Introduction
SEPTA Bus Route 16 operates from Cheltenham-Ogontz Loop to Philadelphia City Hall via Cheltenham Avenue and North Broad Street. Service on route 16 is provided by Midvale (District 3) Depot.
Alternate service on North Broad Street is provided by the SEPTA Bus Route 4.
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SEPTA Route 16 Routing
SEPTA Route 16 operates from Cheltenham-Ogontz Loop to Philadelphia City Hall operating via Cheltenham Avenue, then North Broad Street, terminating at the northwest corner of 15th and Market Streets.
Key Transfer Points on Route 16
Route 16 shares many station stops with the B1, B2, and B3 Lines. Transfers to other routes are available at…
- Cheltenham Avenue and Ogontz Loop
- Broad Street and 66th Avenue
- SEPTA Bus routes 22, 55, and K
- Broad Street and Olney Transit Center
- Broad Street and Wyoming Avenue
- SEPTA Metro B1 line at Wyoming Station
- SEPTA bus route 75
- Broad Street and Hunting Park Avenue
- Broad Street and Erie Avenue
- Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue
- Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue
- Broad Street and Girard Avenue
- Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue
- Broad Street and Spring Garden Street
- Philadelphia City Hall
Broad Street Bus History
Current SEPTA route 16‘s history began with Philadelphia Rapid Transportation (PRT) route C on May 18th 1925, and would be one of the first bus routes of the system. This route operated between Broad Street and Cheltenham Avenue Loop (then called City Line) and South Philadelphia via North Broad Street to Arch Street, then via 15th Street to Locust Street (if terminating at Philadelphia City Hall) or South Penn Square back to South Broad Street (if terminating in South Philadelphia). There would be alternating service along Cheltenham Avenue to the location of Roumfort St, but that would eventually be replaced by a later route X (now route 77) to Germantown Avenue and route S (now route 18) service.
A secondary route, C-1 would be introduced the next year on January 24th 1926 which operated via Rising Sun and 9th/10th Streets to Somerville and Wagner Avenues. This route C-1 would be later merged into, and re-labeled as, route C.
Photo from Philadelphia Transit Vehicles, Collection of Doug Diehl
On December 28th, 1942, service on route C was temporarily suspended where the Broad Street Subway operated, and trolley routes would have diversions to connect to nearby stations. Buses would continue to operate between Broad-Olney Subway Station and Ogontz-Cheltenham Ave Loop. Full service on route C would be restored on June 22nd, 1947.
A bus route O would be discontinued on March 29th 1959, and route C service that previously terminated at Somerville and Wagner Avenues, would be extened north to the Fern Rock Terminal at 11th and Nedro Streets, re-connecting this branch with the Broad Street Line.
Over the years of PTC and SEPTA operation, the service pattern of route C was pretty consistent, with buses running every 5-10 minutes or less on Broad Street between Allegheny Avenue and Spruce Street. North of Allegheny Avenue, service would alternate between operating via Broad Street to Cheltenham-Ogontz or via Rising Sun Avenue to 11th & Nedro Streets.
By January 28th 1962, the service pattern that we all know from route C would become more consistent. Service from 11th & Nedro would also operate Broad Street south of Spruce Street. Service from Ogontz-Cheltenham Loop would terminate at 15th & Spruce Streets. Service south of Spruce Street could terminate at either Broad Street and Geary Streets, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, or (by 1984) the Sheaff Lane Apartments (via Packer Avenue, 20th Street, Pattison Avenue, and Sheaff Lane).
Service on route C to the Philadelphia Navy Yard would be discontinued by 1995.
On February 4th 1996, route C would see an adjustment specifically around Philadelphia City Hall. All buses would now operate via Filbert Street/JFK Boulevard instead of Arch Street. All service that previously terminated at 15th and Spruce Streets, would now terminate in the northeast corner of 15th and Market Streets.
Starting February 23rd 2004, all service to Sheaff Lane Apartments would be provided by a separate shuttle service that operated from Broad Street and Oregon Avenues (B1 Oregon Station), and free transfers would be issued between the route C and the Sheaff Lane Apartments shuttle.
Another route, numbered 71, coined the Navy Yard Shuttle, would be created on the same date, operating between then Pattison Station (now B1 NRG Station) and the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Although this line did not connect with route C while it existed, it operated the same routing as route C, but replaced the weekday Navy Yard service from route 17.
All route C buses from Fern Rock Transit Center would terminate at Broad and Geary Streets starting on this date as well.
The Sheaff Lane Apartments shuttle would be discontinued with the fall 2006 schedule changes on September 3rd 2006, and the Navy Yard Shuttle route 71 would be discontinued on November 30th 2012.
On February 12th, 2012, the two main route C divisions would be split into two routes:
- Route 4 which operates the Fern Rock to South Philadelphia.
- The service would also get extended south to terminate at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue
- Route 16 which would operate between Cheltenham-Ogontz and 15th-Market.
Service on these routes would otherwise remain untouched outside of frequencies.
Other Routes using the same numbers
Historically, there were three previous routes numbered 4. To see more on that, see the route 4 spotlight page. There was also three routes numbered 16.
- Route 16 Center City to Fairmount Park
- Operated via 19th and 20th Streets
- Discontinued in 1929
- Route 16 Street Road Cross-County
- Operated between Warrington and Cornwells Heights via Street Road
- Created September 2nd 1973
- Discontinued January 31st 1982 with no replacement service.
- Route 16 Fern Rock to Philmont Heights
- Replaced combination trips on route Y (current route 70) and route 67 on September 12th, 1988
- Operated between Fern Rock Transit Center via the Route Y (current route 70), then via Central Ave and Hasbrook to Oxford Avenue to Fox Chase, then to Rhawn Street, over to Verree Road, then via route 67 to Philmont Heights.
- Service discontinued September 6th, 1996
New Bus Network Changes
Route 16 is currently unaffected by the new bus network.
Timetables
Route 16 is currently active. Check out SEPTA’s official website for current timetables for route 16. Below are historic timetables for SEPTA Route 16 and C. These are older, out of date timetables for archival educational purposes only. These are not meant to be used for actual trip planning.
- Route C
- 1988
- September 11th 1988 (forgot to scan the Saturday schedule, oops)
- 1996
- February 4th 1996 (City Hall area changes)
- 1997
- 1988
- Route 16 Street Road Cross County
- 1975
- June 15th 1975 (From the collection of Matt Ciecka)
- 1975
Audio Announcements
Here are the exterior/door audio announcements for SEPTA Route 16.