Route 104
West Chester to 69th Street Transportation Center
Overview
SystemVictory District[1]
OperatorSEPTA Suburban Transit Division
Began service1895 (1895) (streetcar)
1958 (1958) (bus)
Route
LocaleDelaware Valley
Communities servedNewtown Square
StartWest Chester University
ViaWest Chester Pike
End69th Street Transportation Center
Daily ridership3,088 (FY 2019)[2]
Annual patronage969,632 (FY2019)
TimetableRoute 104 schedule
← 103  Suburban Transit Division  105 →

Route 104 is a bus route operated by SEPTA between Upper Darby's 69th Street Transportation Center and the North Campus of West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Route 104 initially was a streetcar line which operated parallel to the West Chester Pike (PA Route 3) and was operated by the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (a.k.a. "Red Arrow Lines").

History

Rail service

Share of the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company, issued 16 September 1895
SEPTA trolley tracks in the median of West Chester Pike, originally used by the trolley route

Route 104 was established in 1895, by the newly established Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company. In 1936, the P&W went bankrupt and was reorganized as the Philadelphia Suburban Transit Company taking the line with it. At the corner of West Chester Pike and Darby Road was the Battle of Llanerch which was a physical and legal struggle between the PRR and the Philadelphia and West Chester Traction Company.[3] There was concern that a new trolley to Newtown would hurt the PRR line to Newtown and therefore they tried to block it as they had to cross each other at this location.[3]

In 1954, rail service was cut back to the Westgate Hills section of Haverford Township in order to allow the Pennsylvania Department of Highways (now PennDOT) to expand the highway into its current configuration. By 1958, all rail service on the West Chester Pike corridor was replaced by bus service.

Bus service

SEPTA Route 104 bus near 69th Street Transportation Center

For many years, bus service operated along the entire length of West Chester Pike between 69th Street Transportation Center and the terminus of the Pike, just east of West Chester Borough, where West Chester Pike and Paoli Pike merge to form Gay Street (from the westbound direction) and Market Street (from the eastbound direction). Service operated via Gay Street, New Street, and Market Street, laying over on Market just east of New.

In the late 1990s, selected weekday peak hour short-turn trips were extended from the center of Newtown Square in Delaware County to serve the Newtown Square Corporate Campus just west of the center of town.

In 2002, service was extended to serve West Chester University, eliminating a 10- to 15-minute walk not just for college students, but also for residents of the borough's south end neighborhoods. This eliminated the simple loop routing that had been in effect for many years previously.

In addition, a new evening routing operated directly into the Edgmont Square Shopping Center, a rapidly developing retail complex in Edgmont Township, just west of the Edgmont/Newtown township boundary.

On March 23, 2023, SEPTA released a new draft plan for Bus Revolution, SEPTA's bus network redesign. As part of the plan, Route 104 trips deviating off West Chester Pike would be eliminated.

Route description

Map of former trolley (now bus) Routes 103 and 104 (orange), as well as existing trolley Routes 101 and 102 (red), and Route 100 (blue)

Today, Route 104 operates service to West Chester every 10–20 minutes during weekday peak hours, every 30 minutes during weekday hours and late Saturday afternoons, and every hour on evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays. Short-turn trips to Newtown Square provide 10-minute headways to that town during weekday peak hours, and 30-minute service levels on Saturdays and Sundays.

References

  1. ↑ "SEPTA Route Statistics 2018" (PDF). SEPTA. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Fiscal Year 2021 Service Plan Update". SEPTA. June 2020. p. 24. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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