SEPTA FLEET NEWS ARCHIVES

April-June 2000

June 23, 2000

• SEPTA will be operating special shuttle buses for events at the Mann Music Center in Fairmount Park this summer through September. The shuttle service, which will use artics from Allegheny, will originate at Rittenhouse Square (19 & Locust) at 6:50pm, then stop at Broad & Chestnut, the Marriott and Courtyard hotels in Center City, 15 & JFK Blvd, 20 & Pennsylvania Blvd, and the 2601 Pkwy Apartment complex. The one-way cash fare for this special service is $3.00, and no tokens or passes will be accepted.

  This weekend, in addition to the SEPTA Roadeo, SEPTA will operate special shuttle buses between the Pattison Av Subway Station to the Philadelphia Naval Business Center for Operation Sail Philadelphia 2000. Articulated buses will also be used for this service. Service will operate between 9:00am and 4:30pm from June 24 through June 27. In addition, the Delaware River Port Authority will operate shuttle service from the City Hall PATCO Station to the Operation Sail location in Camden. The DRPA shuttle will operate from 9:30am to 6:00pm on the same days as the SEPTA shuttle.

June 21, 2000

• At least 7 to 8 artics are tentatively set to go to Frontier for use on the 124/125 express runs.

  During the Republican Convention this summer, SEPTA will be taking a lot of Red Arrow's 5300-series NABIs, and possibly other buses from ohter districts. As such, a lot of City Divison junkers (8600-8800 series) are being sent to Red Arrow, in addition to some ex-Allegheny 3300s currenly assigned to Midvale.

  Following the summer picking, the only swap which took place was the 6 going from Midvale to Allegheny, a very illogical decision if you ask me, since Midvale will also be getting artics. Also, the 28 will not be going to Midvale until after the 30-foot Eldorados are on SEPTA property. Apparently, the 89 has always been split between Frankford and Midvale, so that hasn't changed.

June 19, 2000

• SEPTA is going to add bike racks to at least 43 of its new 30-foot Eldorado buses, set to arrive on the property later this year. These buses will be assigned to Victory and Frontier Depots and used on at least 14 different suburban routes. The bike rack project will be funded by a $30,000 grant.

June 12, 2000

• Three more public hearings are set to make routes introduced in the past year permanent. A hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 13 at 10:00am, at the University City District offices, 3940 Chestnut St, West Philadelphia (accessible via Routes 21, 30, 40, 40 St El station is one block north), to make Route 316 - the Loop Through University City - permanent. A hearing for Route 204 between Paoli, Frazer, Exton, and Lionville will be held on July 12 at the Holiday Inn Express, 120 N Pottstown Pk (PA 100), Exton (accessible via Routes 92 and 204), starting at 6:30pm. And, on July 13 at 1:00pm, a hearing to make Route 208 - which operates between Strafford Rail Station and Chesterbrook - permanent will be held at the Tredyffrin Township Municipal Building, 1100 Duportail Rd, Berwyn (accessible via Routes 92, 124, and 208). (Updated from June 6)

June 6, 2000

• The next schedule change is set for the City and Red Arrow divisions on June 18. Some of the highlights include:

  • Route 17 to see increased mid-day service
  • Route 25 will see added early weekend morning service to Pier 70
  • A special schedule will be issued for Route 34 due to the single track operation on Baltimore Av between 42 and 49 Sts
  • Route 40 will see increased weekday morning service in the University City area
  • Route 66 will see adjustments in Saturday morning service to provide improved spacing between trips
  • Route 67 will see service presently terminating at Bustleton Av and Verree Rd extended to the Comcast facility on Northeastern Av
  • Route 104 PM peak service will be revised
  • Route 115 buses will now layover at Darby Terminal instead of at Delmar Village
  • Route 120 will operate on an adjusted summer schedule to Cheyney University
  • Route L will see two early Sunday AM trips extended to Plymouth Meeting Mall

In the City Division, routes 11, 12, 35, 44, 47m, 48, 60, 63, 64, 73, 76, and 121 will not change. In Red Arrow, the 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 119, and 122 will not change.

• The 2000 SEPTA Bus Roadeo will be held on Saturday, June 24 (not the 10th as originally reported), at the Veterans Stadium parking lot. With no major bus demos arriving this summer at SEPTA, there may not be as many displays at this year's Roadeo, but you never know. SEPTA sends at least one vehicle from each of it's models. In addition, DART First State, Krapf's Coaches, Greyhound, and several historic vehicles (including SEPTA's 1974 Flxible #6569) are also represented. The best way to access the Roadeo site is via the Pattison Av entrance to the Vet Stadium parking lot.

May 30, 2000

• Route 6 will be going to Allegheny effective with the June picking. It appears that the 65 will remain at Allegheny.

  Some Neoplan artics in the 7200-series are being assigned to Allegheny. #7205 has been spotted on the 9, while #7207 was spotted at 69 St Terminal in service on the 65.

May 25, 2000

• SEPTA announced the dates to hold public hearings on the Fiscal Year 2001 Annual Service Plan. Meeting times and locations are set as follows:

  • Tuesday, June 20, 2:00pm: Holiday Inn Express, 120 N Pottstown Pk (PA 100), Exton (Accessible via SEPTA Routes 92 and 204; approx. 1/2 mile walk from Exton Rail Station via PA 100)
  • Wednesday, June 21, 7:00pm: Towne House Restaurant, Baltimore Pk & Veterans Sq, Media (Accessible via SEPTA Routes 101, 110, and 118)
  • Thursday, June 22, 7:00pm: Doubletree Guest Suites, 640 W Germantown Pk, Plymouth Twp (Accessible via SEPTA Route 95, transfer to Route 95 at Plymouth Meeting Mall from Routes L, 27, and 98)
  • Friday, June 23, 2:00pm: SEPTA Headquarters, Board Room, Mezzanine Level, Philadelphia (Accessible via Market Frankford El, Routes 9, 10, 11, 13, 17, 21, 23, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 42, 44, 48, 76, 121, 124, 125, All Regional Rail Lines)
  • Monday, June 26, 2:00pm: Sheraton Bucks County, 400 Oxford Valley Rd, Middletown (Bucks County) (Accessible via SEPTA Routes 14, 127, 128, 129 and 130)
  • Monday, June 26, 7:00pm: Radisson Hotel, US 1 & Old Lincoln Hwy, Bensalem Twp (Accessible via SEPTA Route 14)
  • Tuesday, June 27, 2:00pm: Doylestown Municipal Bldg, 57 W Court St, Doylestown (Accessible via SEPTA Route 55, short walk from Doylestown Rail Station)

The proposal to re-route Route 27 through Center City was not recommended for approval, however, this is probably misguided. The rerouting should have avoided Market St, and possibly gone from the Ben Franklin Pkwy to Vine St, retaining some of the current Center City routing.

May 23, 2000

• At the SEPTA Capital Budget hearings, it was announced that upon arrival of the New Flyer D40LFs, SEPTA will replace at least 100 buses every year, meaning the latest that the Neoplan fleet will be fully retired will be 2006 or 2007. Also, the 80 ElDorado National TransMark RE 30-foot buses will start arriving on SEPTA property early next year, with the prototype due this fall. The buses are being built to Devner specs. The New Flyer D40LF fleet will be delivered in batches of 100 in 2001 and 2002. SEPTA will also be proceeding with the purchase of between 12 and 20 diesel-electric hybrid buses later this year. SEPTA was to have purchased CNG buses for Frontier District, however, high costs factored into the decision to cancel the order. With several new routes planned for later this year, SEPTA will obtain more Breeze cutaway buses probably by later this fall.

May 19, 2000

• On Wednesday (May 17), a third rail fire at 63 St forced SEPTA to operate shuttle buses between 46 St and 69 St. Spotted running the El Shuttle were Callowhill #3261, 3440, 3436, 3440, 3488, 5019, and 5038; Southern #3221, 3223, 5376, and 5378; and Red Arrow #5315. The shuttle ran from approximately 7:30pm to around 8:30pm, when full El service resumed.

May 15, 2000

• If you were wondering why #7101, 7192, and 7193 were parked along 12 St near the Mariott on Wednesday night, those three buses were used to shuttle attendees to the High Speed Ground Transportation Conference to a gala reception at Amtrak's 30 St Station.

  It appears that the 65 runs assigned to Allegheny will be taken from there by the September picking. There simply won't be enough buses to fill all the runs on the remaining five Allegheny routes (9, 27, 33, 48, and 60) if the 65 remains there once the Volvos are officially retired. Interestingly enough, some Volvos have been repainted even though they will be retired at the end of the summer.

May 10, 2000

• Three interesting items on #5284 that I noticed yesterday. (1) The bus is now sporting a full wrap for Bentley Systems; (2) The bus has now been assigned to Callowhill; and (3) it was spotted on the 76, which up to this point, has never seen a NABI.

  Apparently, some more bus swaps have taken place, mainly focusing on Comly. It appears that no more than four buses from each garage were loaned to Comly, although I will check on that no later than this weekend.

  If you haven't noticed, there are now 100 Neoplan artics on SEPTA property, all assigned to Allegheny. #7101 has re-entered revenue service. There is a rumor going around that 6-8 artics may be sent to Frontier for use on the 124/125 trips.

May 8, 2000

• SEPTA buses replaced El service between 52 and 69 Sts yesterday afternoon (May 7). Apparently, there was some track work in the area between 56 and 60 Sts, forcing single track operation on the eastbound platforms and that the track work went longer than anticipated, however, a rumor had been floating that someone had jumped into the track area, though that had not been confirmed. In any case, SEPTA was forced to bring buses in from Allegheny (#7030 - yes there are still a few Volvos left in service), Callowhill (#3359, #5008, #5017, #5044, #8668), Midvale (#5169), Southern (#3185, #3208) and Red Arrow (#5301) to run the shuttle service, bringing some drivers off the end of their regular runs and over to 69 St. One driver from Southern had just completed his shift (which started at 5:00am) on the 68 bus before being sent to cover the shuttle. Full El service was restored at shortly after 5:00pm.

May 5, 2000

• Route 204 service has been improved once again. Starting April 30, added weekday evening service between Paoli Rail Station and Marchwood Blvd in Uwchlan took effect. Most weekend trips which ended at Target on PA 100 are now extended to Marchwood Blvd. This is the third such schedule enhancement since the line started last June.

  DART First State is now accepting SEPTA TrailPasses for service within New Castle County north of the C&D Canal. For more details from the official DART First State web site, click here.

  Callowhill #5017 and Southern #5394 were each spotted with a full ad wrap for Etradebank.com, making them the first NABI buses to recieve full ad wrap treatments, and represent the first new full ad wrap on a SEPTA bus in several weeks. Hopefully, I will be able to get a picture of either 5017 or 5394 (or both buses) with it's new ad. (Updated from May 1)

April 23, 2000

• SEPTA recently released it's Fiscal Year 2001 Annual Service Plan proposal. This year's plan features major changes to routes in Lower Bucks County, a split of Route 92, new service to an office complex in Plymouth Twp, a rerouting of Route 27 in Center City Philadelphia, an extension of Routes H/XH to Temple Hospital, schedule adjustments to the R2, R7, and R8, and a cutback of Route 201.

April 20, 2000

Within the past few weeks, SEPTA has added small bar code stickers on the sides and rear of most of the SEPTA fleet. Apparently, these bar codes have to do with tracking ads on the various buses. Speaking of add-ons, a lot of the 8600- and low 8700-series buses along with some of the remaining artics were not fitted with the new racks for the free DPI Metro newspaper being distributed by SEPTA, leading me to believe that these buses will be retired sooner rather than later.

April 11, 2000

The Neoplan articulated order appears to be halfway complete. The highest numbers now spotted at Wyoming shops are #7177, along with 7190 and 7191. Also, the prototype bus, #7101, is also at Wyoming as of today, complete with it's original side and rear SEPTA house ads. At the current pace, the order may very well be completed by the end of the summer, meaning the Volvo artics and some of the 8600- and 8700-series Neos will be marking their final summers in active service, pending the status of the 30-foot bus order. Expect more bus swaps by the end of the summer as Callowhill, Comly, and Midvale, which have the bulk of the older Neos, see their 8600-series buses replaced. (Updated from April 6)

There is a possibility of a photo trip on the SEPTA system, covering many of the modes, later this month. Keep checking in for details, as everything is in the preliminary stages.

April 6, 2000

There is a possibility that SEPTA may be trying to lease used 30-foot buses for use on Routes 77, 310, and 311 until SEPTA's 30-foot order is finalized. Watch for more details soon.

April 3, 2000

SEPTA schedules on some Frontier Depot routes will be changing on April 2. Among the major changes:

Route 91 will see schedule adjustments as it relates to the Montgomery County prison in Eagleville. The 8:30am and 10:30am trips to SCI-Graterford and the 1:12pm and 3:12pm trips to Norristown will not stop at Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Route 93 service will still continue to serve MCCF.

Route 92 will be rerouted at Paoli Rail Station as eastbound service will no longer operate into the station. Passengers will have to board at Lancaster Av & Valley Rd, across the street from the station. Saturday service to Westlakes Office Center will be discontinued. Also, direct service to Whiteland Towne Center in Exton will be discontinued, with buses operating via PA 100 to Exton Square Mall. In addition, two late night trips have been added, departing Parkway Shopping Center at 8:20pm for Paoli Rail Station, then departing at around 9:57pm from Paoli for King of Prussia. These two trips are tied into the added late night 206 trips between Great Valley and Paoli.

Route 94 will see new limited stop express service between Chestnut Hill and Montgomery Mall. Six daily round trips will operate via Bethlehem Pike (PA 309), Hartman Rd, Montgomeryville Industrial Center, Heckler Shopping Center, Airport Square Shopping Center, and Montgomery Square Shopping Center. These trips will depart Chestnut Hill at 6:00am, 7:00am, 8:00am, 4:00pm, 5:00pm, and 10:30pm; southbound service from Montgomery Mall will depart at 7:05am, 8:05am, 9:05am, 4:05pm, 5:05pm, and 11:15pm. Montgomery County is footing the bill for this service.

Route 95 will have the 5:48am trip between Gulph Mills and Swedeland extended to Conshohocken Rail Station to connect with the R6 Norristown Line. Direct service to the Inquirer complex on PA 23 in Upper Merion will be discontinued.

Route 96 will see the 7:30pm departure from Telford terminating at Lansdale Rail Station at 7:57pm. This bus will be coordinated with the 8:10pm departure from Lansdale to Norristown. Customers boarding between Telford and Lansdale enroute to points south of Lansdale may transfer to the 8:10pm trip at no additional cost.

Route 97 will be rerouted over Marhsall St instead of Elm St between Markley and Stanbridge Sts, along Harding and Coolidge Blvds instead of Markley St, and buses traveling from Penn Square to Norristown Transporation Center will operate via Marhsall and Swede Sts, passing Montgomery County Courthouse.

Route 98 will see one additional weeknight/Saturday evening trip added, departing Plymouth Meeting Mall at 11:20pm, arriving at Norristown Transportation Center 11:38pm.

Route 99 will see direct service to Valley Forge Corporate Center eliminated in order to improve travel time. Customers seeking to reach the Corporate Center can still board and exit the bus along Trooper Road. Some early Saturday morning trips to Valley Forge Christian College before 8:30am will be discontinued.

Route 127 will see added early evening service between Oxford Valley and Trenton on evenings when Sesame Place is open.

Route 128 will see direct service to the Silver Lake Nursing Home and a rerouting through Bristol Township.

Route 131 will be rerouted westbound via Main and Markley Sts to Marshall St instead of Main and Astor Sts. Eastbound service will operate via Marshall St to Swede St, and will serve the Montgomery County Courthouse.

Route 206 will see two added late night trips departing Great Valley at 9:45pm and 10:45pm to meet the R5 trains to Center City at Paoli Rail Station. The added evening trips on the 92 are tied in to these trips.

The updated schedules are now posted at the SEPTA web site. (Updated from March 21)

The four DART buses assigned to Germantown have been sent back to Delaware, apparently in preparations for DART's Resort Service in the Rehoboth area.

At least 7 Volvo artics have been retired, however I am not sure of the numbers of those retired. The Volvos will probably be completely out of service by the end of the summer, possibly earlier. On a related note, the total number of Neoplan artics is apparently up to 71, as the highest number I spotted was #7172, awaiting acceptance at the Wyoming shops.

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