SEPTA Route 23

Route 23
Center City to Chestnut Hill
A New Flyer D40LF Route 23 bus passing under the Pennsylvania Convention Center arcade in 2006
A New Flyer D40LF Route 23 bus passing under the Pennsylvania Convention Center arcade in 2006
Overview
SystemMidvale District[1]
OperatorSEPTA City Transit Division
Began service1859 (1859) (horsecar)[2]
1894 (1894) (electric trolley)[2]
1992 (1992) (bus service)
Former operator(s)Philadelphia Transportation Company
Route
LocalePhiladelphia
Communities servedNorth Philadelphia, Northwest Philadelphia, Chinatown
Start11th and Market Streets
ViaGermantown Avenue
11th Street (northbound)
12th Street (southbound)
EndGermantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike (Chestnut Hill Loop)
Length10.7 mi (17.2 km)[1]
Service
Frequency8-15 minutes (6am-9pm)[3]
Weekend frequency15-40 minutes[3]
Ridership13,117 (2019 weekday average)[1]
TimetableRoute 23 schedule
Route map

Trolley
Bethlehem Pike
Chestnut Hill West
Mermaid Lane
Gorgas Lane
Germantown
Carhouse
Musgrave
Street
 53  56  Erie Avenue
Old York Road
to Luzerne Carhouse
 60  Allegheney Avenue
Huntingdon Street
Susquehanna Avenue
12th Street│11th Street
Bainbridge Street
Passyunk Avenue
Snyder Avenue
Oregon Avenue
Marvine Street│10th Street
Bigler Street

Diagrams are not to scale


Bus
Chestnut Hill Loop
SEPTA Regional Rail CHW SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  L 
Windrim Avenue
Hunting Park Avenue
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  R 
Erie SEPTA#Rapid transit  BSL 
Erie Avenue
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  56 
Ontario Street
(late-night terminal)
Allegheny Avenue
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  60 
Susquehanna Avenue
Cecil B. Moore Avenue
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  3 
Girard Avenue
 15 
Spring Garden Street
Ridge Avenue
Noble Street
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  45  terminal
Arch Street
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  48 
Market Street
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  17  33  48 
Chestnut Street
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  21 
Walnut Street
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  21 
SEPTA City Transit Division surface routes  45 
Legend
Bus/trolley services
Subway/rail services
Diagram shows only major stops
and high-frequency routes
← 22  City Transit Division  24 →
Tracks for the former Route 23 trolley line on 11th Street.

Route 23 is a former streetcar line and current bus route. It is operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The line runs between the Chestnut Hill and Center City neighborhoods via Germantown Avenue, 11th, and 12th Streets.

Route 23 was once Philadelphia's longest streetcar route,[4] extending south to 11th St. and Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia, and was one of three suspended by SEPTA in 1992. A restoration of trolley service has been proposed in recent years, with a feasibility study planned between 2021 and 2027.[5] Route 23 was also believed to be the longest trolley route within a city in the world.[4]

The route is consistently one of SEPTA's most heavily-traveled bus lines, coming in as the fourth-busiest for daily ridership in 2018, as well as an average weekday ridership of 14,322.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d "SEPTA Route Statistics 2018" (PDF). SEPTA. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Melamed, Samantha (November 27, 2015). "So long, 23 - the busiest and latest bus route". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Route 23" (PDF). SEPTA. September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "The history of trolley cars and routes in Philadelphia". SEPTA. June 1, 1974. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 2014-08-16. Cite error: The named reference "phillytrolley.org/1974history/12-13" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2016proposal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).