Page 37 - 2022 Chester County Guide & CCCBI Membership Directory
P. 37

 TRANSPORTATION
 Travel Is Easy in, Around Chester County
Its close proximity to Philadelphia, Wilmington and other major East Coast hubs makes Chester County an extremely convenient place to navigate.
RAIL
Chester County is served by two rail providers — SEPTA Regional Rail and Amtrak — at 12 existing passenger rail stations. Some stations, including Exton and Paoli, run both Amtrak and SEPTA services.
The busy Keystone Corridor rail connection between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh runs through Chester County along the Paoli/Thorndale Line. Paoli/ Thorndale is operated by SEPTA Regional Rail, which has 13 branches and more than 150 active stations in the greater Philadelphia area. A major improvement project at the Paoli Station, which brought it into compliance with federal accessibility standards, was completed in 2019.
Further expansions of rail service are coming in the form of a new Coatesville station. The effort to build the station, led by the Pennsylvania Department
of Transportation (PennDOT), got underway with
a groundbreaking in late 2021, and construction
is expected to be completed by 2025. The new station will include a multimodal parking facility, bus transportation integration, covered waiting shelters and nearly 500 parking spaces.
BUS
SEPTA runs more than 100 bus routes that serve various destinations in the region, 14 of which cover areas within or immediately adjacent to Chester County. The “System Status” website (realtime.septa. org/systemstatus) provides information on SEPTA bus and rail services in real time.
In areas not covered by SEPTA, Chescobus offers services through its LINK and SCCOOT Routes. SCCOOT travels from Oxford to Kennett Square, while LINK
runs between Coatesville and Parkesburg. LINK and SCCOOT buses are provided by Chester County-based Krapf Transportation, which also contracts with SEPTA for its 204 service. More information about routes is at tmacc.org/chescobus.
Additional local transportation needs are met by Pottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART) and its Orange and Green Line buses, and the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Authority’s Upper Merion Rambler. While the latter doesn’t travel inside Chester County, it serves the commuting
needs of employees and residents located in the area surrounding the King of Prussia Mall.
For comprehensive information on public transportation in Chester County, including available taxi services and paratransit, consult the Chester County Ride Guide at chescorideguide.org.
ROADS
Several major highways serve the Chester County region, including I-95, I-76/PA Turnpike, U.S. 1, U.S. 30, U.S. 202, U.S. 322, U.S. 422, PA 52 and PA 100. Along these routes, travelers have easy access to Philadelphia, Wilmington, Pittsburgh in the west and the New Jersey shore in the east.
Major routes through the county are continually being improved. For example, a series of projects is
in progress along U.S. 30 to improve safety, reduce congestion and accommodate planned growth — check us30-chesco.com for updates. Projects and studies are also underway along U.S. 202 (us202.com).
(Local engineering design firm RETTEW — with locations in Lancaster, Conshohocken, Allentown and Mechanicsburg, among other cities — has worked with PennDOT and area municipalities on many transportation improvement projects. See RETTEW’s white paper on page 36 for more transportation information.)
AIR
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is easily accessible via I-95 and regional buses such as SEPTA Route 37. PHL serves more than 32 million passengers annually with services from 25 airlines, including all major domestic carriers.
Chester County is also less than two hours from
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
The Chester County G.O. Carlson Airport (MQS) runs no airline passenger services, but serves both plane and helicopter pilots.
   www.cccbi.org 35
 






































































   35   36   37   38   39