43 Facts About SEPTA

SEPTA is the major transit provider for Philadelphia and the counties of Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester.

SEPTA has the 6th-largest U S rapid transit system by ridership, and the 5th largest overall transit system, with about 302 million annual unlinked trips as of fiscal year 2018.

SEPTA is one of only two U S transit authorities that operates all of the five major types of terrestrial transit vehicles: regional rail trains, rapid transit trains, light rail vehicles, trolleybuses, and motorbuses.

Meanwhile, SEPTA gradually began to take over the Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading Company commuter trains.

SEPTA primarily sought to consolidate the formerly-competing services, leading to severe cutbacks in the mid-1980s.

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SEPTA's planning department focused on the Schuylkill Valley Metro, a "cross-county metro" that would re-establish service to Phoenixville, Pottstown and Reading without requiring the rider to go into Philadelphia.

Many derelict lines under SEPTA ownership have been converted to rail trails, postponing any restoration proposals for the foreseeable future.

In September 2021, SEPTA proposed rebranding their rail transit services as the "SEPTA Metro", in order to make the system easier to navigate.

In March 2022, SEPTA revised the SEPTA Metro proposal based on feedback from a 2 month-long outreach period between September and October 2021.

Day-to-day operations of SEPTA are handled by the general manager, who is appointed and hired by the board of directors.

SEPTA is a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission, a federal commission on Northeast Corridor rail service.

The SEPTA board voted in October 2006 not to order additional vehicles for Routes 29 and 79, and those routes permanently became non-electric.

SEPTA generally employs lettered, one and two-digit route numbering for its City Division routes; 90-series and 100-series routes for its Suburban Division routes; 200-series routes for its Regional Rail connector routes ; 300-series routes for other specialized or third-party contract routes; and 400-series routes for limited-service buses to schools within Philadelphia.

All of SEPTA's buses are fully accessible under the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act .

SEPTA was sued successfully over its lack of accessibility back in 2009.

SEPTA has three major operating divisions: City Transit, Suburban, and Regional Rail.

SEPTA turned over the Bucks County routes to Frontier Division in November 1983.

SEPTA did replace two of the routes with their own bus service.

Since ridership patterns have changed since the implementation of this plan, SEPTA removed the R-numbers from the lines in July 2010 and instead refers to the lines by the names of their termini.

CCT Connect is a paratransit service from SEPTA that offers a Shared-Ride Program for senior citizens and ADA Paratransit Service for people with disabilities.

SEPTA gets income from passenger fares, investments, and multiple government agencies to cover operating costs.

SEPTA receives this financial support in the form of direct subsidies, grants, income from a Pennsylvanian sales tax, proceeds from state bond programs, and lease subsidies.

SEPTA Key card is a smart card that can be used for fares and passes on SEPTA's transit services and Regional Rail.

SEPTA offers intermediate fares for trips on Regional Rail that do not go through Center City Philadelphia along with via Center City Philadelphia fares that can be used between two outlying stations that require travel through Center City Philadelphia.

SEPTA allows senior citizens to ride transit services and Regional Rail trains in Pennsylvania for free with identification; fares on Regional Rail trains operating to Delaware or New Jersey are half the weekday fare.

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SEPTA allows all children under the age of 12 to ride for free with a fare-paying adult; children riding alone must pay regular fares.

SEPTA offers special fares for students in K–12 schools who ride SEPTA to get to school.

SEPTA offers the SEPTA Key University Pass as a discount transit pass for college students at participating colleges.

In 1982, SEPTA ordered buses from Neoplan USA, a purchase that was both the largest for Neoplan at the time and SEPTA's largest to date.

SEPTA changed its specifications on new bus orders each year.

SEPTA ultimately received 450 buses from this order: 425 were 40-foot buses, which came without wheelchair lifts, and 25 35-foot buses .

SEPTA had decided to buy from Metrotrans Legacy, SEPTA's first choice in small buses, but the company filed for bankruptcy in 1999.

SEPTA placed an order with delivery starting in 2008 for 400 New Flyer hybrid buses—with options for up to 80 additional buses to replace the NABI Ikarus buses at the end of their 12-year life.

SEPTA was the first to purchase New Flyer DE40LFs equipped with rooftop HVAC units.

Additionally, SEPTA is replacing cloth seats with plastic seats on their buses that were delivered since and after 2008 in an effort to combat bed bug infestations.

In 2016, SEPTA launched a pilot program that would see battery electric buses replace diesel buses on former trackless trolley routes 29 and 79.

PART and SEPTA have an agreement allowing transfers between PART service and SEPTA Route 93 buses in Pottstown.

SEPTA serves Philadelphia International Airport with local bus service and with the Airport Line from Center City.

SEPTA made improvements in the 21st century that helped reverse the downward trend.

SEPTA inaugurated a consolidated, multi-modal control center that helps manage all aspects of the system.

SEPTA was voted the best large transit agency in North America by the American Public Transportation Association in July 2012.

In October 2020, SEPTA trialled the use of lean benches instead of traditional seating at some of its stations.

SEPTA stated that the use of the lean benches was to encourage social distancing to prevent the spread the COVID-19.