What it means when a SEPTA bus is ‘untracked’

Have you opened the SEPTA app to find out your bus is “untracked?” This status has confused Philadelphia commuters on a frequent basis.

For the thousands who rely on a SEPTA bus to travel around the city, an “untracked” bus potentially derails their plans. What does “untracked” exactly mean?

That is what one reader asked Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for answering your questions.

There are several meanings behind a bus listed as untracked. A spokesperson for the transit agency said there was no detailed information they could provide, but SEPTA customer service social media accounts have offered a variety of answers when users asked about their untracked buses.

One reason is the bus is on a layover before it begins its next route, according to SEPTA’s customer service account on X, formerly Twitter, in a response to a customer, who asked:

While a bus may be at the layover location, where the bus ends its route while going in one direction, look out for the vehicle number. Buses are only on layover if the vehicle number isn’t zero.

If you do see a the vehicle number listed as zero, the bus is likely canceled.

In some cases, a bus experiences troubles with its GPS tracking system, and so the app isn’t receiving the location. The bus may show up on time or delayed. In other cases, however, the bus could’ve also been canceled because its location isn’t transmitted, but the app may not list the bus as such.

While this situation is a less common answer to customers’ questions on X, another reason a bus is listed as untracked is because the route has “operator unavailability,” meaning one or more operators are absent. Once again, this could mean either a delay as SEPTA finds a substitute operator or the bus is canceled because SEPTA couldn’t find a replacement.

While there may be other definitions of “untracked” means, the only other answer The Inquirer could find is the bus detouring.

Essentially, you won’t know unless you ask. While it may be an annoyance, tagging @SEPTA_SOCIAL on X will give you the best shot at getting an answer on what a specific “untracked” bus status means.