33% of Temple students commute to campus using either the subway or a bus. 44% of Temple faculty also commute to campus in this way. Over this past weekend the last of contracts representing over 5,000 transit workers expired and Septa went into negotiations with the union groups to discuss a new contract.
While plans for a strike have not been announced at this time, if one occurs a large portion of the Temple community and of the city will be strongly inconvenienced.
“I’m a student, a full time student, and I need to work to stay a full time student, so if they shut down… I can’t work,” said student Christina Hallock.
Keshav Mantha is also concerned. “If I ever need to get anywhere I use the subway, use the train. So, I hope they do come to an agreement because people have to go places.”
Jake Innis also commutes to his job using SEPTA, “I work in center city, so I usually take the Broad Street Line, so it would really kind of be an inconvenience.”
Student Kathryn Smith agreed that a strike would be unwelcome. “If they shut it down, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do. There’s a lot of places that I cant really get to on foot and cabs are really expensive, you know?”
The University sent an email to all students and faculty with information about Temples plans in case of a strike as the last contract expired. In the event of a strike, Temple will remain open and all classes will continue as scheduled.
As the Regional Rail lines will not be affected by a work stoppage, commuters should look to take advantage of the Regional lines and the Temple University stop.
Commuters should plan to bike or carpool if possible, and The university will also offer reduced rate parking at all temple lots and garages, as well as a Broad street shuttle service. All other temple shuttles will operate as normal.
In the event of a strike, all of this information and more can be found at temple.edu. Additional information can be found at septa.com.
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