The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has released its final proposal for Bus Revolution, the authority’s first comprehensive bus network redesign, following an extensive community engagement effort this spring.
SEPTA worked in close collaboration with Philadelphia, Pa., City Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson and other members of the Philadelphia City Council to identify neighborhood locations for additional community meetings within four council districts. Philadelphia City Council assisted with promoting the meetings to the community, which took place from March 6 to April 4.
The agency held the eight in-person community meetings in Districts 4, 5, 7 and 8 and held one virtual meeting to facilitate engagement and feedback by the disabled community. The proposal is expected to be considered for a vote by the SEPTA Board at its next meeting on May 23.
The proposed redesigned network will offer 30 percent more frequent routes (buses that come 15 minutes or better between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.), improve access and deliver a simplified bus network. Under the new network, more riders will have access to frequent transit and will benefit from faster, more direct bus routes with reliable schedules and better connections to other SEPTA services.
“The new bus network will improve access to our families, friends, healthcare, jobs, education and places of worship. We have worked closely with [Philadelphia] City Council and our riders, operators and stakeholders for more than two years to deliver a plan that will make our bus network more frequent, reliable and accessible across the entire region,” said SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards. “As we work toward implementation, we will continue to listen to our riders and stakeholders to ensure that our network provides equitable access for all.”
Based on the latest round of engagement, the latest Bus Revolution network will include the following changes:
- Reinstate the full alignment of Route 32 between Roxborough and South Broad Street, serving Strawberry Mansion and Fairmount.
- Reinstate the full alignment of Route 16 to City Hall.
- Restore the full-length alignment of Route 57 (removing the split at York and Dauphin).
- Reinstate Route H as Route 71 to preserve connections in Mount Airy and Germantown to the Broad Street Line.
- Extend Route 26 through East Falls to the new Wissahickon Transit Center.
- Reinstate Route 12 to 50th and Woodland.
- Extend Route 73 along Aramingo and Frankford Avenues (replacing route 25).
In addition, SEPTA has made two additional changes in response to feedback from Philadelphia City Council:
- Restore Route 18 alignment in Cedarbrook to preserve local service on Mount Pleasant Avenue, Michener Avenue and Roumfort Road.
- Increase the frequency of Route 52 trips serving 54th and City Avenue to ensure North 52nd St. in Wynnefield is served by the frequent bus network
The new redesign builds on the extensive work SEPTA has conducted during the past two years to engage residents across the region with more than 200 public meetings, including 152 in-person sessions. Through these meetings and other outreach efforts, SEPTA reviewed more than 10,000 comments and that feedback was incorporated into revised versions of the plan.
Once the network is approved, SEPTA will launch a comprehensive communications and engagement campaign to educate riders about bus route changes. Portions of the new network will launch in summer 2025 and will continue through fall 2025.
The proposed bus network changes can be found on SEPTA’s website.
