Transit links Jews in more ways than one

The reinvented National Museum of American Jewish History features this inspired advantage: A visitor can readily find it, and swiftly reach it.

The museum, which traces the Jewish experience in the United States, is located at the same corner as Philadelphia’s Fifth Street SEPTA subway station and a stop for numerous SEPTA buses; one block from where a dozen New Jersey Transit buses stop, for southern New Jersey travel; three blocks from a train station for South Jersey commuting; and six blocks from a SEPTA commuter rail station with one train route that runs to Trenton, where a rider can connect to a Manhattan-bound train.

Many of these lines link to the city’s 30th Street Amtrak station two miles west of the museum. SEPTA is the transit system for the Philadelphia area and PATCO is a train route jointly operated by Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The museum moved from a small facility on Nov. 14 to a new home around the corner in a 100,000-square-foot facility at the southeast corner of Fifth and Market streets less than a block from Independence Hall. After an extravagant ceremony on Nov. 13 and 14, the museum opens to the public this Friday.

Access to public transit this extensive, or even a fraction this advantageous, has steadily gone the way of the dinosaur for Jewish facilities during the last four or five decades, not to mention public facilities in general.

As a frequent patron of public transit, I could not help but notice the access to subways, trains, etc., to the museum. Of course, the museum was built there because of its proximity to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

Public transportation is important for Jewish connections. It is no coincidence that we are less engaged in Jewish causes and activities as more Jews have relocated to the suburbs. Among positive developments, transit links between Jewish communities have grown, especially in the Northeast. However, many transit agencies are raising their fares, and Jewish facilities are more often than not located in spots that are inconvenient for those who depend on public transportation.

The museum’s proximity to so many transit links is obviously a happy coincidence, and we should hope that more Jewish facilities model their locations on Philadelphia’s Jewish museum. With the current pattern of Jewish movement out of the big cities, new facilities to serve them have risen up closer to their new homes.

Synagogues, community centers and day schools do not require the comprehensive access available at Fifth and Market streets, but they do need a reasonable level of public transportation. These facilities are often placed in isolated areas, and public transit there either does not exist or is severely limited. A bus may stop in front of a Jewish facility on weekdays, but not at night or weekends. Some suburban facilities are convenient to reach by transit, but those places are too frequently the exception rather than the rule.

Decades earlier, urban living and extensive transportation provided the glue that held the Jewish community together. One could attend synagogue by walking or, if necessary, taking a bus. Those who live in the suburbs usually must drive…on the Sabbath, yet.

Interestingly, visitors to the two main Jewish museums in Manhattan must negotiate an obstacle course. Both are located four miles or more from Penn Station and Grand Central Station, and each museum is situated six blocks from the nearest subway stop. A Holocaust museum planned for Hollywood, Fla., was to be located more than a mile east of the Tri-County rail line that runs from Palm Beach to Miami; transit is otherwise sporadic in that area.

The Philadelphia museum’s access exemplifies the extensive rail network, especially in the Northeast, that allows area Jews to reach it with little trouble. It is obvious that the museum could be a large draw for Jews from New York City and its suburbs.

A number of ways are available to reach Philadelphia, but the most common means is commuter rail from Manhattan’s Penn Station to Market East Station in Philadelphia, six blocks west of the museum. Visitors from New York can take a New Jersey Transit train to Trenton and switch to a SEPTA train bound for center city.

Long Islanders and New Jerseyans can readily connect. A family from Short Hills or Teaneck in New Jersey can ride a local train to the Secaucus Junction (between Newark and Manhattan) and switch to a New Jersey Transit train bound for Trenton. A family from Great Neck or Merrick can take the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station to catch an NJT train. It is also doable for those living in Westchester and Connecticut if they do not mind spending 20 minutes on the subway connecting Grand Central to Penn Station.

The museum’s management might wish to consider promoting its access to transportation.

The major transit agencies in the Northeast have tossed in obstacles in the form of higher fares, including NJT, SEPTA and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. NJT’s fares rose sharply last May 1. A round-trip from Trenton to New York shot up from $21.50 to $31. Coupled with SEPTA’s lesser increases a few months later, the combined round trip from Philadelphia to Manhattan increased from $37.50 to $49. Ironically, Amtrak prices have dipped, though not enough.

Rising fares will only deter people from using public transportation, and local service should be expanded in communities that need it. Meanwhile, we can be grateful for the system that now exists, especially in the Northeast. May a higher authority forbid that it should turn into a museum piece.