Introduction

SEPTA Bus Route 47M was a northbound only bus route that operated from Whitman Plaza to 7th & Spring Garden Streets via 9th Street. Service on route 47M was provided by Southern (District 7) Depot.

SEPTA 3445 on Route 47M by DashTransit
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Table Of Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. Major Transfer Points on route 47M
  3. SEPTA Route 47M History
  4. Other Routes with the same numbers
  5. New Bus Network Changes
  6. Timetables

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Major Transfer Points on route 47M

SEPTA Route 47M had many transfer points including…

SEPTA Route 47M Map, February 2025
SEPTA Route 47M Map, February 2025
  • Whitman Plaza
    • SEPTA bus routes 7, 47, 57, 63
  • 9th Street & Snyder Avenue
    • SEPTA bus route 79
  • 9th Street and Tasker Street
    • SEPTA bus route 29
  • 9th Street and Washington Avenue
    • SEPTA bus route 64
  • 9th Street and South Street
    • SEPTA bus route 40 (eastbound)
  • 9th Street and Locust Street
    • SEPTA bus route 12 (westbound)
  • 9th Street and Walnut Street
    • SEPTA bus routes 9, 12, 21, 42 (westbound)
  • 9th Street and Market Street
    • SEPTA Metro B3 and L1 lines at 8th-Market Station
    • SEPTA bus routes 17, 33, 44, 48, 61, 62
  • 7th Street and Spring Garden Street
    • SEPTA bus routes 43, 47

SEPTA Route 47M History

SEPTA route 47M was created on March 16th 1993 as a response to the demand of transit service on 9th Street. On the same date, SEPTA route 47 would be re-routed to operate northbound via 7th Street (previously, it would operate northbound via 9th Street). The M on route 47M was meant to stand for Market, as the 9th Street service was for the Italian Market.

The routing of route 47M would be from 8th & Oregon Streets to 9th & Race Streets via 9th Street, then via Race to 7th Street, taking 7th to Spring Garden Street. Similar to the original route 47 routing from Oregon to Spring Garden.

There would be southbound trips on route 47M, but they would operate via 8th Street. Until 2008, this would be easily identifiable as route “47M 8th-Oregon” on the signs.

On November 2nd 2008, route 47M trips would be extended south to Whitman Plaza, and the “47M” designator would be removed from southbound service (though they were still listed in 47M timetables).

In 2011, southbound service would be removed from route 47M timetables, since buses operated southbound as route 47 anyway. This was done alongside route 47′s pilot program which would have it serving every other stop, and all timepoints between the beginning and the end of the route were removed.

Route 47M was ultimately discontinued on August 23rd 2026, as part of SEPTA’s New Bus Network phase 1 changes.

Other Routes with the same numbers

Route 47 is the main bus service between North Philadelphia and South Philadelphia via 5th/6th Streets north of Dauphin Street, and 7th/8th Streets south of Dauphin Street.

New Bus Network Changes

Route 47M was discontinued on August 23rd 2026 as part of SEPTA’s New Bus Network phase 1 changes.

Timetables

Below are historic timetables for SEPTA Route 47M. These are older, out of date timetables for archival educational purposes only. These are not meant to be used for actual trip planning.