Pilot Charter Bus to Chinatown
A pilot charter bus program to support students (undergrad, grad, & professional) needing to buy groceries in Chinatown. This pilot program is sponsored by Penn Transportation, UA, GAPSA, and PAACH. Penn Graduate Student Jacey Chang conducted a survey with mainly international students at Penn. The result of this survey indicate that international students are facing various transportation problems. Most of them do not have a car. During the pandemic, an increasing number of international students feel unsafe using public transportation because of the virus spread and discriminative behaviors. Moreover, the visa issue prevents many international students from going home for fear that they might not be allowed to enter the U.S. again. Therefore, a large number of international students are “trapped†in West Philadelphia without efficient ways of transportation to meet their essential needs, including shopping for grocery and special goods from their home countries. OSA and DPS representatives have been included in the conversation in developing the pilot program.
Organizer(s): Penn Transportation, UA, GAPSA, & PAACH
Staff Supervisors: John Gustafson (Penn Transportation), Peter Van Do (PAACH), Katie Bonner (OSA), Kathleen Anderson (DPS)
Date/Time: Operation on Saturdays from 1pm-4pm ET: 4/10, 4/17, 4/24 and 5/1.
2 buses/drivers, each bus would seat a maximum of 20 guests per trip.
The daily maximum transported would be 120 guests.
Shuttle would depart Penn Campus for Chinatown every 30 minutes, from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm ET.
Shuttle would depart Chinatown for return to Penn Campus every 30 minutes, from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm ET.
REGISTER: http://bit.ly/PennChinatown