SEPTA Route 103
Encyclopedia
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
route, operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is a metropolitan transportation authority that operates various forms of public transit—bus, subway and elevated rail, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolley bus—that serve 3.9 million people in and around Philadelphia,...
(SEPTA) on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Route 103 runs between Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Ardmore is a census-designated place in Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 12,455 at the 2010 census...
and the 69th Street Terminal
69th Street Terminal
69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It is also the southwestern terminus of Philadelphia's EL, the Market-Frankford Line ....
in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, starting in 1902 as a streetcar line operated by the Ardmore and Llanerch Street Railway, then the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (PSTC, doing business as "Red Arrow Lines") until converted bus operation to December 1966. SEPTA acquired PSTC and assumed operations of the Red Arrow Lines in January 1970.
Route
The route begins at a loop around Suburban SquareSuburban Square
Suburban Square is a shopping center located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Philadelphia area. The center opened in 1928, and is notable as one of the earliest shopping centers in the United States...
shopping center in Ardmore, then heads west along Montgomery Avenue where it turns left at Woodside Road, crossing under the Paoli/Thorndale Line
Paoli/Thorndale Line
The Paoli/Thorndale Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line running from Center City Philadelphia to Thorndale in Chester County.-Route:This branch utilizes one of the oldest sections of what is now Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, an electrified 104-mile two to four-track high-speed route between Harrisburg...
near Ardmore (SEPTA station)
Ardmore (SEPTA station)
Ardmore Station is an above-ground commuter rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at Anderson and Coulter Avenues in Ardmore, Pennsylvania...
, which also serves Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Keystone Service
Keystone Service
Amtrak's Keystone Service provides frequent passenger train service along the Amtrak-owned Keystone Corridor and Northeast Corridor between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Station in New York via 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. It is...
. After Woodside it takes a left onto Lancaster Avenue
U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania
In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 30 runs east–west across the southern part of the state, passing through Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on its way from the West Virginia state line east to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey...
While Route 103 is close to Ardmore station in this area, it doesn't have a direct connection to the station.
From Lancaster Avenue, Route 103 is divided. Southbound buses use Rittenhouse Place, East Athens Avenue, and Cricket Avenue to County Line Road. Northbound buses from County Line Road use Ardmore Avenue to Lancaster Avenue. Shortly after the split between Lancaster Avenue and County Line Roads, Route 103 makes a turn onto a private busway
Busway
Busway may refer to several things:Transport technology* Bus rapid transit, bus systems including some elements of trams or metro systems* Guided busway, concrete tracks exclusively for modified busesTransport systems...
known as Hathaway Lane(a.k.a.; Ardmore Busway), where it immediately encounters County Line Road Station, which is little more than a shed. The road was originally right-of way for the trolley rails until it was paved over, which is why some of the old P&W/Red Arrow Line sheds still remain intact. The exception to this is the plexglass bus shelter at Belmont Avenue Station.
Although Hathaway Lane continues to serve as a private road strictly for the Route 103 bus south of Haverford Road, there are some sections that contain parallel roads for residents and the general public. Both the busway and West Hathaway Lane go under Norristown High Speed Line
Norristown High Speed Line
The Norristown High Speed Line is an interurban line system operated between Upper Darby and Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA by SEPTA...
(Route 100) at Ardmore Junction (SEPTA station). Merwood Road Station contains residential parallel roads on both sides of the busway, in the form of both West Hathaway and East Hathaway Lane. East Hathaway is a dead end street north of Merwood Road and a one way street between Eagle and Merwood Roads. West Hathaway Lane moves away from the busway at the intersection of Huntington Lane.
Though the Ardmore Busway ends at the intersection of Darby Road & Eagle Road in Oakmont, a "Red Arrow" bus shelter can be found after the intersection on Darby Road. The former trolley right-of-way runs west of Darby Road while the current bus route runs down Darby until making a left turn at Brookline Boulevard in Havertown. From there, the bus heads east and makes a right turn onto Earlington Road as it runs south again through Penfield. When Earlington Road ends at Township Line Road
U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania
U.S. Route 1 is a major north–south U.S. Highway, extending from the Florida Keys in the south to the Canadian border in the north. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, US 1 runs for from the Maryland state line near Oxford to the New Jersey state line near Trenton.-Maryland to Interstate...
the bus turns left again, only to make an instant right turn onto Lynn Boulevard, which borders the western edge of the McCall Field Golf Course and eventually curves at a 90-degree intersection with Pennsylvania Route 3
Pennsylvania Route 3
Pennsylvania Route 3 is a state highway located in the southeastern portion of Pennsylvania. The route connects West Chester with Philadelphia. The divided highway that comprises much of its route is the West Chester Pike, built as a turnpike by the Philadelphia and West Chester Turnpike Company...
(West Chester Pike). Originally, Llanerch Avenue, near the intersection of Pennsylvania Route 3
Pennsylvania Route 3
Pennsylvania Route 3 is a state highway located in the southeastern portion of Pennsylvania. The route connects West Chester with Philadelphia. The divided highway that comprises much of its route is the West Chester Pike, built as a turnpike by the Philadelphia and West Chester Turnpike Company...
and Darby Road and Lansdowne Avenue was where it joined SEPTA Route 104
SEPTA Route 104
SEPTA Bus Route 104 currently operates between Upper Darby's 69th Street Terminal and the North Campus of West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania...
, another former street car converted into a bus route. A mural of a trolley station was painted on a building on the corner where the right-of-way used to exist. Both the Route 103 and 104 buses continue eastward along West Chester Pike until reaching the 69th Street Terminal
69th Street Terminal
69th Street Transportation Center is a SEPTA terminal in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It is also the southwestern terminus of Philadelphia's EL, the Market-Frankford Line ....
in Upper Darby, the same location they reached when they were trolley lines.