Introduction
SEPTA Bus Route K operates from Arrott Transit Center to Ridge and Midvale Avenues via Chelten Avenue, 66th Avenue, and Adams Avenue. Service on route K is provided by Frankford Depot (District 2).
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SEPTA Route K Routing
SEPTA route K operates between Arrott Transit Center L1 and Ridge-Midvale operating via Arrott Street (Foulkrod eastbound), to Adams Avenue, crossing Roosevelt to get to the other side of Adams, then via Adams to Crescentville Road, then to Front Street to Godfrey, then 5th, then via 66th Avenue to Broad Street. Eastbound continues via 66th Avenue from Wyncote Avenue but westbound diverts to Chelten Avenue via Old York Road, and then joins Wyncote Avenue where it becomes Chelten Avenue. From here Route K operates via Chelten Avenue to Wayne Avenue, then uses Wayne Avenue to divert over to Penn Street (Coulter Street EB) and a slight diversion via King Street to Queen Lane, to Fox Street, where it goes back to Midvale Avenue (which becomes Coulter Street, and is the street eastbound buses take), running via Midvale Avenue to Ridge Avenue, terminating at Ferry Road and Midvale Avenue (right next to Kelly Drive).
Key Transfer Points on Route K
SEPTA Route K operates crosstown service, and has many transfer points, including…
- Arrott Transit Center
- Roosevelt Boulevard and Tower Center (Friends Hospital eastbound)
- Adams and Rising Sun Avenues
- SEPTA bus routes 18, 72
- 5th Street and Godfrey Avenue
- SEPTA bus route 47, 57, 70
- 66th Avenue and 11th Street
- SEPTA bus route 28
- Broad Street and 66th Avenue
- SEPTA bus route 16, 22, 55
- Ogontz Avenue (Chelten Avenue westbound and 66th Avenue eastbound)
- SEPTA bus route 6
- Chelten Avenue and Wister Street
- SEPTA bus route 51
- Chelten Avenue and Chew Avenue
- SEPTA bus route 18, 26
- Chelten Avenue and Germantown Avenue
- SEPTA bus route 23, 26, 41, 65
- Chelten Avenue and Greene Street
- Midvale Avenue and Ridge Avenue
Route K Origins
Current SEPTA Route K is a cominiation of former streetcar route 52, bus route K. This is the only lettered bus route that replaced as a streetcar line directly, marking even more historical signicance as all the other lettered bus routes started off as buses, and the letters were to discern the difference between the two.
Route 52 Trolley via Chelten Avenue, 1913-1956
Route 52 was the designation of the PTC Chelten Avenue line beginning October 1st 1913. This line operated from Rittenhouse-Wissahickon to Chelten Avenue and York Road (now Old York Road) via Chelten Avenue. For a short period of time between 1925, and 1927, the line would be re-routed to operate via Ogontz Avenue to Ogontz-Cheltenham Loop, but would return to it’s original Chelten-York terminus afterwards.
Starting June 16th 1929, the route 52 would operate would be extended via former route 75’s trackage via Wayne Ave, Coulter Street-Midvale Avenue, to Ridge Avenue, terminating at Ridge-Midvale. In turn, route 75 (and eventually route 26) would terminate at Rittenhouse-Pulaski. Route 52 would operate between Ridge-Midvale and Chelten-York as a trolley until January 28th, 1956, when it was replaced with the route 52 bus. The now bus route 52 itself would be discontinued on October 23rd 1960, and bus route K would be re-routed to fully cover the route 52.
Route K History
Route K was also one of the first bus routes in Philadelphia, and was the first bus route on Stenton Avenue, starting service on January 31st 1926.
This route, starting from Margaret-Orthodox would operate via Harrison Street to Castor Avenue to Adams Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard, over to operate on the other side of Adams Avenue, then via Rising Sun Avenue to Tabor Road, to Mascher Street, to 66th Avenue, to Godfrey Avenue, to 66th Avenue and operated 66th until it ended at Stenton Avenue. Finally operating via Stenton Avenue to Chestnut Hill via Stenton Avenue, terminating at the loop and allowing a transfer to trolley route 23, and bus route X (replaced eventually by route L)
A new route L would be created on October 30th 1938, and Route K would be cut back to operating as far west as Stenton Av-Washington Lane allowing a transfer to routes L (now 51) and route H-1 (later XH and now route 81). Route L would be the route that operates between there and Chestnut Hill.
On June 19th 1960, route K would be re-routed off of Stenton Avenue, to staying on Chelten Avenue after operating on 66th Avenue, terminating at Ridge-Midvale. This route would also divert westbound over to Chelten Avenue, starting at York Road (now Old York Road), to replace former route 52 bus service, which was discontinued at the same time. This would have route K operating between Frankford-Arrott to Ridge-Midvale.
On June 19th 1966 route K would be re-routed to operate via Arrott Street to Adams Avenue (Foulkrod Street Eastbound) to Roosevelt Boulevard, over to operate on the other side of Adams Avenue, then via Adams to to Crescentville Road, and Front Street, Godfrey Avenue, then continuing the regular route to Ridge-Midvale. The Mascher street service would be diverted over to bus route 57.
Modern Route K
From 1966 onward, route K would basically operate the same route into modern day, with very minor extensions or re-routes due to road conditions. The very first change would come on March 14th 1999, when route K was temporarily extened to 35th-Allegheny loop via Ridge Avenue, creating a new connection to route 60. This change was reverted in the next schedule change.
Old York Road at 65th Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
May 10th 2007
The next change would be a slight re-route around Ogontz Avenue for westbound service in March of 2004, as the intersection of Ogontz Avenue, Chelten Avenue, and Stenton Avenue was redone forcing Chelten Avenue to end at stubs the enter Stenton Avenue on both sides of Ogontz. Because of this change, route K would be re-routed to operate via Chelten to 18th Street, then divert over to Stenton Avenue to cross Ogontz, then use 20th Street to get back to Chelten Avenue. This change would first be reflected in the September 5th 2004 timetable.
The final minor change would be in 2013, when the Coulter Street bridge over the Chestnut Hill West Line had to be closed for repairs, and the section of route K that operated both ways on Coulter Street, would be re-routed to operate via Penn Street westbound and Queen Lane eastbound. This would be true even after the bridge repairs were done in 2023. On February 22nd 2026, bus service on route K was returned to Coulter Street eastbound, but remains operating via Penn Street westbound. This would be a year after all the other remaining letter routes became numbers.
Other Routes using the same numbers.
While route K still exists, and always has existed, route 52 is now the number assigned to the bus route that operates north-south service on 52nd Street in west Philadelphia.
New Bus Network Changes
SEPTA Route K is supposed to be merged into route 26, and extended west to Wissahickon Transit Center. There is no confirmed date for these changes yet.
Timetables
Route K is currently active. Check out SEPTA’s official website for current timetables for route K. Below are historic scans of old timetables for route K. These are all out of date, and should not be used for trip planning, just educational purposes only.
- 1999
- 2008
Announcements
These are the exterior door announcements for route K used on buses delivered betwen 1996 and 2016.