
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Old 01-25-2013, 05:13 AM
 
Location: Midwest
1,283 posts, read 2,212,370 times
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It's about a 5 minute subway ride from 11th and Market to 30th and Market. Trains run every 10 minutes on saturdays. Make sure you get a westbound trade (signs will pretty clearly say Westbound to 69th Street). You'll go down the stairs either in front of Burlington Coat Factory on Market Street or on 11th Street along the Aramark Building.

30th Street station is a train station, not a bus station, so there is in fact no bus terminals. You don't ever need to go inside the station unless you need to use the restroom or get some food. Megabus picks up outside the west entrance - it'll be near the intersection of 30th and JFK Boulevard, on JFK. You should see other people and megabus attendants there.

The only problem with your plan is that you're not really allowing that much time for your first bust to be late. If it's even 10 minutes late, you're going to be rushing.

In my experience, megabus has always left right on time, even if there's someone who's only about 10 feet away running for the bus like their life depends on it (the funniest part of taking the megabus). So just be aware of that.

There are almost always cabs waiting outside the Greyhound station. You could possibly save a minute or two - particularly if you would have had to wait 10 minutes for a train. I have no idea what fare would be - not that much though.
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Old 01-25-2013, 08:32 AM
 
Location: The City
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Agrre if you are late take a cab, would be less than 10 dollars max including tip, probably closer to 6 or 7 (with tip), just a few dollars more than the subway
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Old 01-25-2013, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
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Yes. The first time I visited Philadelphia I was at 17 and Benjamin Franklin Parkway and I left about only 20 or so minutes prior to my bus leaving. I got there, didn't know where the megabus took off from, went inside and asked around, walked over to the bus, and still had plenty of time. It is very easy to just hop on the westbound train and get off at 30th as FamousBlueRaincoat. Just make sure you know exactly where the Megabus takes off from so you don't waste anytime.
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Old 01-25-2013, 01:18 PM
 
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Thank you so much for the prompt replies. I definitely got some useful information, as I would have gone INSIDE the 30th street station and looked for signs about buses. Knowing that I need to be on the look out for the megabus right outside the building is going to be a time saver with what little time I already have. Ok, so I am just going off of an image on google maps here, and have never set foot in this area. If the megabus picks up on the west entrance of the 30th station at the intersection of 30th and JFK boulevard and I get off at the 30th street subway stop, then I should proceed North up 30th street at the intersection of 30th and Market, and that should make me reach the west side of the 30th street train station to the intersection of 30th and JFK boulevard? A little overboard, but trying my best to visualize it as best as I can so that I can use every one of my small amount of minutes wisely. Thank you for the information about the cab fare. That is certainly reasonable if I am really running late and the situation calls for it, I'm just hoping there will definitely be taxis parked outside of the Greyhound station on 10th and Filbert streets. And thanks Cnote11, glad to hear that other people have had a similar experience and did not miss the bus! Thanks again for the prompt replies, definitely making me more knowledgeable and at ease going into this high-strung situation.
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Old 01-25-2013, 01:31 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
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When I took a Greyhound into Philadelphia there were at least 4 taxis outside. I presume that there are taxis there quite often. I walk by the Greyhound station nearly everyday, but I don't really take too much notice of the taxis since they aren't of use to me, but I believe they are typically out there, with the greyhound station, convention center, reading terminal market, and all. I'm going down there today, so I will let you know where I see large swaths of taxis.

You should come up to the left of the 30th street station, right at 30th and Market. Walk north, towards the station, up 30th street. Continue up 30th until you reach a "fork" in the road, on the west side of the building, right in front of the west entrance of the station (I believe this is under construction right now). Turn left and continue towards the "Drexel" bridge on google maps. You will see signs on the sidewalk that have the megabus logo on them. The stop is NOT at the intersection of 30th and JFK Boulevard itself. They are by the Drexel bridge in front of the parking lot on the right side of the street when you make the left from 30th street onto JFK. The stops should be right after the bridge, if I'm not mistaken.

I should add that the cab fare would be very cheap. I took a cab from the Megabus stop once to Logan Square and it only cost me a few dollars. I took a cab from Logan Square to the Best Buy in Southeast Philadelphia and it only cost me something like 12 dollars. That was 5 miles compared to the 2 to 3 mile trip you're making, depending on which way they are taking you, and that 3 miles is on the express way.

Last edited by Cnote11; 01-25-2013 at 01:46 PM..
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Old 01-25-2013, 01:47 PM
 
Location: The City
22,379 posts, read 38,686,087 times
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As far as cab if none are present at the terminal you likely could get one on Market Street pretty easy. Cabs are genrally plentiful in Philly on the main streets.

Also the convention center may have many too, Think its the car show this weekend which is pretty busy
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Old 01-25-2013, 05:15 PM
 
2,933 posts, read 4,085,821 times
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FYI - 30th St. Station sits between 29th & 30th Streets.

The Megabus stop is a solid block west of the station, closer to where 31st St. would be if it ran through that block.

If you take the market-frankford line to 30th St. you want to follow the signs for the Amtrak/Regional Rail/30th St. Station so that you come up on Market St. at 30th St. If you're at the corner of 30th & Market and looking at the station you're going to want to head off towards your left (north) on 30th St. and then another left on to JFK. If you pass Chestnut you're going the wrong way.

As long as your bus isn't late getting into Philly, 50 minutes is plenty of time to get across town.
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Old 01-25-2013, 07:06 PM
 
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Thank you all so very much for the replies, they were all extremely helpful and gave me a general idea of what I should be looking for. So this "Drexel Bridge" is the portion of the JFK Boulevard that runs north of the Drexel University building, and the megabus stop should be somewhere here ? (Just going off of what I see on maps here) From the maps it looks like if 31st ran into this area it would be about halfway across this bridge portion of jfk boulevard that has been mentioned, so I will head there and look for anything remotely mentioning megabus in some fashion, either at some point on this bridge (Jfk boulevard) or after walking the length of the bridge. Again just going off the maps here, I'm sure just looking at my surroundings when I'm in the moment will give me the best idea. Thanks again everyone!
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Old 01-25-2013, 07:41 PM
 
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When walking out of the train station - go out the doors closest to Au Bon Pain - cross the street and walk towards the end of that block. You will see Megabus/Boltbus signs.
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