SEPTA Launches a New Service That Lets Riders Check Bus Seat Availability in Advance

SEPTA Launches a New Service That Lets Riders Check Bus Seat Availability in Advance

SEPTA announced Tuesday that riders will now be able to check seat availability base on routine data that is collected.  The service provides passengers with a chart that gives the estimated availability of seats on buses.  The services is available on most buses and routes.  See it at .http://septa.org/seat-availability/

SEPTA’s website states:

We created the Seat Availability Dashboard to provide you with additional information to help plan your travel on SEPTA. It is a tool that will change over time to include new routes, be available on more platforms, improve our estimates, and reflect the most current standards for social distancing.

New seat availability estimates will be published weekly.

These estimates are not a live report of current conditions and your experience may differ from SEPTA’s estimates. Estimated seat availability is based on recent observed conditions from the previous two weeks. We process it and fill in some gaps where data is unavailable.

The Dashboard currently includes most of SEPTA bus routes. Other routes and modes, such as the Norristown High Speed Line, Market-Frankford Line, Broad Street Line, and Regional Rail, will be added soon. Additional bus routes and SEPTA trolley routes will be added after that.

How to Use the Seat Availability Dashboard

The Seat Availability Dashboard shows the expected number of seats available at each stop on a trip. These fall into three categories that reflect how easily you might find a seat:

• • Many Seats Available: Expect that you can easily find a seat

• • Some Seats Available: Expect that you may have to search for a seat

• Standing Room Only: Expect that all seats are taken