Introduction
SEPTA’s Route 202 was a combination of bus-to-rail service for the Wilmington Newark Line, and local bus connection between West Chester and the US-202 corridor. Similarly, Route 306 was a bus route that operated between Brandywine Town Center in Delaware, to Main Line Industrial Park in Great Valley.
SEPTA Route 202 was created as a joint venture between SEPTA, DART First State, Delaware County Planning, and Chester County Planning Commission, with the goal of operating local bus service along the US-202 corridor between Pennsylvania and Delaware. Service on route 202 was discontinued in 2000.
A new Route 306 was created on March 12th, 2007, with a similar goal. However the service was discontinued in September of 2011.
Route 202 and 306 were both operated under contract by Krapf’s Transit.
Please Donate!
If everyone reading this could donate just one dollar today, we could afford to have Virtual Transit Center on the web for up to 6 years without interruption. For those who enjoy Virtual Transit Center and the services we provide, please consider donating.
SEPTA Route 202 Routing
SEPTA Route 202 operated consistent routing from West Chester Downtown, along US-202 (Wilmington Pike), to Concord Mall, then using I-95 into Downtown Wilmington, terminating at the Wilmington Amtrak Station, connecting with the R2 Wilmington/Newark Line
Route 202 did not operate on Saturdays, Sundays or major holidays. The major stops were as follows:
- Downtown West Chester for routes 92, 104, 118, and Krapf’s Route A
- US 202 and Baltimore Pike for route 119
- Concord Mall for connecting DART First State service
- Rodney Square – Wilmington for connecting DART First State service
- Wilmington Amtrak Station for connecting DART First State service and SEPTA R2 Wilmington/Newark Line
Route 202 History
SEPTA route 202 was created on February 27th 1995 as a joint venture between SEPTA, DART First State, Delaware County Planning, and Chester County Planning Commission, with the goal of operating local bus service along the US-202 corridor between Pennsylvania and Delaware. When created, SEPTA Route 202 would terminate at Chester County Government Services Center with the park and ride being the main layover spot. Eventually, service was re-routed to New and Market Streets, with the park and ride only being served during peak hours.
The route was operated by Krapf’s Transit, and had specially assigned SEPTA Neoplans 3361 and 3362, as well as several 87xx Neoplans, to the line.
In June 1997, service on route 202 would be drastically cut back, with service being reduced to rush hours only. During this time, the Neoplan AN440s in the 87xx were returned to Victory depot where they ran until retirement.
In February of 1998, service yet again would be drastically cut back. All service between Wilmington and Brandywine Town Center would be discontinued. The remaining Neoplan AN440s would be removed from the line, and replaced with Ford E450 Cutaways.
SEPTA Route 202 was discontinued in March of 2000.
SEPTA Route 306
On March 12th, 2007, a new route 306 would be created, operating the majority of the US-202 Corridor in Chester County. This iteration of route 306 was created alongside a new route 205 as part of a massive reimagining of the transit network in Chester County.
Route 306 operated from Main Line Industrial Park in Great Valley, through Great Valley Corporate Center, via US-30 Lincoln Highway to Frazer Park and Ride, before taking US-202 to Paoli Pike, then diverting over to downtown West Chester to serve the West Chester Transportation Center, continuing back down US-202 through Chester and Delaware County, terminating at Brandywine Town Center.
Much like with route 202, SEPTA would have very specific buses assigned to Krapf’s Transit to operate route 306, which were two Chevrolet/Champion buses numbered 2098 and 2099. But this time, Krapf would also purchase additional buses, three International Low Floor coaches numbered 2712-2715.
The original iteration of route 306 would operate half-hourly service in both directions between 6am and 9am, and again 3pm-5pm. There was also an additional round trip that ran from Brandywine Town Center at 11:00pm, and arrived back at 1:16pm
On March 24th 2008, service would become somewhat hourly between 6am and 6pm, with a trip skipped between 10am and 12pm in both directions.
All service to Brandywine Town Center and Delaware County along US-202 was eliminated on November 10th, 2010, and route 306 would no longer serve the US-202 corridor that was originally served by route 202. All service would operate peak directions only between Parkway Shopping Center in West Chester, and Main Line Industrial Park in Great Valley.
Service on route 306 was completely discontinued in Fall 2011. Local Bus Service to Delaware was allocated to SEPTA Bus Route 113 on November 9th 2009.
Other Routes using the same numbers
SEPTA Route 202 was the first and only route to be numbered 202. The same applies to route 306.
New Bus Network Changes
- The portions of route 306 in Great Valley to Frazer would be served by the West Chester-Malvern SEPTA Go Zone.
- The portions of route 202 and 306 that served between West Chester and the US-202 corridor will ne served by the West Chester-Malvern SEPTA GO Zone.
Timetables
Below are some historic timetables for SEPTA‘s Route 202. These are older (out of date) timetable scans with their effective dates listed.
- Route 202
- 1995
- 1996
- 1997