SEPTA Route 104
Encyclopedia
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 ....
and the North Campus of West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania
West Chester, Pennsylvania
The Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Longwood Gardens, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are near West Chester...
. Route 104 initially was a streetcar line which operated parallel to the West Chester Pike (PA 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 was operated by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (aka "Red Arrow Lines").
Rail service
In 1954, rail service was cut back to the Westgate Hills section of Haverford Township in order to allow the Pennsylvania Department of Highways (now PennDOT) to expand the highway into its current configuration. A few years later, all rail service on the West Chester Pike corridor was replaced by bus service.Route
For many years, bus service operated along the entire length of West Chester Pike between 69th Street Terminal and the terminus of the Pike, just east of West Chester Borough, where West Chester Pike and Paoli Pike merge to form Gay Street (from the westbound direction) and Market Street (from the eastbound direction). Service operated via Gay Street, New Street, and Market Street, laying over on Market just east of New.In the late 1990s, selected weekday peak hour short-turn trips were from extended the center of Newtown Square in Delaware County to serve the Newtown Square Corporate Campus just west of the center of town.
In 2002, service was extended to serve West Chester University, eliminating a 10-15 minute walk not just for college students, but also for residents of the borough's south end neighborhoods. This eliminated the simple loop routing that had been in effect for many years previously.
In addition, a new evening routing operated directly into the Edgmont Square Shopping Center, a rapidly developing retail complex in Edgmont Township, just west of the Edgmont/Newtown township boundary.
Today, Route 104 operates service to West Chester every 20 minutes during weekday peak hours, 30 minutes during weekday hours and on late Saturday afternoons, and every hour on evenings, most of the day on Saturday, and all day on Sunday. Short-turn trips to Newtown Square provide 10 minute headways to that town during weekday peak hours, and 30 minute service levels on Saturdays and Sundays.