SEPTA Bus Route 4

Introduction

SEPTA Bus Route 4 operates from Fern Rock Transit Center to Broad Street and Pattison Avenue via Broad Street. Service on route 4 is split between Midvale (District 3) and Southern (District 7) Depots.

Alternate service on North Broad Street is provided by the SEPTA Bus Route 16.

SEPTA 7477 on Route 4 by DashTransit
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Table Of Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. SEPTA Route 4 Routing
  3. Key Transfer Points on Route 4
  4. Route 4 History
  5. Other Routes using the same numbers
  6. New Bus Network Changes
  7. Timetables

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SEPTA Route 4 Routing

SEPTA Route 4 operates on Broad Street between Westmoreland Street and Pattison Avenue. North of Westmoreland Street, route 4 operates via Rising Sun Avenue to 9th Street, then to Fern Rock Transit Center.

Key Transfer Points on Route 4

Route 4 shares many station stops with the B1, B2, and B3 Lines.

  • Fern Rock Transit Center
    • SEPTA Metro B1, B2, and B3 lines at Fern Rock Transit Center
    • SEPTA Bus routes 28, 57, 70
    • Regional Rail Lines: Lansdale/Doylestown, Warminster, and West Trenton
  • 9th Street and Erie Avenue
    • SEPTA Bus Route 56
  • Broad Street and Allegheny Avenue
    • SEPTA Metro B1 line at Broad-Allegheny Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 16 and 60
  • Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue
    • SEPTA Metro B1 line at Cecil B. Moore Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 3 and 16
  • Broad Street and Girard Avenue
    • SEPTA MetroB1, B2, B3, and G1 lines at Broad-Girard Station
    • SEPTA bus route 16
  • Broad Street and Spring Garden Street
    • SEPTA Metro B1 and B2 lines at Broad-Spring Garden Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 16 and 43
  • Philadelphia City Hall
    • SEPTA Metro B1, B2, L1, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 lines at 15th St/City Hall Station
    • SEPTA Bus routes 16, 17, 27, 31, 32, 33, 44, 48, 124, and 125
    • NJ Transit bus service
    • All SEPTA Regional Rail lines at Suburban Station
  • Broad Street and Walnut Street
    • SEPTA Metro B1 and B2, lines at Walnut-Locust Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 9, 12, 21, 27, 32, 42
  • Broad Street and Washington Avenue
    • SEPTA Metro B1 line at Ellsworth-Federal Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 27, 32, and 64
  • Broad Street and Snyder Avenue
    • SEPTA Metro B1 line at Snyder Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 37 and 79
  • Broad Street and Oregon Avenue
    • SEPTA Metro B1 line at Oregon Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 7, 45, 63, 68

Route 4 History

Current SEPTA Route 4 was originally route C between 11th-Nedro and Broad-Geary. This version was turned into route 4 and extended south to Broad-Pattison on February 12th 2012.

As part of the new bus network, articulated buses were assigned to route 4, and frequencies were decreased to every 30 minutes at peak hours.

The history of route C will be covered in detail on the route 16 page.

Other Routes using the same numbers

Historically, there were three previous routes numbered 4.

  • Route 4 North to South Philadelphia
    • Operated from North Philadelphia to South Philadelphia via Front and 2nd Streets north of Master Street, and 6th and 7th Street south of Master Street.
    • Discontinued in the 1930s, replaced with routes 57 and 65
  • Route 4 North to South Philadelphia
    • Operated a circulator route between Snyder Terminal (now Snyder Station) and the Food Distribution Center
    • Discontinued April 8th 1973, and merged into route 17 and 63 (former route G).
  • Route 4 Fort Washington Express
    • Operated express service between Olney Transit Center to Fort Washington via PA-309
    • Created June 18th 1982 as the Fort Washington Express, operating peak directions only.
    • Designated route 4 in 1984
    • Supplimented by route 201 starting April 11th 1988
    • This service was discontinued on September 6th 1996.
    • On February 7th, 2000, this service would be re-created somewhat with Horsham express route 80, which also was discontinued.

New Bus Network Changes

SEPTA Route 4 was had its frequency reduced to every 30 minutes as part of the SEPTA New Bus Network on August 23rd 2026.

Timetables

Route 4 is currently active. Check out SEPTA’s official website for current timetables for route 4. Below are historic timetables for SEPTA Route 4. These are older, out of date timetables for archival educational purposes only. These are not meant to be used for actual trip planning. Historic route 4, Fort Washington Express timetables are available on the route 201 and Fort Washington service page. If you want to see historic route C timetables, those are available on the route 16 spotlight page.