SEPTA Bus and Metro - GTFS Feed

Changelog

v202605101

Bus/Metro

• Added B2 event service to NRG Station during sports games and other events in May. Please refer to bulletins on SEPTA.org for more information.
• M1 Bus service ends on May 9; normal M1 service to Norristown transit Center returns May 10.
• Removed duplicate D2 trips.
• Added GTFS-Pathways data for Drexel Station.
• Removed separate stops at 15th St/City Hall for local/express service until full Pathways data is available. All southbound B1 and B2 trains serve stop_id 1281 and all northbound B1 and B2 trains serve stop_id 32141.
• Added GPS coordinates for Pathways nodes at Olney Transit Center, including for entrances and boarding areas. Amended names of B stops at Olney for clarity (e.g. "Olney Transit Center" -> "Olney Transit Center - B1").
• Added parent_station info for L stops at Frankford Transit Center.
• Removed unsupported from_stop_desc and to_stop_desc fields from fare_leg_join_rules.txt.
• M1 Bus, FOX Bus and NOR Bus services have ended, but routes remain in the feed for consistency. They may be removed in a future release.
• Other minor stop and schedule changes.

Regional Rail

• Added service during the PGA Championship May 11 through May 17.
• Fox Chase Line and Manayunk/Norristown Line construction works have ended. These lines now operate regular schedules with no shuttle buses.

v202603293

Bus/Metro

• No changes.

Regional Rail

• Adjusted arrival times at Suburban Station to match timetabled departure times.
• Fixed times for weekday WIL train 9204.

v202603292

Bus/Metro

• New GTFS-Pathways data for Olney Transit Center, including pathways.txt, levels.txt, and stops.level_id. Pathways data is subject to change. Data for additional stations will be added in the future.
• New route "M1 Bus" (route_id: "M1 BUS", route_short_name: "M1 Shuttle Bus") provides shuttle bus service for M1 service between Bridgeport Station and Norristown Transit Center during a major rehabilitation and structural repair project. See here for more information.
• Added routes.route_url field.
• Removed Key Tix fare information from Fares v2 files because Key Tix sales have ended. See here for more information.
• Corrects routes.route_color for L1 OWL, B1 OWL, LUCYGO, and LUCYGR.
• Renamed remaining "Transportation Centers" to "Transit Centers." These were mostly parent stations.
• Other minor stop and schedule changes.

Regional Rail

• New weekday schedules effective Monday, March 30. (While the feed is effective March 29, Sunday schedules are unchanged.)
• Added trips.trip_short_name for user-friendly trip identifiers.
• Renamed Airport Line stops that serve multiple terminals and associated headsigns.
• Removed empty routes.route_desc field.

v202602221

Bus/Metro

• B1 Owl added back after accidental omission in preivous version.

• New file fare_leg_join_rules.txt describes "free interchange" locations among the L, B, and T routes to indicate these are not transfers for the purposes of fare calculations.

• Added a stop on the NOR Bus after accidental omission in previous version.

• Adds new stops that replace existing stop_id values for only B1 trips at Olney (stop_id values 33027 and 33028) and 15th St/City Hall (stop_id values 33029 and 33030). Existing stop_id values continue to serve B2 and B3 trips at Olney and B2 trips at 15th St/City Hall.

• Corrects FXCB directions in directions.txt.

• Corrects routes.route_color for T Bus.

  • The "T Bus" remains in the feed on inactive service_id values. There is currently no upcoming scheduled T Bus service. See septa.org/news/trolley-tunnel-update/ for more details.

• Removes some unused service_id values with alternate services.

• Other minor stop and schedule changes.

Regional Rail

• No changes from preivous version.

v202602220

Bus/Metro

• The Spring schedule change for most Bus and Metro routes takes effect Sunday, Feb. 22. Changes for routes M1, D1, D2, and some suburban bus routes takes effect Monday, Feb. 23.
• New route "Manayunk/Norristown Shuttle Bus" (route_id: "NOR BUS", route_short_name: "NOR Bus") provides shuttle bus service for the Manayunk/Norristown Line (Regional Rail).
• Stops along the T diversion route have been added to match operations and physical signage.
• Revised stops.wheelchair_boarding information for Metro stations where appropriate. This field now represents the ability for a rider to begin at the sidewalk (or street if no sidewalk exists) and board the vehicle while using a wheelchair. It formerly represented only the platform-vehicle interface.
• The "T Bus" remains in the feed on inactive service_id values. There is currently no upcoming scheduled T Bus service. See septa.org/news/trolley-tunnel-update/ for more details.
• Several service_id values and associated trips are not scheduled to be active on any date, but intentionally remain in the GTFS-Schedule data. These are alternate services/patterns/trips that may be used as TripUpdate.schedule_relationship=DUPLICATED trips in GTFS-realtime data if needed in case of schedule changes on short-notice.
• Other minor stop and schedule changes.

Regional Rail

• Additional trips on PAO and LAN routes serve Flower Show attendees on Feb. 28-March 1 and March 7-8. See here for more information on additional Flower Show service.
• NOR trains originate/terminate at Norristown Transit Center March 21 and March 22 due to track work.

v202602150

Bus/Metro

• The weeklong trolley (T routes) tunnel closure previously scheduled from 10 pm on February 13 through 5 am February 23 has been shortened to a weekend only closure from 10 pm on February 13 until 5 am February 16. The "T Bus" remains in service on weekends only. See septa.org/news/trolley-tunnel-update/ for more details.

• The Spring schedule change for most Bus and Metro routes will take effect Sunday, Feb. 22. Changes for routes M1, D1, D2, and some suburban bus routes will take effect Monday, Feb. 23. (This feed takes effect seven days earlier, on Feb. 15, and contains seven days of the Fall schedule in addition to the upcoming Spring schedule.)

• New Fares v2 information: New files and fields define standard single-journey fare information. Additional media, products, rules, and categories may be added in the future. See here for more fare information.

  • New files: files fare_leg_rules.txt, fare_media.txt, fare_products.txt, fare_transfer_rules.txt, and rider_categories.txt
  • New fields: routes.network_id, agency.agency_fare_url, agency.cemv_support

• New routes "D1 Bus" and "D2 Bus" (route_id values in uppercase: "D1 BUS" and "D2 BUS") are weekend bus replacement services for routes D1 and D2. See here for more details.

  • T Bus, T5 Bus, and FOX Bus routes remain in service.

• T routes, G1, and formerly lettered bus routes have had their routes.route_long_names updated to remove references to their former names. (E.g. T1's long name is now "13th St to 63rd-Malvern/Overbrook" instead of "Route 10"). Also, routes.txt has been reordered into a more natural ordering. The routes.route_sort_order field may be provided in the future.

• Loop routes 35, 310, LUCYGO, and LUCYGR have their first stop marked as pickup only and last stop marked as drop off only to address confusing next-to-arrive information.

• New trips.bikes_allowed information for all bus and Metro trips. See here for more guidelines.

• New trips.wheelchair_accessible information for all bus and Metro trips, and updated stops.wheelchair_boarding information for Metro stations where appropriate.

• Several service_id values and associated trips are not scheduled to be active on any date, but intentionally remain in the GTFS-Schedule data. These are alternate services/patterns/trips that may be used as TripUpdate.schedule_relationship=DUPLICATED trips in GTFS-realtime data if needed in case of schedule changes on short-notice.

• Other minor stop and schedule changes.

Regional Rail

• New fields provide basic fare information: agency.agency_fare_url, agency.cemv_support. Fares v2 data may be added in the future.

v202602010

Bus/Metro

• Fixes to T line schedules. T routes resume service in the tunnel during daytime on weekdays. T routes continue to serve 40th-Market/Filbert late nights and weekends. The "T Bus" remains in service on weekends only. See septa.org/news/trolley-tunnel-update/ for more details.
• Other minor stop and schedule changes.

Regional Rail

• New Regional Rail schedules. See here for more details.
• Adds stops.wheelchair_boarding, trips.wheelchair_accessible, and trips.bikes_allowed information for all Regional Rail stations and trips.
• Updates Regional Rail stop names to follow systemwide naming conventions.

v202601140

Bus/Metro

• Revised stops on Oregon Avenue in relation to new bus lane markings. See septa.org/news/red-bus-only-lanes/ for more details.
• Resolved an issue with duplicate block names on routes L1, B1, B2, and B3.
• T routes resume service in the tunnel during daytime on weekdays. T routes continue to serve 40th-Market/Filbert late nights and weekends. The "T Bus" remains in service on weekends only. See septa.org/news/trolley-tunnel-update/ for more details.
• Redesignated T5 Bus as route_type=3 like other shuttles, and added direction information.

Regional Rail

• Corrected Fox Chase Train #817 to originate at Wayne Junction at 9:40 am instead of Fox Chase. See septa.org/news/fox-chase-shuttle-bus/ for more details.
• Please note that all morning express trips on Regional Rail have been restored as of Monday, January 12. See septa.org/news/morning-express-service-restored/ for more details.

v202512146

Bus/Metro

• Added new "T Bus" route (route_id "T BUS"), operating 7 days a week between 40th-Market and 15th St/City Hall. See septa.org/news/trolley-tunnel-update/ for more info.
• Fixed T1 calendar.
• Set FXCB calendar to start Jan. 5, 2025 to align with start of work on Fox Chase line.
• Changed FXCB route_short_name and route_long_name to match other branding.
• Changed "T5 Bus" route_id to "T5 BUS" (all uppercase).
• Removed expired services.
• Other minor schedule corrections.
• Note: T routes continue to serve 40th-Market/Filbert.

Regional Rail

• Minor schedule corrections.

v202512140

Bus/Metro

• New stops and shapes for routes serving the new Wissahickon Transit Center.
• New "Fox Chase Shuttle Bus" route for upcoming work.
• T routes continue to serve 40th-Market/Filbert.

Regional Rail

• Additional New Year's Eve service now included.
• Fox Chase scheudles adjusted to reflect upcoming work.

About this documentation

This document describes SEPTA's "Metro" nomenclature and custom fields/files. This document also contains a changelog.

It is not:

• A comprehensive guide to SEPTA's GTFS feeds or GTFS itself
• A comprehensive guide to SEPTA's upcoming Metro nomenclature and wayfinding overhaul. More info on the changes can be found at septa.org/metro
• A guarantee that SEPTA will provide data in any particular format (though we will try our best)
• A license agreement

routes.txt

The route names of SEPTA's heavy rail (subway/elevated) and light rail (trolley) routes, and certain bus routes are changing. In GTFS, the new nomenclature is in the route_short_name field, while the old nomenclature remains in the route_long_name. The route_id field matches the route_short_name field, as is current practice (excpet in the case of shuttle buses). Physical signage will be replaced throughout the system over the coming months/years, expected to be completed in 2026. SEPTA's app and website display both new and old nomenclature side-by-side to support riders through this transition. As of February 15, 2026: T routes, G1, and formerly lettered bus routes no longer include the former route name in their route_long_name as signage installation progresses and we continue transitioning to the new nomenclature.

Current route_id	Current route_short_name	Former route_long_name	-	New route_id	New route_short_name	New route_long_name
10	10	Route 10	-	T1	T1	13th St to 63rd-Malvern/Overbrook
11	11	Route 11	-	T4	T4	13th St to Darby Transit Center
13	13	Route 13	-	T3	T3	13th St to Yeadon or Darby TC
15	15	Route 15	-	G1	G1	63rd-Girard to Richmond-Westmorelnd
34	34	Route 34	-	T2	T2	13th St to 61st-Baltimore/Angora
36	36	Route 36	-	T5	T5	13th St to 80th St/Eastwick
101	101	Route 101	-	D1	D1	Route 101
102	102	Route 102	-	D2	D2	Route 102
BSL	BSL	Broad Street Line	-	B1	B1	Broad Street Line Local
BSL	BSL	Broad Street Line	-	B2	B2	Broad Street Line Express
BSL	BSL	Broad Street Line	-	B3	B3	Broad-Ridge Spur
MFL	MFL	Market-Frankford Lin	-	L1	L1	Market-Frankford Line
NHSL	NHSL	Norristown High Speed Line	-	M1	M1	Norristown High Speed Line Local
G	G	Overbk/LankMC to ColCom/FdDstCtr	-	63	63	Lanknau/Overbrk to ColCom/FdCtr
H	H	Broad-Erie to Cheltenham-Ogontz-H	-	71	71	Broad-Erie to Cheltenham-Ogontz
J	J	Chelten-Wisshkn to Richmond-Orthodx	-	41	41	Chelten-Wissahckn to Richmnd-Orthdx
K	K	Ridge-Midvale to Arrott TC	-	K	K	Ridge-Midvale to Arrott Transit Ctr
L	L	ChestnutHill/PlymouthMtgMall to OTC	-	51	51	Plymth Mtg/Chestnt Hill to Olney TC
R	R	Henry-Mid or WissTC to FrankfordTC	-	82	82	Wisshkn TC/Henry-Midvl to FrankfdTC
XH	XH	Broad-Erie to Cheltenham-Ogontz-XH	-	81	81	Broad-Erie to Cheltenham-Ogntz

Note that in addition to the Metro routes switching to Letter-Number pairs, bus routes that formerly used letter(s) have switched to numbers only. This is so that there are no duplicates with the new Metro letters, and so that moving forward, letters always refer to Metro routes and numbers always refer to bus routes. Specifically G, H, J, L, R, and XH are changing to numbers. Bus route K will remain "K" until it is discontinued.

Additionally, trolley replacement routes will be added over time as they are needed. These replacement routes are temporary 1:1 replacements of trolleys with buses due to roadwork or other obstacles to trolleys that buses can navigate around. Our trolley network is largely street-running in mixed traffic, so riders will not experience a major change in boarding locations, frequencies, or amenities. Once added, they will not be removed from future feeds, even if no trips are assigned to those routes. They will have a route_id consisting of the route_id of the route they are replacing, followed by a space and the letters "BUS" (for example, route_id "T5 BUS" indicates a bus-operated service replaceing part or all of the T5 route, which is ordinarily a trolley). The route_short_name will also be “T5 BUS” (for example), and the route_long_name will be the same as the service being replaced. Please note: the bus replacement service will carry the route_type of "0" (which indicates a trolley), not "3" (which would indicate a bus). This is an intentional mismatch with the actual type of the vehicle on the street, and is done so that these temporary replacement services will be categorized as "Metro" services in our own tool and third party tools.

In contrast, Regional Rail shuttle buses may follow a different naming scheme and will be categorized as bus services. Regional Rail shuttle bus replacement routes may not have matching route_id and route_short_name values.

directions.txt

Provides for passenger-facing names to be documented for each direction_id value on a route-by-route basis. This specificiation adds onto the GTFS+ directions.txt extension and is based on the experimental directions.txt extension developed by the MBTA.

Field Name	GTFS spec	Status	Notes
route_id	Experimental	Included	Linked to routes.txt file.
direction_id	Experimental	Included	Binary value linked to trips.txt file. Combining route_id and direction_id forms the unique primary key for this file.
direction	Experimental	Included	Human-readable text corresponding to a direction name in a given list. Current valid values are: Northbound Southbound Eastbound Westbound Inbound Outbound Loop
direction_destination	Experimental	Included	SEPTA extension which provides the direction name used in other rider-facing materials and communications. Often, but not always, similar to the most common trips.trip_headsign for the route and direction. Destinations may include: A city/town/place name: Coatesville, Horsham, or Center City A point of interest or transit center: City Hall, Plymouth Meeting Mall, or Olney Tranist Center A street intersection, omitting suffixes like "St." and "Ave.": 2nd-Spruce or Richmond-Westmoreland A "via" designation: 7th-Spring Garden via 9th Street or Broad-Oregon via PNC and UPS A combination of any of the above, typically indicating multiple common end-of-line destinations depending on the time of day, day of week, or stopping patern: Henry-Midvale \\\& Wissahickon Transit Center, 54th-City or 50th-Parkside or Springfield Mall \\\& Penn State

route_stops.txt

Provides a list of stops associated with each route in each direction, ordered in a way that is ideal for presentation to riders. While stop_times.txt describes the sequence of stops for a particular trip, not all trips of a given route make the same stops. This file provides a list of all stops served by a particular route in a particular direction, without duplicate stops. This is helpful for "pick your stop" menus after a route and direction have been selected.

Example: a particular route_id and direction_id may have two stops A and B, ordered such that A precedes B. This means that there are no trips on this route in this direction that serve stop B before stop A. It does not guarantee that there any trips that serve both A and B, becuase some trips may serve one but not the other.

Field Name	GTFS spec	Status	Notes
route_id	Experimental	Included	Linked to routes.txt file.
direction_id	Experimental	Included	Binary value linked to trips.txt file.
stop_id	Experimental	Included	Linked to stops.txt file.
route_stop_order	Experimental	Included	Orders the stops on trips with this route_id and direction_id in a way that is ideal for presentation to riders. For a particular route_id and direction_id, stops with a smaller route_stop_sort_order should be displayed first.

Notes

• While not directly reflected in the GTFS, please note that the rail routes affected above are now being referred to by SEPTA as its “Metro” network – parallel to SEPTA’s Bus network and Regional Rail network. While these routes will retain their appropriate GTFS route_type, these six lines (13 GTFS routes including all service patterns) will be collectively referenced as “Metro” routes on signage and throughout SEPTA service communication moving forward.
• Please note the new colors for each of the Metro lines – all except the [B] have been updated to either a different shade ([L], [T], and [M]) or a completely new color ([D] and [G]). These colors are already included in the current GTFS-static feed, but should start to be used as of February.
• When rendering route names in plain text, it is preferable to use the route_long_name followed by the route_short_name in brackets: "Board the Norristown High Speed Line [M1] at Villanova." This is to assist riders who may be unfamiliar with the new nomenclature. This recommendation will change in the future.
• The order of the Subway-Surface Trolleys [T] routes has changed. The existing order (10, 11, 13, 34, 36) is for historical reasons. The new ordering (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) reflects their relative geographic locations (North to South) rather than historical numbering. Note that Route 15 [G1] has a different letter because it forms a separate "trunk" in the core of the city from the Subway-Surface Trolley [T] routes.
• The former Broad Street Line (BSL) is being split into three distinct routes: Broad Street Local [B1], Broad Street Express [B2], and Broad-Ridge Spur [B3]. Trips (in trips.txt) have been assigned to the appropriate route.
• Individual routes should always be referred to with their alpha-numeric name (e.g. B2, T4, G1). However, the letter alone may be used in certain cases to refer to all of the routes on a line: for example, identifying 13th St as a station where all [T] and [L] services may be found. The single letters are not found in the GTFS.
• Certain stop_name fields are also being updated as part of the Metro transition. Some of these changes have already been made, while additional changes will be reflected in the February GTFS-static feed. These changes include: small consistency updates (e.g. Street --> St), new names to resolve duplicate station names (e.g. Broad-Girard and Front-Girard), and the consolidation of 15th St and City Hall stations into 15th St/City Hall Station. This round of updates does not include any changes to parent/child stop relationships.