Beginning Sunday, Aug. 24, SEPTA will discontinue several bus stops on 48th Street between Walnut St. and Baltimore Ave., the portion of the street used by the Routes 64 and 411. The following stops will be discontinued: Locust St., Pine St., Osage Ave., Hazel Ave., and Cedar Ave.

The reason for the stop elimination is traffic safety as part of the 48th Street Traffic Safety Project, according SEPTA. The construction stage began last year and included an installation of a parking-separated bike lane and traffic-calming measures.

SEPTA will also begin implementing service cuts throughout its transit network starting this Sunday due to a lack of state funding. Read more here about the service cuts in West Philadelphia.

UPDATE (8/25/25): SEPTA has released new Fall schedules for its Bus and Metro service which reflect 20 percent service cuts that took effect on Sunday, Aug. 24. Go here for more details.

8/21/25: As you may have heard, SEPTA has announced major service cuts that will take effect this Sunday, Aug. 24 due to a lack of state transit funding. The cuts will eliminate some bus routes or shorten them and reduce the frequency by up to 20 percent. Also, a reminder that fares will increase to $2.90 per ride beginning Sept. 1.

Here’s some useful information on SEPTA service reductions for routes serving West Philadelphia.

METRO

Service on the “L” (Market-Frankford Line) will be reduced by up to 20 percent. Peak intervals will go from 6 to 8 minutes. Midday intervals will go from 6 to 8 minutes.

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Here’s some information on the annual Spruce Street closures that help accommodate Penn students moving to campus after the summer break. This year, a portion of the street will be closed to all vehicles, including bicycles, on select days between Monday, Aug. 18 and Sunday, Aug. 23, for student move-in and some construction projects, according to the University of Pennsylvania Division of Public Safety. Here are more details:

August 18, 19, and 20:

• Spruce Street will be closed from 34th to 38th Street between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

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The SEPTA trolley tunnel connecting West Philadelphia with Center City under the Schuylkill River will close for the annual maintenance project, Trolley Tunnel Blitz, for one month beginning Friday, July 11. Due to the closure, SEPTA Trolley Routes 10 (T1), 34 (T2), 13 (T3), 11 (T4) and 36 (T5) will not operate in the tunnel from 10 p.m. on Friday, July 11 through 6 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 11.

During the tunnel closure, trolleys will be diverted to 40th and Market via 42nd Street. Riders can board SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line (L) at 40th Street Station for travel to Center City. For travel from Center City to West and Southwest Philadelphia, riders can board the L and then connect with trolley routes at 40th Street.

SEPTA crews will work on critical track and power maintenance, station upgrades and intensive cleaning as part of the 2025 Trolley Tunnel Blitz. In addition to the maintenance by SEPTA, PennDOT will be working on the tunnel under the Schuylkill River.

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UPDATE: SEPTA has adjusted the schedule for the 42nd Street Trolley Track Renewal project, which will replace the tracks between Spruce Street and Woodland Avenue. The project is now expected to begin today (Tuesday, April 1) and continue until June 13.

Trolley tracks will be replaced along 42nd Street between Spruce Street and Woodland Avenue, which is a portion of the trolley diversion route usually used in the summer during trolley tunnel maintenance. The project will affect parking and vehicular traffic.

During the project’s pre-construction phase, parking will be restricted on the portions of 42nd Street affected by work. 42nd Street will be closed in segments as the project moves along. Only one block at a time will be closed. The intersections of 42nd and Spruce, 42nd and Baltimore, 42nd and Chester, and 42nd and Woodland will not be affected by the project.

Construction hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (sometimes later). Occasional weekend work may also take place.

Additional information about this project is available here.

A four-year project to improve the Market Street Bridge over the Schuylkill River is expected to begin this week, according to PennDOT. The project will be carried out in phases and will include a complete 14-month closure of the bridge to vehicular traffic.

The initial phase of the project includes construction activities by the general contractor on this project, Buckley & Company Inc., that will focus on extensive utility work to replace numerous electric, gas, water, fiber optic and other lines within the project area.

Further work will include structural work on the bridge. As part of this work, the superstructure on the existing Market Street bridge over Amtrak and I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway) will be partially demolished and replaced. The deteriorated deck and sidewalks of the adjacent Market Street Bridge over the Schuylkill River will also be replaced, and the existing four-span Market Street bridge over the Schuylkill River Trail and CSX Railroad on the east side of the river will be replaced with a single-span bridge.

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