Introduction

SEPTA bus route 84 operates from Frankford Transit Center to Franklin Mall and Somerton via State Road and Knights Road. Service on route 84 is provided by Comly (District 1) Depot.

SEPTA 8677 on Route 28 by DashTransit
SEPTA 5570 on Route 84 by DashTransit
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Table Of Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. Transfer Points along route 84
  3. Route 84 History 1941-Present
  4. Other routes with the same numbers
  5. Timetables

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Transfer Points along route 84

Route 84 has many transfer points along the route, including…

SEPTA Route 84 Map, August 2026
SEPTA Route 84 Map, August 2026
  • Frankford Transit Center
    • SEPTA Metro L1 at Frankford Transit Center
    • SEPTA bus routes 3, 5, 8, 14, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 50, 58, 66, 67, 72, 82, 88, Boulevard Direct
  • Torresdale-Cottman Loop
    • SEPTA bus routes 28, 56, 70
  • Franklin Mall
    • SEPTA bus routes 20, 50, 67, 129, 130

Route 84 History 1941-Present

Route 84 was created on November 30th 1941 by the Philadelphia Transportation Company, operating as a shuttle for route B between Grant Avenue & Roosevelt Boulevard and Churchville Road & Bustleton Pike (Feasterville).

Service was extended south to Delaware Avenue via Grant Avenue, Academy Road, and Linden Avenue in 1946, and yet again to the north via Elmwood Avenue, Boston Avenue, Spruce Street, and Bristol Roads to Neshaminy Falls Station on June 6th 1948.

Route 84 would be coordinated with (and printed on the same timetables as) route B (now route 14) beginning June 22nd 1958.

On September 6th 1960, route 84 would recieve a major re-route to the south, and operate via Bustleton Avenue, Trevose Road, Southampton Road, Byberry Road, Woodhaven Road, and Knights Road, to terminate at Frankford-City Line Loop (now Frankford-Knights Loop). The previous routing would be re-allocated to route 871 on the same date.

PTC would stop coordinating route B (now route 14) and 84 starting January 28th 1962.

The last change to route 84 under Philadelphia Transportation Company would just so happen to come on the last schedule change before SEPTA took over the line. on September 3rd, 1968, Route 84 would be extended to the north to Neshaminy Mall. SEPTA would of course become the operator of the line at the end of the month.

The first change to route 84 under SEPTA wouldn’t come until 1976. Route 84 was extended south via Grant Avenue and Torresdale Avenue to Torresdale-Cottman Loop on September 5th 1976. On the same date, alternate service via Red Lion Road and Academy Road to Woodhaven Road would be added to route 84.

SEPTA 5347 on Route 84 by DashTransit
SEPTA 5347 on Route 84 by DashTransit

Route T was discontinued on January 31st 1982, and Route 84 would be extended south via State Road, and Bridge Street to Frankford Terminal L1. To the north, it would be cut back to Bustleton & County Line Road, and sevice to Neshaminy mall would be provided by route 58 from then onwards. The primary route north of Rhawn Street would be moved over to State Road, though limited service would continue to operate via Torresdae Avenue to Ashburner Street.

Service would also be simplified to operate via Red Lion Road to Academy Road, then via Academy to Woodhaven Road, then via Woodhaven to Byberry Road in both directions, instead of using the alternate routing via Knights Road.Finally, express service was added to the line, operating via I-95 on the same date.

There would then be three versions of route 84 from Frankford Terminal

  • Local via Bridge Street to State Road then local via State Road to Cottman, then via Cottman to Torresdale, then via Torresdale to Ashburner Street, back to State Road
  • Local via Bridge Street to State Road then local via State Road to Cottman, then via Cottman to Torresdale, then via Torresdale to Rhawn Street, back to State Road
  • Express via Bridge Street and Interstate-95 to Rhawn Street, Ashburner Street, then local via Torresdale to Ashburner Street, back to State Road.

Another slight change would come on June 15th 1986, where route 84‘s northern terminus would be moved from Bustleton & County Line to Forrest Hills Regional Rail Station.

On September 11th 1988, route 84‘s northern terminus would be returned to Bustleton Avenue & County Line Road. On the same date, route 84 would be re-routed to operate via Knights Road north of Red Lion Road (previously, service operated via Academy Road) in anticipation of the opening of Franklin Mills Mall2. Express service on route 84 would be re-routed to operate via Frankford Avenue.

Starting January 29th 1989, route 84 would operate via Franklin Mills Mall, with select trips terminating there.

Later that year on September 10th 1989 the Ashburner Street bridge over I-95 was under construction and as a result, express trips and local trips via Torresdale Avenue would use Linden Avenue instead. The regular routing was restored on June 20th 1993.

Local service via Torresdale Avenue north of Rhawn Street was removed on September 11th 1994, and only express trips operated via Torresdale from then onward.

Route 84 was temporarily extended south from Frankford Terminal to Erie-Torresdale Station via Torresdale Avenue on July 26th 2003 due to the re-construction of Frankford Terminal into Frankford Transportation Center. The regular routing was restored on September 7th 2003. Upon returning to Frankford Transportation Center, on the same date, express service on route 84 was eliminated.

Route 84 otherwise has basically operated consistently since.

Other routes with the same numbers

The number 84 was previously assigned to streetcar service between Front & Arch Streets and 63rd St & Lansdowne Avenue. This service started on June 6th 1895 but wasn’t numbered route 84 until December 14th 1913. This line was discontinued on October 26th 1918, and was replaced/duplicated by streetcar service that was originally numbered route 44. That service would go on to be replaced by route 10 (now SEPTA Metro T1) on June 19th 1926.

Timetables

  1. Route 87 was discontinued and the service itself was replaced with service on route 86 in 1962. Route 86 itself was eventually discontinued and replaced with route T service in 1966. Then Route T was eventually discontinued and replaced with 41 service in 1982, and route 41 was eventually discontinued and replaced with route 88 service in 1988. This specific chain of command was just interesting and needed to be noted. Currently, school route 484 serves Linden and Delaware. ↩︎
  2. Franklin Mall, as it exists today, opened as Franklin Mills Mall on May 11th 1989. It was sold to Simon Property Group in April 2007, and was renamed to Philadelphia Mills on September 16th 2014. Jones Lang LaSalle would purchase the mall in December 2024 and re-name the mall Franklin Mall. The mall was sold off again in March 2026 and is slated for partial demolition and redevelopment. ↩︎