PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Your bus stop may be moving this fall, and your route may change, too. SEPTA said it is reviving its much-delayed plan to overhaul its bus network to make service more dependable.
SEPTA’s New Bus Network — originally dubbed the Bus Revolution — would keep the same number of buses but reduce the number of routes from 124 to 106 to provide more frequent service.
The plan was put on the shelf last summer amid SEPTA’s budget uncertainty. Now, with stable operating funds for two years, the route changes are being phased in starting this fall.
“Our bus network has really never been through a comprehensive redesign like this,” said Lex Powers, SEPTA’s chief of customer experience. “The last time that we changed things wholesale was over a half-century ago.”
The redesign eliminates patterns with low ridership and cuts duplicate service, with the goal of having buses run more frequently.
“A frequent route is something that runs every 15 minutes or better, seven days a week,” explained Colin Foley, SEPTA’s deputy chief planning officer. “The existing network has nine routes that do that, and once we implement the full New Bus Network plan, we’ll have 29 routes.”
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The first phase in August will see two new routes: the 72 on Cheltenham Avenue and the 76 from Crescentville to Center City. Riders can expect to learn more about which routes are changing and when in the coming months.
“You’ll see us out and about in communities around the region, talking with riders at bus stops, making sure they understand the changes that are to come starting in August,” said Ryan Judge, SEPTA’s interim assistant general manager of planning and strategy.
Phase two is next February, with the third phase in June of 2027.