Phila. Van-Pooling Organization Expands As
Jobs Become More Scarce
KYW online
Published: March 30, 20009
By Karin Phillips
Photos by Karin Phillips
The "Commuter Options" program of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project is going into its fourth year of providing transportion to people working in the suburbs.
And it continues to thrive despite the recession.
Hal Marczely, who supervises maintenance on the more than 30 vans used by the Commuter Options program, pulls into a Fairless Hills (Bucks County) parking lot that serves Falls Manufacturing Company and a U-Haul dealer, to await the arrival of several workers needing rides back home to Philadelphia:
"At least with the van, we have a driver. He keeps the van at his house. He'll get up, drive around the neighborhood, pick everybody up at their door. Everybody goes to work. They work today, and he comes back and drops everybody off."
Al (no last name given), 23, is a welder at Falls/U-Haul, and lives in Southwest Philadelphia:
"Without the van, I can't have the job because I have no transportation, because no buses come up here. So we need the van service."
And even with the van service, Al says, it's a long day:
"Yeah, I get up about 4:20 every day, and this young gentleman over here, Wil, he comes and gets us. Very kind guy. Gets us here safely."
Len Lebowitz is Commuter Options program manager:
"Our job developer is working on some new pools with a company in Jersey which going to a second shift; they're hiring more people so they're looking for transportation."
For more information, call 215-557-0822.