SEPTA buses are skipping the Sixth and Market stop because of Greyhound traffic

Three SEPTA bus routes no longer stop at Sixth and Market Streets because of traffic congestion caused by Greyhound’s new curbside station on the block and concerns for the safety of passengers and public, transit officials said Friday.

Routes 17, 33, and 48 now stop at Seventh and Market Streets and farther east at Fourth Street. Those route changes began Wednesday, said Chris Valentin, the transit agency’s executive in charge of bus operations.

“It’s not getting any better,” he said, “as much as anything, it seems to be getting worse.”

The corner stop is close to the federal courthouse and office buildings, the Independence Visitor Center, and other busy attractions, including the Liberty Bell and a display honoring George Washington’s enslaved workers on the Independence Mall.

Greyhound, Peter Pan, Flixbus and Megabus vehicles are often lined up nose-to-tail along the curb in the 600 block of Market Street to take on or let off passengers and to load luggage. Tour buses also sometimes pull over there. Uber and Lyft, taxicabs, and private cars all dart in and out, dropping off passengers for the buses.

“Automobiles are setting up there for minutes at a time, along with the buses — sometimes or 10 or 15 minutes,” Valentin said. “We’ve seen people exiting from the left side of the vehicle, and there have been some instances where we’ve seen buses loading bags from the traffic lane.”

On June 27, Greyhound shuttered the Filbert Street bus station that had been its home for 35 years and moved to an office at 618 Market St., where the bus line has a ticket window and some ticket-sales machines, alongside rival Peter Pan. There’s no sheltered or indoor waiting area, and passengers of the bus lines cluster on the sidewalk.

The traffic also blocks SEPTA’s designated bus lane along Market Street, which ends at Sixth Street and was intended to improve travel times and service in Center City. It got a coat of bright red paint earlier in the year, laid down by the city Streets Department to warn drivers to stay out of SEPTA’s territory.

Last week, Mayor Jim Kenney and other officials held a ribbon-cutting for new red paint on another designated Market Street bus lane, between 15th and 20th Streets.

Sixth Street presents other challenges, as sightseeing buses, including the Big Bus, queue for passengers along the curb right around the corner from SEPTA’s bus stop. It’s a busy intersection for pedestrians and vehicles.

“Some folks get impatient, and they make the right in front of the [SEPTA] bus to get on Sixth Street,” Valentin said. “It’s a lot of moving pieces.”

He said the skipped stop is temporary and could be restored if congestion eases and the corner is safer for SEPTA’s operators, customers and other users of the street.

Greyhound’s Market Street permit expires at the end of the year. Officials with the city’s Streets Department, district Councilmember Mark Squilla and others are trying to figure out a better location for the intercity bus services. Some people have suggested the empty parking lot at the former police administration building on Race Street.