Hi! Anyone know what TRAFFIC is like from south jersey to UPenn Hospital?

Cree8ive1 · Oct 27, 2006

Hi, Lpjmmb!

I live in south Jersey, too, and volunteered at CHOP for awhile. (I'm still a student.) There's no easy way to say it. The commute is brutal, and the time of day hardly has any effect on it. It's almost ALWAYS bad. It's that darn Schulkyll (sp?) Expressway, which seriously needs to be re-worked. The part I hated the most was leaving a shift and having to merge onto that horrible expressway into the LEFT (fast) lane of traffic, with cars coming at you at about 80 mph.

However, I'd hardly let that deter you from accepting a job at Penn! That's fabulous! Good for you! What a prestigious place to work. Seriously. I'd love to work at Penn or CHOP one day...but if I did, I would seriously consider using public transportation, depending on where in SJ you live. Almost any time I go into Philly, I take the PATCO trains. They don't go all the way to the university area up there, but there is a pretty busy bus/train (?) stop about a block from the hospital. If you look into something like this, you kill two birds with one stone: no driving traffic, and no parking hassles. I don't know much about parking at the complex down there, but traffic is a total nightmare, even on campus, and they provided free parking for volunteers, but I think employees have to pay to park at any number of parking garages on the campus. Of course trains, busses, etc. will add commute time to your already long day, but as someone who has used public transportation to get to work before, it can be nice and relaxing "down" time.

So what unit will you be on if you take the job? Would love to hear all about it, and how you landed such a great opportunity. Good luck in making this decision. Personally, I'd go for it! Keep us posted!

cab128 · Nov 1, 2006

Hi lpjmmb,

I live in South Jersey and work in Philadelphia as well. I commuted from various areas in Burlington County to CHOP for 15 years. I guess I just got used to the drive! Leaving by 6:15 a.m. to start at 7 a.m. is reasonable if you are about 15 or 18 miles away. There are a couple of parking garages that you can likely pay for with pre-tax payroll deductions. When I left 3 years ago I was paying $5.00 a day to park across the street from CHOP.

I work at Jefferson now and the drive downtown is much worse! I start at 8:30 a.m. and traffic is much heavier at that time. In addition to this I pay $10.00 a day to park.

The drive can be unpredictable and frustrating but the job experiences have been very rewarding. Think about how interested you are in the position. I think the traffic for the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift is tolerable (my husband drove in for this shift for years). Best of luck to you!

brandnewjerseyrn · Nov 2, 2006

Hi! I live in South Jersey and work at UPenn. I take the walt whitman bridge to work. The commute in the morning actually isn't bad if you have to be in at 7 am, and the commute home after your shift isn't bad either. You go in early enough and avoid most of the traffic. Sometimes there are accidents on 76 west that back things up a lot, but for the most part it is okay. I used to take patco (speedline), because when you work day shift you have to pay for parking, $12 during the week and $5 on weekends. But then I got tired of waking up even earlier to catch the train on time and getting home so late after a 12 hour shift so I started driving in. Now I work night shift, and we get free parking all the time, so I always drive in. I usually leave my house around 6/6:10 (day or night shift) and get there at all different times depending on how the traffic is. I have only been late a couple times, because of bad accidents. I hate being late but sometimes you can't avoid it because traffic can just be so awful at times. Sometimes it might just take you 2 hours to get there. You just have to be smart about it (which I'm not) and listen to the traffic reports to avoid anything bad. But I hope you decide to take the job, HUP is a wonderful place to work!! I passed up the opportunity to work at much closer NJ hospitals (with free parking and an easy commute) to work there, and I don't regret it at all!

PAKrisRN · Jul 26, 2008

I work within UPHS and commute from SJ...depending on where in SJ the commute isnt bad at 7 A and 7 P. It only takes me about 20 minutes each way, not including shore traffic on weekends, sporting events, or the occasional accident...good luck to you.

AtomicWoman · Jul 26, 2008

I've been commuting from SJ to Philly for years (not to work at a hospital, but in various center city and near-west-philly locations) and for me, the key is to always have a Plan B. If you hear on KYW that the Schuylkill is backed up starting at Passyunk or Vare, you know you're gonna have a long commute! Sometimes, it is worth taking the Ben Franklin and going out of your way up the Vine Expressway. Just learn the alternatives and weigh whether (a) the extra time they take will be worth it (i.e., your normal route is at a standstill) and (b) whether THEY will be backed up by thousands of people with the same idea! Some days, if there is a horrific accident that has brought the city to a standstill, there is nothing you can do. You're going to sit in traffic no matter what. IF you know about the problem far enough in advance, another alternative is to take PATCO in and then take the El. Such are the advantages of checking traffic while you're having breakfast!

But as I and others have said, sometimes, you're gonna park on that Schuylkill and there ain't a darn thing you can do about it. So have some calming music ready at all times!

Good luck in your new job! Sounds great!

WorkinTheStreets · Jul 27, 2008

Don't forget they are going to close the South St. exit (346A off 76) to replace the bridge. :banghead: I was at CHOP this week and noticed some small signs posted about this. I would guess this closure will be at least a year in duration.

AtomicWoman · Jul 27, 2008

Don't forget they are going to close the South St. exit (346A off 76) to replace the bridge. I was at CHOP this week and noticed some small signs posted about this. I would guess this closure will be at least a year in duration.

You're right! Boy is that going to mess things up on the Schuylkill, especially at first when people are still trying to figure out alternative routes...

jenn_rn_nj · Jul 27, 2008

i commute from near great adventure to chop and i just finished an 8am-4pm stint for 2 weeks

i was pleasantly suprised that the commute was not bad at all...i take 295s to walt whitman and i drive about 5miles over the posted speed limit and found that i was making it in 1 hour (give or take 5 min) and that was during peak rush hour (not bad for a 50ish mile commute)

i exit 76 at university city which is 346b i believe so i am off before the parts where the traffic backs up...it's easy enough to drive through town for a few blocks to get to my destination...this week i will start working off peak driving hours but i anticipate the commute may only lessen by 5min or so since i really didn't have much delay during peak rush hour...the only bad drive was friday afternoons because i hit beach traffic...friday afternoons, i exit at 676 instead of taking 76 to 295...also, as a previous poster stated, always know your alternate routes...if there is a delay it's good to know how to take the ben franklin or the tacony palmyra...i do have a gps with traffic advisory and i have found that to be helpful

if you dont' mind the distance and the facility is one that you really desire to work, then go for it! =)