Swarthmore CollegeTransportation Summary

Written by Sudarshan Gopaladesikan

Sudarshan Gopaladesikan

Hometown

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Major

Math and Engineering

View all previous student authors

Since most students don’t have cars on campus, they must find other ways of getting around. Usually, this means using SEPTA, the public transportation authority in Philadelphia. There are two bus stations and a train station on campus, so riding is pretty convenient. However, SEPTA can be a little expensive for the average college student, particularly the train, and the trains stop running around 11:30 p.m. Buses are less expensive and run almost all the time but don’t always deliver students directly to Center City.

Free campus shuttles take students to off-campus dorms, stores along Baltimore Pike, a movie theater, downtown Philly, and Bryn Mawr and Haverford. Most students agree that the shuttles are reliable but don’t run often enough. Most shuttles are driven by students, sometimes creating problems with unreliability, but nonetheless, they remain the cheapest way to get around Swarthmore and the surrounding area. More unreliable than the student drivers themselves are the shuttle vans. They tend to magically not work a lot of times and can cause frustration to many. However, a new shuttle to King of Prussia Mall was just created.