SEPTA postpones bus network redesign — again — due to concerns from City Council members

A scheduled board vote on SEPTA’s bus-route overhaul has been delayed for the second time in as many weeks so the transit agency can address eleventh-hour concerns raised by riders and one member of Philadelphia City Council, who says representatives “have not had adequate time to engage constituents” despite two years of public meetings.

Thursday’s special board session — which had approval of the plan, called Bus Revolution, as the only agenda item — was canceled until planners can hold a “series of new public meetings,” the board said in a notice posted on the SEPTA website.

It comes after two years of public engagement during which SEPTA tweaked the plan in response to criticism from riders and community leaders.

The transit agency wanted the route changes enacted now so it could publicize them and hold informational sessions with residents before beginning implementation in the fall. The delay is likely to push back the timetable, officials said.

Authority board members first pulled a Bus Revolution vote from their agenda Jan. 25 during a regular session after residents spoke about what they see as shortcomings of the plan and Council Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson asked for a postponement.

“I am not seeking to be an obstruction,” Gilmore Richardson said. “I still feel as though we have not had adequate time to engage our constituents regarding all of the numerous changes to this plan.” She noted that several new Council members were seated last month and have questions.

SEPTA officials met last week with a group of Council members to brief them on the redesign and discuss their questions and concerns. Those included public safety, whether bus riders would be required to transfer to the Market-Frankford Line, particularly at Kensington stations, and difficulties facing older people and people with disabilities in navigating to alternate routes.

In a floor speech on Thursday, Gilmore Richardson thanked SEPTA leaders for their “collaboration and partnership” with Council and their commitment to making sure voices from all zip codes have a say.

“Philadelphia has deeply rooted communities, especially Black and brown communities, that have been using the bus system for generations and we rely on it for our daily lives,” Gilmore Richardson said. Making equitable decisions requires understanding what people actually want in such neighborhoods as Wynnefield, Strawberry Mansion, Lawncrest, Olney, and Nicetown, she said.

Residents at the Jan. 25 SEPTA board meeting raised other issues with the Bus Revolution plan.

Lance Haver, a longtime consumer advocate who has been a critic of the plan, said rearranging routes does nothing to fix problems with the reliability and speed of bus service, such as a persistent shortage of operators and difficult traffic conditions such as parking-clogged roads and four-way stops.

Others discussed SEPTA’s looming $240 million deficit and suggested that the redesign should be paused to see whether a hoped-for increase in transit funding comes from Harrisburg.

The transit agency launched the comprehensive revision of routes, the first in its 60 years of existence, to try to arrest a decline in bus ridership before the pandemic.

And there has been support for the program.

“This redesign will create about a dozen more high-frequency routes, increasing service reliability and speeds,” said Will Tung, an organizer with the urbanist group 5th Square. “Also, improving service at non-peak travel times and weekends would have the greatest benefit for lower-income workers and those with no car access.”

“As you get closer to consideration of a vote, the urgency to raise questions does increase, and we understand that,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said. In addition to answering those questions, “we’re pointing out what we think will be very positive changes for bus service.”