PATCO officials announced temporary closures of four stations along its service line and additional changes to its schedule.
Stations at 12/13th and Locust Street, City Hall in Camden, Ashland, and Westmont will close starting March 28.
The closures seek to prioritize the safety of customers and employees, officials say. The remaining nine stations — Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Haddonfield, Collingswood, Ferry Ave., Broadway (Walter Rand Transportation Center entrance open), 8th & Market, 9/10th & Locust St. and 15/16th & Locust St. Stations — see the most riders.
“The decision was made to serve the greatest number of people who still need to use the line while enabling us to concentrate our law enforcement and sanitizing efforts to ensure the greatest protection for the people riding the line at this time, and also to ensure the sustainability of the line to make sure that we will have sufficient personnel,” said John Hanson, PATCO president.
The Delaware River Port Authority oversees PATCO and the four bridges that connect Philadelphia to New Jersey — the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Betsy Ross, and Commodore Barry.
The port authority announced freezes on both PATCO fares and bridge tolls in January after a successful year. PATCO saw a 25-year high in ridership in 2019. Over 11 million people used the service, and officials raked in $27 million in revenue. Officials said fares will remain unchanged so long as it’s financially viable. Now, Hanson, also CEO of DRPA, says ridership on the train service is 8% of its normal count. He estimates it will result in a loss of $2.2 million a month.
As for the four bridges, which are now temporarily cashless, traffic is down by about 55%. This results in losses of more than $2 million per week, says Hanson. More than 53 million vehicles crossed, last year, generating more than $332 million for the agency.