A new city, a whole new transit system! From my home base at the University of Pennsylvania, I’ll be reviewing every bus route and train station on the sprawling SEPTA.
*Full Disclosure: I volunteer on the SEPTA Youth Advisory Council, but all opinions on this blog are my own.
Recent Posts from Miles on SEPTA
47M (Whitman Plaza to 7th-Spring Garden via 9th Street)
Ugh...this thing. Okay, time for a history lesson: the regular 47 (sans "M") used to travel on 9th Street in the northbound direction, running straight through the Italian Market. While it was great to have a direct bus serving that location, the market ultimately...
57 (Whitman Plaza to Rising Sun-Olney or Fern Rock Transportation Center)
Wow, have we got a beast today. The 57 is an absolutely massive route, going from the northern border of Philadelphia (and indeed, slightly over it) to almost the southern border! But in typical Miles in Transit fashion, I wasn't content with picking just any variant...
43 (Richmond-Cumberland to 50th-Parkside)
Our last SEPTA review was on the 64, a route that runs crosstown along a wide, close-to-the-city road in South Philadelphia and runs more infrequently than it should. The 43 is the northern version of that! Oh wait, let's review the 50th-Parkside Loop first. The...
64 (50th-Parkside to Pier 70)
Some routes make a ton of sense as crosstowns. Take the 15: it runs straight across Girard and operates frequently all day every day to really maximize its usefulness. SEPTA has lots of routes like that. But then...there's the odd, odd case of the 64. Ostensibly it's...
22 (Warminster and Willow Grove to Olney Transportation Center)
It's a testament to the size of SEPTA's suburban network that so many Regional Rail termini have bus connections. While the 22 to Warminster is nowhere near the odyssey of the 55 to Doylestown, it's still impressive that an entire Regional Rail line can have a local...
Hatboro
Sure, I could've easily done the hour-long walk from Southampton to Warminster after riding the 24. But...I've reviewed Warminster already. So of course I would opt for the 90-minute walk to the next station over, Hatboro! Wouldn't you??? The station seen from Byberry...
24 (Southampton and Rockledge to Frankford Transportation Center)
One thing I'll always give SEPTA praise for is the connectivity of its suburban network. It's obviously not perfect, but there are very few routes that end in places where no direct connections can be made. Today, though, we'll be checking out one of the exceptions:...
J (Chelten-Wissahickon to Richmond-Orthodox)
I'm sure SEPTA had plenty of reason for each route they chose to operate their COVID-19 "lifeline service", but I find it odd that the J, an infrequent crosstown route sandwiched between two more frequent ones, gets precedent over, say, the 54 (or, like, the 33 or 48?...
Germantown
The Chestnut Hill East Line takes a pretty odd route through Northwest Philly - it's generally straight, except for what is essentially a deviation where the track goes out of the way from the path you would expect it to take. Of course, it's to serve Germantown, a...
91-DIVOC fo egA eht ni tisnarT
(to help translate this stupidity, this website will be helpful - just copy and paste the whole thing in there) .worromot gnimoc tsop laeR .yaD slooF lirpA yppah oslA .sdnah ruoy hsaw dna ,)!sklaw no og ,sklaw tpecxe( emoh ta yats ,efas yats uoy erus ekam ,ot eganam...
65 (Germantown-Chelten to 69th Street Transportation Center)
The 65 is a fascinating route. A crosstown along the often suburban-feeling City (Line) Ave, it runs surprisingly frequently and ends up attracting a decent amount of ridership! Well, I say it's time for a trip along the literal outskirts of Philly to see what the...
Haverford
This station has an almost...enigmatic feel to it. When you're inside it, it's like being inside this mysterious place that appeared out of nowhere and hasn't been changed in years. Such is the nature of the Haverford Regional Rail station. One of the station's...
K (Ridge-Midvale to Arrott Transportation Center)
The K really is an odd duck in the SEPTA canon. Forming almost an upside-down U, this route is a crosstown across North Philadelphia that completely overshoots the Broad Street Line, running through some of the northernmost reaches of the city. Despite that, it...
Girard (BSL)
I reported this to SEPTA, so it isn't an issue anymore, but the station page for the Girard Broad Street Line station showed a map of the Girard Market Frankford Line station! See, this is why you don't give your stations the same name, because stuff like this...
7 (Pier 70 to 33rd-Dauphin)
Oof, this might be one of SEPTA's most beastly City Transit routes. It doesn't get much crazier than taking a convoluted path from North Philly down into Center City, onward to South Philly, across to the other side of town, and then back up to serve the South Philly...