Beginning Monday, Nov. 6, SEPTA will conduct a trolley track renewal project on a portion of Filbert Street, and the construction work will affect local traffic. The project will involve excavation and renewal of existing corroded and broken rail on Filbert Street between 38th and 40th Streets. Intersections within this area will be closed to through traffic during the work period from November 6 through December 9, 2023.

The project will be broken into three phases, each with parking lane restrictions and accommodations. Traffic detours will be posted and maintained around the work area in progress. Access to medical facilities, businesses or private property will not be hampered.

Normal construction hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but on some weekdays crews may work past 3:30 p.m. Occasional weekend work may also be needed to maintain or advance the project’s timeline.

For more detailed information about each phase of the project, visit the SEPTA website.

After a break, SEPTA is set to resume public hearings on Bus Revolution, the comprehensive redesign of its entire bus network. The first hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 12 at SEPTA headquarters (1234 Market St.), beginning at 5 p.m.. Then, two virtual hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 13 – from 12-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Registration is required for these hearings.

SEPTA will hold more in-person hearings in Philadelphia and other counties in its service area throughout this month. For more details, see the image below. To register for the virtual hearings on Wednesday, visit: https://iseptaphilly.com/blog/busrevpublichearings.

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Photo from septa.org.

Beginning July 22 and through Aug. 26, SEPTA will continue work on its multi-year Southwest Connection Improvement Program (SCIP), which will improve and upgrade mainline Regional Rail infrastructure between 30th Street Station and just past Penn Medicine Station. The work will impact regional rail service between 30th Street Station and Penn Medicine Station, which will be closed for the duration of the project.

Special Regional Rail construction timetables and service changes will be in effect July 22 through Aug. 26, 2023, for the following regional rail lines:

– Media/Wawa
– Wilmington/Newark
– Airport Lines

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SEPTA Trolley Tunnel, which connects West Philadelphia with Center City, will be closed for the annual maintenance from July 7 through July 24 for the annual “Trolley Tunnel Blitz.”

The tunnel closure will impact trolley routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36, all of which will temporarily divert to 40th and Market, where riders can transfer to/from the Market-Frankford Line to continue their travel.

A temporary shelter will be set up for riders switching to/from the Market-Frankford Line. The trolley diversion map is available here.

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SEPTA is pushing back the revamping of its bus routes and schedules – a project dubbed “Bus Revolution” – until Fall 2024 after riders criticized the plan in a public meeting earlier this week.

SEPTA officials have said that the changes would streamline the system by prioritizing busy routes. But riders and public officials complained in a City Council hearing on Monday that the elimination of some stops and routes would be disruptive to many passengers, including students and seniors. The current plan reduces the number of routes from 125 to 99 but would increase the frequency of buses on high frequency routes like the 52 along 52nd Street.

SEPTA officials said they would revise the project and have an update in early spring and begin a new round of community hearings in the spring and summer.

This would be the first major overhaul of the bus system in 60 years.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Monday on SEPTA’s Bus Revolution project, the plan to overhaul its bus network, which has drawn criticism from residents and elected officials.

The council’s Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities will hold a virtual public hearing beginning at 10 a.m. “to examine the approach and expected impacts of SEPTA’s Bus Revolution service reconfiguration.”

SEPTA’s plan cuts several routes and prioritizes high-use routes – like the 52 through West Philly – with promises of shorter wait times and more direct routes. But riders have complained that the changes will leave some residents, including some in Southwest Philly, with diminished service. Continue Reading