PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia transit system's largest union went on strike early Tuesday, stalling the city's bus, subway and trolley operations a day after the World Series shifted to New York and forcing thousands of commuters to find other ways to work.

The strike by Transport Workers Union Local 234 all but crippled a transit system that averages more than 928,000 trips each weekday. The union represents more than 5,000 drivers, operators and mechanics of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

"We don't deserve to wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning to find out if there's a strike," said Jeffrey Chandler, 49, who had to call a friend for a ride to SEPTA's regional rail line so he could get to his job as a hotel room attendant.

The union had threatened to go on strike during the World Series. But over the weekend Gov. Ed Rendell ordered the union and SEPTA to remain at the bargaining table or risk consequences.

Willie Brown, the local's president, said they decided to strike after both sides agreed that they had gone as far as they could in negotiations. The announcement came just hours after the Phillies beat the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series, the last game to be played at Citizens Bank Park. Brown said the strike was effective as of 3 a.m. Tuesday.

The doors to subway stations were gated off Tuesday and no buses crawled the streets in the city's downtown corridor. Commuters trying to get to work said they had to make last-minute accommodations when they awoke to word of a strike.

Riders expressed a range of emotions, from anger to resignation.

Aisha Nnoli, a doctor from Upper Darby, had just finished a 12-hour shift at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital when she found the gates closed at her subway train stop. When she went to the next station and saw it was also closed, she said she started realizing there might be a strike.