Being new to W. Mt. Airy, I've been walking around, seeing the sights, etc. One thing I noticed was that bus 53 seems to be the 'odd man out' for bus routes in the area. After seeing the trolley loop at Carpenter and Wayne, I figured it's a legacy route, but to me it seems obsolete today.

It takes 5 buses at peak, and runs from Wayne and Sedgwick to Hunting Park & Broad. The three buses I've seen in W. MA were all empty, as in no one but the driver. Most of the route runs within 2-3 blocks of HXH, and the HXH express route goes right over route 53.

My idea: Get rid of route 53, and rename XH to 53. Change the routing so all XH buses go the pulaski/wayne route, and will stay down Wayne until Walnut, where it will turn and continue the usual XH routing. If the route 53 buses are added to HXH, it would allow for ~30% increase in the peak schedule.

Thoughts?

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CarSharing World: carsharing news and fansite

Yup, the 53 was one of the last Trolleys turn into a bus(With the 56, 23, and 15 being the ones that were saves).

http://www.phillytrolley.org/philadelphiamap.html

and what tracks are left in Philly (Tho some is gone now, paved over with tar or removed by SEPTA/PennDot)

http://www.phillytrolley.org/1990_Philly_track-map.pdf

Also the 53 is used by Little Flower Students....Thus why it is still around....

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TAFKATLB(TheArtistFormerlyKnowAsTheLoveBelow)

Ugh. I agree ridership is low on the 53, especially once it passes into Mount Airy, but eliminating the 53 would eviscerate SEPTA's service in West Mount Airy and West Germantown, substantially decreasing the usability of those neighborhoods without a car.

I live in West Mount Airy and the 53 is one of only two bus lines in the neighborhood. The XH doesn't go into West Mount Airy at all! It's just the 53 and the H. I live half a block from both buses, but I never take the H. It's a terrible route that takes forever to get where it's going. The H doesn't go to Wayne Junction; the 53 does. The H takes about 30 minutes to get to Broad and Erie from here; the 53 takes 20-- it just does a lot less wandering around on the way.

In addition to being a blow for West Mount Airy, killing the 53 would really isolate Wayne Junction. I see a lot of people commuting on regional rail from downtown to Wayne Junction and then transferring to the 53 for points in Germantown. Fewer for Mount Airy, unfortunately.

At a time when the cost of gas is making car commutes financially nonviable, getting rid of routes seems unwise. I agree that crowded lines like 23 and XH should have more trips added, but let's not cut routes, please!

I'm hoping to see ridership on the 53 go up along with everything else as gas prices increase.