Page updated October 2024
SEPTA is making its bus network more frequent, more reliable and introducing better service on nights and weekends.
Overview
Our city and region have changed a lot in the last couple of decades. The reasons we travel, the destinations we visit, and when and how often we commute have all shifted — and now is the time to update our bus network to meet those changing needs. Rolling out a new bus network for the nation’s fifth largest transit network is a massive undertaking – and it will take time to implement. You’ll start seeing some new signs and updated routes in a phased approach.
Read on to find out what changes we’re making, why we’re making them, when you can expect them, and most importantly, how it affects you.
These updates are just one part of SEPTA’s Better Bus Initiative which includes partnering with local governments in the communities we serve and making game-changing capital investments to improve service for our riders.
Responding to Riders
Over the past three years, we’ve held over 150 in-person and 50 virtual meetings with riders about redesigning the bus network.
Through all of that listening, the most common concerns that riders shared that their bus should come more often (frequency), on-time (reliability), and provide more night and weekend options (schedules). The new bus network prioritizes service that is more frequent, more reliable, and better matches with our riders’ needs, so you can access more of our region than ever before.
Types of Changes
The new bus network will include 106 routes including 41 frequent routes, plus the addition of 6 new SEPTA GO zones (where riders will be able to request a ride and be picked up).
SEPTA evaluated each of its routes to determine how to best update the network. In the end, there are eight types of changes coming to the network:
Schedule Change – The route will remain the same, but the schedule will be updated to make buses come more often, or to adjust service for demand. Often, both will be changed to match service to when riders need it most: many routes are getting more service on nights and weekends!
Renumbering – Out of SEPTA’s 128 bus routes, 7 have letters. There used to be more, but SEPTA has been gradually switching these routes to numbers over the past few decades (remember the C?). Now, we’ll be switching the last routes over to numbers. This will help get everyone on the same page as we begin the route changes. These changes are occurring alongside the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project, which uses letters for trains.
Minor Route Change – This route will change slightly to avoid congestion, left turns, stop lights or signs — minor changes that create major improvements to reliability for that route’s riders. Check out the update to Route 64 as an example. (Red line is the new route; the dotted line is the existing route).
Major Route Change – The route will change more significantly, either shifting significant amounts of service to a new road or changing where it starts and ends. Check out the update to Route 70 as an example. (Thick red line is the new route; dotted black line is the existing route).
Route Extension – The route will go farther than it currently does. Check out Route 65’s extension to Fern Rock Transit Center.
Route Simplification – SEPTA’s bus routes can be complicated, going to different places on different days, or even different times of day. Sometimes this is necessary, but other times it causes more confusion. For instance, there are currently 24 (!) different versions of the G bus that make it hard to predict where exactly the bus will go. Many of SEPTA’s routes will be simpler and more predictable than in the past. For example, the new Route 63 will always go from Pier 70 to Overbrook, though some buses will also continue to Lankenau Medical Center.
Route Redistribution – Some routes will be replaced by a new one or might be absorbed into a nearby existing one, so it’s not always a one-for-one comparison. For example, the stops on the current Route 25 will be absorbed by the updated Route 73, and the new Route 76.
While the total number of routes is being reduced, the overall amount of service is staying exactly the same: we’re keeping the same number of buses and the same number of operators, just using them to run fewer routes. That means that each SEPTA bus route will have more buses and operators on average than in the past, translating to more reliable and frequent service across the region.
In the end, 99 percent of current bus riders will still be no more than a 5-minute walk away from a bus, while nearly 20 percent more people will now be a 5-minute walk away from frequent transit service that they didn’t have before.
SEPTA GO Zones – As part of the new bus network, SEPTA is introducing a new, zone-based option for riders in some suburban areas: SEPTA GO. With SEPTA GO, riders will be able to use an app or call to request a vehicle to pick them up and take them to anywhere else in the zone, including connections to buses and trains. These GO zones will replace certain infrequent suburban bus routes, and GO trips will cost the same as a regular bus trip.
Schedule Change – The route will remain the same, but the schedule will be updated to make buses come more often, or to adjust service for demand. Often, both will be changed to match service to when riders need it most: many routes are getting more service on nights and weekends!
Renumbering – Out of SEPTA’s 128 bus routes, 7 have letters. There used to be more, but SEPTA has been gradually switching these routes to numbers over the past few decades (remember the C?). Now, we’ll be switching the last routes over to numbers. This will help get everyone on the same page as we begin the route changes. These changes are occurring alongside the SEPTA Metro wayfinding project, which uses letters for trains.
Minor Route Change – This route will change slightly to avoid congestion, left turns, stop lights or signs — minor changes that create major improvements to reliability for that route’s riders. Check out the update to Route 64 as an example. (Red line is the new route; the dotted line is the existing route).
Major Route Change – The route will change more significantly, either shifting significant amounts of service to a new road or changing where it starts and ends. Check out the update to Route 70 as an example. (Thick red line is the new route; dotted black line is the existing route).
Route Extension – The route will go farther than it currently does. Check out Route 65’s extension to Fern Rock Transit Center.
Route Simplification – SEPTA’s bus routes can be complicated, going to different places on different days, or even different times of day. Sometimes this is necessary, but other times it causes more confusion. For instance, there are currently 24 (!) different versions of the G bus that make it hard to predict where exactly the bus will go. Many of SEPTA’s routes will be simpler and more predictable than in the past. For example, the new Route 63 will always go from Pier 70 to Overbrook, though some buses will also continue to Lankenau Medical Center.
Route Redistribution – Some routes will be replaced by a new one or might be absorbed into a nearby existing one, so it’s not always a one-for-one comparison. For example, the stops on the current Route 25 will be absorbed by the updated Route 73, and the new Route 76.
While the total number of routes is being reduced, the overall amount of service is staying exactly the same: we’re keeping the same number of buses and the same number of operators, just using them to run fewer routes. That means that each SEPTA bus route will have more buses and operators on average than in the past, translating to more reliable and frequent service across the region.
In the end, 99 percent of current bus riders will still be no more than a 5-minute walk away from a bus, while nearly 20 percent more people will now be a 5-minute walk away from frequent transit service that they didn’t have before.
SEPTA GO Zones – As part of the new bus network, SEPTA is introducing a new, zone-based option for riders in some suburban areas: SEPTA GO. With SEPTA GO, riders will be able to use an app or call to request a vehicle to pick them up and take them to anywhere else in the zone, including connections to buses and trains. These GO zones will replace certain infrequent suburban bus routes, and GO trips will cost the same as a regular bus trip.