Everything we know about SEPTA’s updated Bus Revolution plan and how you can weigh in

SEPTA revealed its “Bus Revolution” redesign in October. It would be the first makeover for the bus network since 1964, with the aim of faster, more frequent service.

Schedules have been tied to peak demand, with more buses running during traditional morning and evening rushes and many routes drawn to move people to and from Center City, Dan Nemiroff, the senior planner in charge of the redesign project, said at the time the first design was revealed.

SEPTA began studying bus redesign efforts after ridership declined about 20% between 2011 and 2019, a drop attributed to slow speeds, problems with reliability, and competition from ride-sharing companies — and that was before COVID-19.

After COVID-19, demand for peak-hour bus rides is down and has increased during midday and night hours, when scheduled frequency can drop, forcing some riders to wait more than 20 minutes between buses.

Now, SEPTA has issued a revised “Bus Revolution 2.0″ plan.

“We reconsidered everything that we had done with the initial draft,” Nemiroff said.

SEPTA will start another round of in-person community meetings on Wednesday, April 5, at the East Passyunk Rec Center, 1025 Mifflin St. More information on that and other meetings, as well as transit center pop-ups and online webinars can be found on the Bus Revolution website.

The original plan would have cut bus routes from the current 125 to 99. The newly released draft has 105 routes. The revised plan also labels the routes with their current numbers instead of changing to a new, triple-digit naming system.

The 44 high-frequency routes, defined as having scheduled times between buses of 15 minutes or less, proposed in October remain in the updated plan. The most frequent buses would run from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, SEPTA says. Currently, SEPTA runs 33 high-frequency routes.

Planners have denoted 10 max, 15 max, 30 max, and 60 max, routes, identified by the maximum number of minutes between buses on each route. All 44 of the proposed high-frequency routes are at least “15 max” routes.

The lines were designed to use fewer streets, keeping buses on arterial roads as much as possible, and many routes were straightened to reduce turns. SEPTA has stressed that it is not reducing

Route-specific maps are available on SEPTA’s Bus Revolution website, and readers can find information about frequency of service by route on this interactive map of the draft network and see the routes by zooming in.

When the redesign was launched, there was a lot of talk about the need to reduce the number of bus stops in order to speed up the network and make service more reliable. That inspired anxiety among many; SEPTA says it hasn’t made any decisions on stops.

“A lot of people use the bus network to make very short trips, and forcing people to transfer in the middle of a very short trip is extremely frustrating,” Nemiroff said. “We really paid attention to that.”

SEPTA’s original plan called for combining Routes 17 and 33, but after riders blasted that idea in meetings, the agency’s revised draft maintains both routes separately.

The revised plan also keeps the existing Route 12, which was originally slated to be eliminated — though it would be shorter and travel eastbound through Center City on Chestnut Street, to take advantage of bus-only lanes. Routes 9 and 27 will also be kept as they are following loud criticism from residents in Roxborough and Manayunk.

SEPTA originally planned to begin implementing changes to its bus network in late 2023 but has pushed back that deadline following community feedback and the updated draft.

The transit agency said it will continue to do outreach, solicit feedback, and update its plans throughout the spring before finalizing the plan this summer. During the fall, SEPTA will still hold public hearings as it plans the implementation of the new network, which will now roll out in 2024.

This may be the biggest change in the Bus Revolution: a brand-new service.

In 15 suburban zones — 79 square miles in all — SEPTA would offer on-demand bus service. It would operate like Uber or Lyft, replacing routes where buses come only every 60 minutes, in areas where there is demand for transit but not enough to sustain a robust fixed-route schedule.

On-demand zones would be established in, among other places, Lower Bucks County; northern Montgomery County; in Chester County, around Phoenixville and Malvern; and in Delaware County near Broomall.

After the original draft was released, SEPTA and its consultants heard from about 20,000 people during 26 public meetings online and in person and in online surveys. The agency also received more than 5,000 written comments through December.

Transit advocates criticized the agency, saying it could have had more participation if it had advertised better.

“We reconsidered everything that we had done with the initial draft,” Nemiroff said.

SEPTA will hold information pop-ups at transit centers, more in-person community meetings, and online webinars through at least early May.