SEPTA to alter service and schedule due to overcrowding and understaffing

SEPTA will alter service to some of its bus lines for its spring timetable — effective the week of Feb. 27.

Seventeen bus routes will operate with slightly lower frequency to reflect demand, and those resources will be shifted to routes with greater ridership. Buses on the Market-Frankford line will now arrive every six minutes instead of five. All other schedules will remain unchanged, and no routes or lines will be eliminated.

These changes will be made in order to address overcrowding and staff shortages, and are based on real-time ridership data, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

To reduce the average number of riders per bus from 40 to 30 people, buses on Route G will arrive every six minutes instead of eight during peak hours in the morning and every 12 minutes instead of 15 in the afternoon. Those on Route 70 will have a similar increase in frequency during the afternoon to help accommodate increased demand during that time.

Ridership on SEPTA lines is currently at 50% of what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, WHYY reported. In an effort to increase ridership, SEPTA will be offering 25% off all weekly passes during the weeks of March 7, 14, and 21. Passes can be loaded online or at a station kiosk and can be used on all types of transportation. 

These changes will allow SEPTA to “provide more predictable and reliable service while preparing for growth in the months ahead,” SEPTA General Manager and CEO Leslie S. Richards said in a press release.

The new SEPTA schedules can be viewed on the SEPTA website or, starting Feb. 27, on the SEPTA mobile app. 

Last November, SEPTA union workers reached an agreement for improved working conditions, avoiding a strike. Their two-year contract received a majority vote by the SEPTA Board and SETPA continued operating under normal conditions.