Confused About the New SEPTA Bus Route Numbers? We’re Here to Help
And we can also explain those “SEPTA Metro” letters.
As of February 23rd, the Route K bus will be the last lettered bus route SEPTA operates — and its days are also numbered. Read on to learn why. / Photograph by Sandy Smith
SEPTA has been trumpeting this for months now, and this Sunday, February 23rd, the Big Switch is finally taking place.
With the start of the spring schedules, SEPTA is introducing a new system for identifying the bus and rail transit lines in the city and suburbs. From Sunday on, all the bus routes will have numbers, while all the rail transit routes — the rapid transit and light rail lines the agency has dubbed “SEPTA Metro” — will be identified by letters.
SEPTA announced the letters last fall. The renumberings apply to six of the seven lettered bus routes, all of which operate within the city of Philadelphia. The old letters, new numbers and areas the buses serve are:
| Old Route Letter | New Route Number | Areas Served |
|---|---|---|
| G | 63 | Columbus Commons, Whitman, Lower Moyamensing, Girard Estate, Elmwood Park, Mount Moriah, Cobbs Creek, Haddington, Carroll Park, Wynnefield, St. Joseph’s University, Lankenau Hospital |
| H | 71 | Nicetown, Abbotsford Homes, Germantown, Mount Airy (including “Cedarbrook”), Cheltenham-Ogontz Loop |
| J | 41 | Bridesburg, Frankford, Crescentville, Logan, East Germantown, Germantown |
| L | 51* | Olney Transit Center, Somerville, Germantown/West Oak Lane, Mount Airy (including “Cedarbrook”), Chestnut Hill |
| L | 51 | Olney Transit Center, Somerville, Germantown/West Oak Lane, Mount Airy (including “Cedarbrook”), Chestnut Hill, Chestnut Hill College, Lafayette Hill, Plymouth Meeting Mall |
| R | 82* | Frankford Transit Center, Oxford Circle, Feltonville, Hunting Park, Allegheny West, East Falls, Wissahickon Transit Center |
| XH | 81 | Nicetown, Abbotsford Homes, Germantown, East Germantown, West Oak Lane, Cheltenham-Ogontz Loop |
In addition, SEPTA is introducing new graphics to make it easy for riders to identify routes where buses run frequently (every 15 minutes or more often during the day and evening). The routes marked with asterisks above have frequent service and will be identified on maps and signs with a red or black background.
Route K (East Falls to Arrott Transit Center via Germantown, the Oak Lanes, Olney and Crescentville) will keep its letter for now, as it will be combined with existing Route 26 in a later phase of SEPTA’s New Bus Network systemwide revamp.
For the time being, both the letters and the numbers will appear on maps and signs so that riders can get used to the new nomenclature. However, not all bus stops may have the new signage installed by the time the changes take effect Sunday. Be prepared for some confusion, then, if you go to, say, your bus stop on Route L and a bus with a Route 51 destination sign rolls up.
Some details of the new SEPTA renaming project, including the Broad Street Line, trolleys and Market-Frankford Line
Signs are also being installed on the rail transit routes, which will all be color-coded as well. The old names/route numbers and new letters/colors are:
| Old Route Name/Number | New Route Letter | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Broad Street Local | B1 | Local from Fern Rock Transit Center to NRG Station |
| Broad Street Express | B2 | Express from Fern Rock Transit Center to Walnut-Locust |
| Broad-Ridge Spur | B3 | Express from Fern Rock Transit Center or Olney Transit Center to 8th and Market |
| Market-Frankford Line | L | Frankford Transit Center to 69th Street Transit Center |
| Trolley Route 15 | G | Richmond and Westmoreland Loop to 63rd Street and Girard Avenue via Richmond Street and Girard Avenue |
| Trolley Route 10 | T1 | 13th and Market to 63rd and Malvern via subway, Lancaster and Lansdowne avenues, and 63rd Street |
| Trolley Route 34 | T2 | 13th and Market to 61st and Baltimore via subway and Baltimore Avenue |
| Trolley Route 13 | T3 | 13th and Market to Yeadon via subway and Chester Avenue (extended to Darby peak hours) |
| Trolley Route 11 | T4 | 13th and Market to Darby via subway, Woodland Avenue and Darby Main Street |
| Trolley Route 36 | T5 | 13th and Market to Eastwick via subway, Woodland Avenue, Lindbergh Boulevard, Elmwood Avenue and Island Road |
| Media Trolley (Route 101) | D1 | 69th Street Transit Center to Media |
| Sharon Hill Trolley (Route 102) | D2 | 69th Street Transit Center to Sharon Hill |
| Norristown High-Speed Line (Route 100) | M1 | 69th Street Transit Center to Norristown Transit Center |
In a sense, this is a “back to the future” move — an inversion of the situation in the 1920s, when streetcars moved the masses and motor buses were a novelty. Back then, all the streetcar routes had numbers, and when the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company decided to launch some “experimental” bus routes, it gave those routes letters. And over the decades that followed, as buses replaced streetcars, the bus routes kept the old streetcar route numbers.
We’ve managed to live with this arrangement for some time now. So why did SEPTA choose now to rework the route designations for a bunch of bus and rail lines?
“SEPTA previously had many lettered bus routes, but over time, they have been systematically transitioned to numbered routes,” says Elvira Méndez, senior press officer and multilingual communications lead at SEPTA. “Now is an ideal time to finalize these changes, as two major initiatives — Bus Revolution and SEPTA Metro — have provided the opportunity to evaluate signage and wayfinding in a comprehensive and efficient manner.
“The transition from letters to numbers was a key discussion point in both projects, and rider feedback consistently indicated strong support for simplifying the system. Standardizing our bus numbering enhances clarity, improves navigation, and makes SEPTA’s network more user-friendly for all passengers.”
So while you might experience some cognitive dissonance over the next few weeks with these new SEPTA bus route numbers, relax, for you’ll get used to it. You probably don’t even remember Routes C and D anymore.
(A bit of history again: Route C, the third bus route, operated along Broad Street, with two service patterns: South Philadelphia to Fern Rock and City Hall to Cheltenham and Ogontz. The first pattern is now Route 4 and the other is now Route 16. Route D, the fourth, operated along Locust and Sansom streets in Center City and Chestnut and Walnut streets in West Philadelphia. It moved to those latter two streets in Center City when streetcar service on them ceased in 1956. We now know it as Route 21.)
