NY to Philadelphia?

[UCIgrad2002]

anyone know the best way of traveling from nyc to phily? i was thinking about renting a car, but car rentals in nyc are pretty expensive. how's amtrak? obviously flying is out of the question. also, anyone know how long the drive is?

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[hypersting]

The drive varies on traffic. Do it at 2 AM and you can do it in under 2 hours easy without really even speeding. So basically it depends on what time you are traveling and how long it will take you to get from wherever you are in NY to the NJ border. From there its about 1.5 hr (2 hrs max) to Philly.

Cheap alternatives to driving-
-Chinatown Bus or the Bus posted in that DC - NY thread. They run like 10 bucks. Greyhound is like 17 i think.

-NJ transit train to Trenton, transfer to Septa to Philly. Around 16 or so bucks total.

Amtrak is 45 for the regular train and 90 for the express. Its expensive cause it has a monopoly on train service.

Your best bet also depends on where exactly you are going. Like the plan to go from NYMC to Drexel would be different than from Cornell to Jefferson as some are in outlying areas and some in the heart of downtown.

Hope it helps.

 

[UCIgrad2002]

hypersting,

thanks so much for the reply. i'm actually going from NYCOM to Drexel. NYCOM is located in a small town just outside of NYC, called old westbury. it's about a 15-20min cab drive from JFK. is there an amtrak station at JFK? also, would you happen to know of the amtrak station that's closest to Drexel in phily? thanks again. take care.

 

[hypersting]

Originally posted by UCIgrad2002
hypersting,

thanks so much for the reply. i'm actually going from NYCOM to Drexel. NYCOM is located in a small town just outside of NYC, called old westbury. it's about a 15-20min cab drive from JFK. is there an amtrak station at JFK? also, would you happen to know of the amtrak station that's closest to Drexel in phily? thanks again. take care.

I know where Old Westbury is, have family 'round there. This is a tough one. I think you are better off driving actually, down belt pkway into NJ then down NJ turnpike. I dont know if there's an amtrak in JFK. The one I was referring is in Manhattan and would require you to take the LIRR to get there. I'm not sure how public transport gets to JFK, but I'm sure it exists and could get you to Manhattan. Now in Philly, Drexel undergrad is walking distance to the main Amtrak station. Unfortunately, thats not where you need to go. Maybe a shuttle runs from one to the other? That would be convenient. Drexel is kind of suburban in its setting on the outskirts of Philly making public transport a hassle also. Personally, it couldn't cost you too much to just drive I think. Especially since you have to fly back from JFK? or Philly?

 

[JohnHolmes]

Originally posted by UCIgrad2002
anyone know the best way of traveling from nyc to phily? i was thinking about renting a car, but car rentals in nyc are pretty expensive. how's amtrak? obviously flying is out of the question. also, anyone know how long the drive is?

Take the bus, it is cheap to and from port authority.

Cooper

 

[Chrisobean]

if you take a cab to jfk.. you can take that air train thingy to jamaica station and then take the lirr to penn. but that would be dumb. you can take the lirr straight from nycom to penn and get the amtrak there. or if you prefer the bus, the port authority bus terminal is 1 subway stop away from penn station. the express amtrak train to philly leaves you in the 30th st station, and it takes around 2 hours.

i think driving is a bad idea, especially on the belt. staten island has the worst traffic ever. i live it every day. if you are willing to pay this much to rent a car + tolls (dude, the verrazano is 8 bucks!) i would suggest splurging for the amtrak. its a nice comfy ride.

 

[ForensicPath]

Originally posted by Chrisobean
(dude, the verrazano is 8 bucks!).

I think it is $7.50 if you have EZ-Pass. EZ-Pass is the greatest invention ever. I easily saves me a good 20 minutes on my many trips between philly a NY.

Back on topic: I would definitely do the train thing. I would hop the local rails instead of taking amtrak, it saves you some cash. I've done this a few times and its not bad at all. Driving can be a big hassle especially if you are unfamiliar with the heavy traffic times. Believe me, you don't want to be stuck in Brooklyn, Staten Island, or NJ Turnpike traffic

BTW: The NJ Turnpike is the worst designed road ever. The merge point from the truck lanes back to the car lanes (6 lane highway down to 3) creates such a terrible bottleneck. If I ever find the engineer who designed that...

 

[Chrisobean]

if you move to staten island, its 3.50

 

[TRUE]

I did this trip (ok, not from old westbury), and I highly recommend NJ transit/Septa. From Penn Station(NYC, there is one in Newark, NJ too), it took me 2:20 hours. 30 dollars round trip as was mentioned. It's two trains basically and there is almost no walking involved. You get off NJ Transit and the SEPTA train is on the same track, right in front of the NJ transit train. It's a pretty good method. From JFK, you should take Air Train to Jamaica Station and then LIRR to Penn Station and then start the NJ transit leg...

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

well, there's NO reason to take a cab from westbury to JFK. take a cab from NYCOM to the westbury train station. it'll be around $5. then take the LIRR into Penn Station. it runs all the time and any westbound train will get you there (occasionally you have to transfer, but the conducter will tell you). From Penn station you could:
A. Catch amtrak right there.
B. Walk to Port Authority (so close, absolutely no need for subway). From there you could hop on greyhound.
C. Take NJ Transit to Trenton, then jump on septa.

Either way, you'll need to take another cab in philly.

 

[Taleof50]

Originally posted by UCIgrad2002
also, would you happen to know of the amtrak station that's closest to Drexel in phily? thanks again. take care.

If you take Amtrak, the Philly station would be Philadelphia-30th Street Station.

To get to Drexel Med from there... you can take one of the SEPTA lines (Phillly inner city trains/subway) to Queens Lane Station. The info with the Drexel interview packet tells you the exact line to take to the Queens Lane. OR, you can take a cab from 30th St. Station to where Drexel has their shuttle - the shuttle will take you from Drexel's center city campus to that in Queens Lane. I would call the admissions office (and look at the little brochure thing that came with the interview packet) for more info on that.
When I interviewed, I took SEPTA to the Queen Lane campus. It's not that difficult.
Hope that helps.

 

[Supadupafly]

Work out an estimate of train+cab fares. It may be cheaper to rent a car, especially since Drexel isn't exactly close to town.

 

[UCIgrad2002]

u people are all great! thanks so much for the help! i guess i'm planning to take the LIRR in westbury to the NY-Penn station, then hop on amtrak to the 30th st. station in philly. then from there, either cab to where the shuttles are or to my hotel. thanks people!

 

[hypersting]

I think renting a car might be cheaper and should only take you 2 and a half hours, unless you leave at a real primetime. Anyway, either way you go, good luck you.

 

[TRUE]

Originally posted by UCIgrad2002
u people are all great! thanks so much for the help! i guess i'm planning to take the LIRR in westbury to the NY-Penn station, then hop on amtrak to the 30th st. station in philly. then from there, either cab to where the shuttles are or to my hotel. thanks people!

If you're going to get to Penn Station, save yourself some major $$$ and take NJ transit and SEPTA. Taking the train that is not non-stop only saves you about 15-30 minutes compared to NJT and SEPTA. The non-stop train is even more expensive, though it saves you some more time (I think that train is an hour or so...please correct me if I'm wrong).