SEPTA officials discussed formal proposals to alter over a dozen bus routes with members of the public at an open house today, beginning the fiscal year 2016 Annual Service Plan review. The proposals range in scope from tiny, half-block rerouting to avoid a difficult left turn to splitting the city’s busiest bus route in two.

Assuming no community opposition and clean passage through future hearings and approval from the SEPTA Board, the proposals would be implemented sometime in the spring or summer of 2016.

This year’s proposals include a few larger than those made in recent years, including a suggestion to split Route 23 into two lines, to extend a bus route to Penn’s Landing, to provide Queen Village with a non-transfer trip to Center City, and to make Frankford Transportation Center safer and more convenient for many riders.

SPLITTING ROUTE 23 INTO TWO ROUTES

Route 23 is SEPTA’s busiest bus line, carrying 22,800 daily weekday passengers along a route stretching from Chestnut Hill to South Philadelphia. The proposal would split the 23 into two routes: a northern route (still known as Route 23) running from Chestnut Hill along Germantown Avenue and 12th Street into Center City, before turning around at Chestnut Street and heading back up along 11th; and a southern route (a new Route 45; no word on whether ‘45’ was picked because this route is the Michael Jordan of SEPTA lines) travelling along 11th and 12th Streets from Oregon Avenue in South Philly and Noble Street, a small, underused street between Callowhill and Spring Garden.

The 23 gets more customer complaints than any other bus route, with a majority objecting to skipped stops due to full buses. In 2014, its on-time rate was just 64 percent, a far cry from SEPTA’s 80 percent goal for buses. Until 1992, the 13.8-mile-long line operated as a trolley – according to some, it was the longest trolley car route in the world (some Crimeans might disagree, though).

“The combination of very high ridership, its length, and its run through some very congested parts of the city” causes the line’s problems, said Dan Nemiroff, a Senior Operations Planner at SEPTA.

That made the 23 ripe for a re-think. “I think common sense tells you that short routes run better than long routes,” said Nemiroff.

By splitting the lengthy line into two shorter loops, SEPTA hopes to improve on-time performance and limit the number of over-packed buses, while still providing the same level of regular service on the two routes. While SEPTA is not proposing to restore trolley service at this time, this change would not preclude a restoration in the future.

According to SEPTA’s ridership studies, most 23 riders get on or off in Center City, rather than travelling through. There will be free transfers for those few riders that will need to transfer between the new 23 and 45 buses. Because of the change, 23 and 45 riders will be able to use transfers between the two lines for free using SEPTA Key.