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
18 (Fox Chase to Cedarbrook Plaza)
Welcome to SEPTA's busiest bus route, the 18! And I know what you might be thinking: "You stupid hack-fraud idiot, the busiest route is the 23! Duh!" But oh no, my dear detractor: because the 23 was split in two, the 18 now gets more daily riders! Let's take a full...
8 (Olney Transportation Center to Frankford Transportation Center)
Long before the limited-stop Boulevard Direct, which offered frequent service, specially branded 60-foot buses, and upgraded stops was created, there was the 8. Running between two of the biggest transportation centers on SEPTA with limited stops in between, this...
Merion
Merion is the true first stop on the Main Line. Overbrook? That's not really the Main Line. It's within the borders of Philadelphia, there are rowhouses within its walkshed, and it even has a few tall-ish buildings around it. Now compare that to Merion, which aside...
Service Change: Scotland, Part 1 – Edinburgh and Glasgow
Let's talk about some Scottish transit! I took a bunch of pictures of all the stuff we rode, so I figured they shouldn't go to waste. We begin with Scotland's two largest cities and their respective transit systems... Two trams at Edinburgh Airport. There are two main...
34th Street (MFL)
University City is truly a neighborhood of opportunity. The confluence of some of the brightest minds in the country, this area offers amazing hospitals, brilliant colleges, and exciting new research happening every day. 34th Street is right smack in the middle of all...
Girard (MFL)
It seems like every other ISEPTAPHILLY post pertains to some event or SEPTA Perk happening near Girard Station. That makes sense - this neighborhood, Fishtown, represents ground zero for Philadelphia's rapid gentrification, making it a real "hot" place to be, for...
Race-Vine (BSL)
For family weekend, my parents stayed at a hotel from which Race-Vine was the closest station. It was still faster for me to just take the El and walk, but hey - new station review. Let's do it. An entrance on Race. None of Race-Vine's entrances at Race Street amount...
R (Henry-Midvale and Wissahickon Transportation Center to Frankford Transportation Center)
"R" you "R"eady for a "R"ollicking "R"omp down "R"oosevelt "R"oad? I su"R"e am! Ahoy, mateys: "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi, everyone from the Inquirer article. I swear I'm not always like this. Just...most of the time. Welcome! There were lots of people boarding...
West Trenton
Okay, with a name like "West Trenton," you would think that the station would be...slightly less middle-of-nowhere. I mean, when the surrounding attractions include farmland and a country club, it's pretty easy to say that there's a degree of...middle-of-nowhere-ness...
39 (Richmond-Cumberland to 33rd-Dauphin)
A crosstown route across North Philadelphia from Strawberry Mansion to Olde Richmond? Alright, the 39 sounds pretty good to me! Wait...why does the route have a four-block jog in the eastbound direction only? Ohhhh noooooooo... "SEPTA off duty"? Come on! We headed...
3 (33rd-Cecil B. Moore to Frankford Transportation Center)
It was of the utmost importance that I rode the 3 on a Saturday or Sunday midday. You see, most of the time, it does indeed end at a SEPTA loop at 33rd-Cecil B. Moore, but on weekend middays...yes, weekend middays, it gets extended to the Smith Memorial Playground in...
33rd Street (Trolleys)
Uh-oh...better make this quick, I'm in enemy territory! This is 33rd Street Station. One of the two station entrances. A block east from the El's 34th Street Station, 33rd Street is placed just before the trolley tracks join Market Street. The two entrances are...
Guide to SEPTA’s Summer 2019 Transit Service Changes
Boy oh boy oh boy, did SEPTA botch this one up. They waited until two days before these changes are scheduled to occur to put the update on the website, and there are a ton of missing links and false information and typos and oh geez, we have a lot to get through....
79 (Columbus Commons to 29th-Snyder)
The 79 is a pretty good route to begin with: it's a short, generally frequent, well-used crosstown straight across South Philadelphia on Snyder Ave. Sure, it used trackless trolleys until 2003, and it's a real bummer that it doesn't use them anymore, but 16 years...
25 (Columbus Commons to Frankford Transportation Center)
It's the age-old question that's been asked for centuries: what's the best way of getting to the South Philadelphia malls? Scientists generally agree that it's most efficient to hop on a southbound Broad Street Line train armed with an app to figure out when the first...