Here’s what you should know about proposed changes to SEPTA’s popular Route 47 bus

SEPTA’s Bus Revolution project includes proposed changes to Route 47 (Whitman Plaza/5th-Godfrey). That route has the highest bus ridership in the city on all days of the week, SEPTA says. It carried an average of 16,382 passengers per weekday as of December 2019, a little more than two months before pandemic shutdowns.

Here’s how Route 47 may look when the proposed Bus Revolution plan takes effect:

The new route, numbered 518 in planning materials, would consolidate existing Routes 47 and 47M, which serves South Philadelphia and Center City, running between Whitman Plaza and Seventh and Spring Garden Streets via Ninth Street from late morning to afternoon.

For the most part, the new service would follow current Route 47. South Philadelphia service on 9th Street would cease.

Route 518 would operate for 24 hours every day and be designated a “10 Max” route under the plan. That means the wait between buses would be 10 minutes or fewer from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Frequency then would drop to 15 minutes — and to 30 minutes from midnight to 6 a.m.

Route 47 provides a relatively straight shot between North and South Philadelphia. Buses use 5th and 6th Streets in the northern half of the route and operate on 7th and 8th Streets on the southern portion, beginning at Dauphin Street or Susquehanna Avenue.

Buses run all day, except from 2 to 4 a.m. During peak periods, the wait between rides is six to seven minutes, higher in the midday. On weekends, service frequency averages 13-17 minutes during the day and every 27-30 minutes at night.

The southern end-point of the bus route is Whitman Plaza, a shopping center with massive parking lots south of West Oregon Avenue, between South Third Street and South Fifth Street. At the northern terminus in East Oak Lane, buses turn at the Godfrey Loop, North Fifth Street and West Godfrey Avenue.

In the fall of 2019, Route 47′s on-time performance was 63.5% on weekdays, a bit higher on Saturdays and about 74% on Sundays, SEPTA says. It’s considered one of the slowest routes in the network, traveling less than 8 mph on average during the weekday afternoon peak. This has been attributed to high ridership, which slows boarding and alighting, and traffic congestion. Route 47 also has more stops per mile than most other bus routes.

SEPTA will unveil its final plan in early 2023, with community meetings to explain it and take questions — after considering public reaction at 22 in-person meetings and several virtual ones through the end of the year. Formal hearings and board consideration would follow in the spring. Some changes would start in fall 2023. Most would be phased in throughout 2024.

No. SEPTA says it wants to hear questions and concerns. Meetings of particular interest to Route 47 riders:

To discuss North Philly service, sign up here for a virtual discussion on Dec. 5 at 6:30 p.m. A similar conversation to discuss South Philly bus service happened on Nov. 14.

SEPTA says it may update its schedule of community meetings due to demand. Here’s the latest list.

To leave a comment or speak to a member of the Bus Revolution team, email busnetwork@septa.org or call 267-291-6045.

For the first time since SEPTA began in 1964, the transit agency is proposing wholesale changes to the bus network in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs. The aim: faster, more frequent service.

» READ MORE: Here’s what you should know about proposed changes to SEPTA’s Route G bus

The proposal would drop the number of bus routes from 125 to 99 by ending little-used services and combining others. Some would be shortened in the interest of faster trips.

As a result, many changes would mean more transfers. Planners looked for points where riders could transfer to another bus route, to SEPTA’s subways and trolleys or to Regional Rail, aiming to use the system as an integrated whole.

Linking buses to metro rail service “is the most efficient way for people to travel,” said Dan Nemiroff, SEPTA’s manager for the Bus Revolution project. “It’s on a dedicated right of way. Obviously it’s fastest and it doesn’t stop a lot.”

» READ MORE: Here’s what you should know about proposed changes in SEPTA’s Route 18 bus service

Here’s everything we know about SEPTA’s Bus Revolution plan.